The image of Ophelia is one of the most striking examples of Shakespeare's dramatic skill and the whole drama in general. This female character from the play The Tragedy Of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark cannot be considered sufficiently developed, but the essence and the role given to her by Shakespeare makes rethink the whole plot of the tragedy. The author empowered this character with a significant role, which ends in death. The nature and the causes of Ophelia's death is a self-contained topic for research. As it is known, Ophelia dies under rather strange circumstances that have suicidal implication. At the same time, it is believed that her death is a murder. The explicitness of the causes and motives of Ophelia's death would have had too significant impact on the problems of the tragedy. Therefore, Shakespeare deliberately makes the time and the causes of the heroine's decease contradictory and ambiguous. Her fatality is both a suicide and a murder at the same time.
Ophelia appears to the reader in the relationship with her brother, father, and Prince Hamlet, with who she is in love. From the first, "Ophelia's psychic identity appears externally defined, socially constructed" (Dane 406). Being brought up at the court, the heroine is very lonely. She is surrounded by people who do not have any relation to her. The woman is a toy, a tool in the hands of others: "Her speech is nothing, / Yet the unshaped use of it doth move / The hearers to collection" (Shakespeare 4.5.7-9). Her love for Hamlet becomes a rate in the palace game. Perhaps, Shakespeare made Ophelia the second most important character of the play. She is a naive, bright and clean girl who is able to die with a smile on her lips for her love even if it is not shared. Ophelia is a victim of crime and the world of lies, intrigue, and deceit. She loves Hamlet, but at the same time, she is deeply attached to her father and believes him in full obedience. Ophelia says that Hamlet combines the features of "a noble knight, a statesman, and a scientist", but she is forced to recognize that it is in the past for her; thus, she "echoes" his madness to fulfill her inner emptiness (Williams 17). If the people who should be the closest transgress the laws, then what can she expect from the others? For this reason, Hamlet dramatically changes his attitude to her, believing that Ophelia will contain "the sins" (Williams 8). His love for Ophelia was sincere, but the example of the mother makes make him to come to the sad conclusion that women are too weak to withstand the rigors of life tests. In order to facilitate his break with Ophelia, Hamlet mocks her. He wants to show Ophelia that he is cruel, and incogitant, and consequently, Ophelia leaves him. Similarly, "Ophelia's lover blithely disregards her psychological needs in favor of his own" (Dane 408). Hamlet condemns not only Ophelia, but also all women and sincerely advice Ophelia to get out of "the vicious circle of the court life", in which she lives (Dane 409). Ophelia is between the two warring camps. She does not have so much strength to break away from her father and brother and the familiar family nest, and be close to Hamlet. She is a submissive and obedient daughter of Polonius, who fully trusts him her destiny and secrets. Simple-minded and gentle Ophelia cannot understand the meaning and significance of the struggle that takes place in Elsinore, she believes in the madness of Hamlet and agrees to become an instrument in the hands of the test of Polonius and Claudius. She is unable to bear the heavy blows of a fate that afflicts her and dies like a flower thatis crumpled by a storm. It can be said that Ophelia dies because of the person she loved; hence, it is the fault of Hamlet, though it is an involuntary fault. Determined to revenge the murderer of his father, Hamlet accidentally kills Ophelia's father. Polonius's death causes the woman's madness, and the madness becomes the cause of her death. Thus, it is hard to escape a conclusion that Gertrude and Ophelia die through the fault of the men they loved. There is no claim that Ophelia commits "subintentioned" suicide in text of Hamlet; the narrator skillfully convinces the reader in something inexact (Dane 420). Moreover, in the scene with the gravedigger, there is a mention that the case was examined by the coroner, who could answer only answer "yes" or "no" to the question whether there was a suicide (Williams 21). If the answer was "yes", she could not be buried within the church fence; therefore, the answer was "no" - that is, either an accident has taken place, or she was killed. But in this case, the Church had no reason to cut back on the funeral ritual, while it can be seen that the Church has allowed only a part of the ritual burial of a virgin according to the answers of the priest to the brother of the deceased. As one cannot be half of a virgin, it turns out that someone had defiled her, - and this is a motive for a murder. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain the abusive rudeness of Hamlet with his advice not to marry and retire to a monastery with his "caustic remarks about female virtue" (Williams 26).
In conclusion, the image of Ophelia in the history of the world drama is one of the most mysterious and beautiful, as Shakespeare put in it the incredible internals and meaning. Her death can be regarded both a suicide and a murder, because the play clearly shows who and how impacted on her fate. At the same time, there is some controversy regarding her death, and an option of the premeditated murder remains possible, as it can also be traced from the implication of the play's text.
Works Cited
Dane, Gabrielle. "Reading Ophelia's Madness." Exemplaria 10.2 (1998): 405-423. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy Of Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark. Champaign, Ill: Project Gutenberg, n.d. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
Williams, Meg Harris. Hamlet in Analysis. London, GB: Harris Meltzer Trust, 2014. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
