Ophelia

I first saw Hamlet at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, two seasons ago. It was modern, dark, and exciting. I sensed, rather than understood, that it was a story I could really sink into and come out the better for it. Since then I've seen numerous stage and film adaptations, and each one has revealed a something new about a character or scene. For example, the character Hamlet finally clicked for me when I saw the 2010 Royal Shakespeare film version (see earlier post for a link). Recently I've begun to appreciate the character of Ophelia more. Her actions in the play never made sense to me because I only viewed them in contrast to what my own would have been. It wasn't a specific portrayal in this case that made her comprehensible to me. It was that I allowed the character to take shape on her own terms, rather than making assumptions on her personality.

My favorite way to interpret Ophelia is that she is caught in the middle of forces beyond her control or knowledge. She has a strong sense of duty towards her controlling yet foolish father Polonius, a close relationship with her brother Laertes, and a growing love and admiration for Hamlet. These three men are at the center of her life. By the time the play begins, Ophelia's surroundings are in chaos and confusion after the death of the old King Hamlet and the "o'erhasty marriage" of the queen to Claudius, his brother, who has slimed his way to being king before young Hamlet could even return from school. Speaking of Hamlet, Ophelia has no idea what's going on with him. He doesn't confide in her about his larger-than-life worries or plan to feign madness. In fact, in the first real conversation they have, he starts by sending very mixed messages and eventually fixes on "No, I never loved you, you were stupid to love me, and now you should go to a convent because that's where all women belong". In his mind, she has betrayed him by spying on him for her father. She's doing it under pressure from her father and the king and out of concern for Hamlet. Heartbroken, she copes with Hamlet's erratic behavior and the corruption surrounding her for the next couple acts before her father is "accidentally" murdered...by Hamlet. Laertes is off in France, her father is dead because of Hamlet, who has (in her mind) gone mad and forsaken her. One by one, her anchors in life have slipped away and (to use a rather grim metaphor) she drowns, pulled down by the weight of the currants that surround her. She is the most innocent victim of the "something rotten in the state of Denmark".

I just finished a librivox recording of a dialogue between Hamlet and Ophelia. Another librivox volunteer named Martin Geeson reads Hamlet. In case you're not familiar with the scene, Ophelia is asked to speak with Hamlet by Polonius and Claudius, so that they can listen and try to figure out if Hamlet is acting crazy because he's love sick (actually it's because he has promised his dead father's ghost to avenge his murder and hopes to avoid suspicion). Hamlet has just done his "to be, or not to be" soliloquy, and now speaks with
Ophelia. He eventually senses that her father is listening in on their conversation, and believes that she has betrayed him.

...and without further rambling, here it is!

Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1