Ophelia: A Complex Character from Shakespeare's Hamlet

Ophelia's role in William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a confusing one. She is presented as a gentle, loyal, and obedient young woman who hides in the background as a supporting character. She is meant to be the love of Hamlet's life, yet he rarely thinks of her or considers her in his life-changing plans. She has no "voice" and no obvious heroine qualities; yet her life and death have a great influence on the most essential characters, especially Hamlet. However small her "voice," the seemingly insignificant Ophelia plays several integral roles in the story's plot and subplots as; a tool, a motivation, and a tragic story.

What may be the most interesting thing about Ophelia is her reluctance to defend herself. It is typical, in Shakespeare's time, for a woman to be completely dependent upon and obedient to her father; and once married, her husband. Ophelia is a representative of the perfect daughter who obeys her father without argument. Even when she is asked to reject Hamlet, she responds with a subservient, "I shall obey, my lord" (1.3.136). Ironically, however, her perfection is her downfall. Her father uses her for his own reasons, which in this case is to spy on Hamlet. In doing so, many things come about (Hamlet's deepened despair, The king's suspicion that Hamlet knows about the murder of his father) that contribute to both their deaths.

One of Ophelia's less obvious roles is that of a tool used by Shakespeare to foreshadow future events. In her opening scene, her brother and father warn her to stop seeing Hamlet. This warning foretells her future conflict with Hamlet, and her life succumbing to madness and death. The beginning of Act II, when Ophelia describes a short meeting with Hamlet, she tells her father that he appeared to her essentially looking and acting like a crazy man. There are two debatable possibilities for the interpretation of this scene. One possibility is that Hamlet is using Ophelia to get the word out that he is insane. After all, he does warn Horatio and Marcellus that he will, "put an antic disposition on" (1.5.172) and he does act crazy shortly after his meeting with Ophelia. Another possibility is that Hamlet was genuinely distraught by Ophelia's recent rejection. Whatever Shakespeare's intention, this can also be seen as a foreshadowing of things to come, as there is much madness, both genuine and false, throughout the rest of the play.

Whether or not she is a tool for Hamlet, Ophelia is most definitely used by Polonius as he goes about being his typical meddlesome self. Ophelia regretfully obeys her father in a deceitful meeting with Hamlet, and it becomes a turning point in the play. In this scene Hamlet reveals his complicated feelings for Ophelia as well as the depth by which he is hurt and betrayed by her. His feelings are evident when Ophelia tries to return his gifts. Hamlet defensively switches off his happy, loving disposition, refuses to accept the return, and responds with, "I never gave you aught" (3.1.96). He continues to express his anger and disgust with women and humanity as he tells her, "Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?" (3.1.121-122). As important things are revealed in this scene, including the king's realization that Hamlet may know something about the murder of the late king, we begin to realize that Ophelia is much more significant of a character than we originally thought. Suddenly she is not only a tool for Shakespeare, but also for Hamlet (possibly) and Polonius, as the plot thickens around her.

Even in her madness and death Ophelia remains a fundamental character in this play. During her crazy ramblings we as readers have a unique opportunity to compare Shakespeare's definitions of true and false insanity. This comparison can give us confirmation (or doubt) on our previous interpretation of Hamlet's questionable behavior throughout the play. Ophelia's death has a more obvious significance. Upon her death, Hamlet is reminded of his deep feelings for her, which had been repressed due to his obsession with vengeance and his trust issues with women. Ophelia's death also deepens Laertes' need for vengeance. He already has much reason to kill Hamlet, as his father was murdered and his sister have gone mad, but her death is that last little shove over the edge; the driving force and justification behind Laerte's revenge.

Upon analyzing Shakespeare's Ophelia, it is apparent that her character is more than a background character or a tool to further the plot of Hamlet. Ophelia is the glue that binds two major characters, Hamlet and Laertes. She is the force that drives them, the justification for their irrational behavior, and the tragic being that brings them great emotional turmoil. Remarkably, she accomplishes all this unintentionally, simply by being her quiet, obedient self. Perhaps Shakespeare intended this backwards idea of unintentional self-destruction just as he may have intended for Ophelia's tragic story to unfold right under our noses. Though she has little "voice" her tragedy speaks loudly for her. Of course, Hamlet remains the protagonist of the story, but Ophelia is the heroine of her own tragic subplot, and while we focus on Hamlet and his sufferings, Ophelia's story explodes in our faces when she suddenly snaps, driven mad and suicidal. With fascinating intricacy, Shakespeare weaves this curious character into our hearts, leaving a lingering residue that causes a need to understand her more.

Work CitedShakespeare, William. Hamlet, Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 4th ed. Ed. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007 1252-1354.