Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Ophelia accidently falls and passively drowns. Discuss her death as a symbol of her life, her honour and her relationship with Hamlet.I'm finding...

I'm pretty sure the prevailing interpretation is that
Ophelia committed suicide.  On the other hand, I'm always one who is open to different
interpretations in literature, especially if it goes against what the author may or may
not have intended. 


If she dies accidentally, it is
symbolic of her life because she was the victim of circumstance; being in the Danish
court, amidst all these high profile people, she comes across as introspective, but
naive and trusting - trusting enough to be hurt repeatedly by Hamlet and manipulated by
her father. So an accidental death would be fitting as it was not her fault for being
born into this situation. 


If she commits suicide, I think
she retains her honor (despite that argument about the Christian burial) in that her
suicide is a revolt against that situation she was born into and the people who
mistreated her.  Had Hamlet's father never been murdered, he would likely not have this
brooding sense of doom associated with marriage.  For Hamlet, his mother's hasty
marriage to Claudius clouds his mind into thinking that either marriage is too risky or
a generalization that all women cheat or that all men are power hungry.  Hamlet takes
out his frustrations on Ophelia; she is the victim of the circumstances of his father's
murder and Hamlet's twisted dramatic plot of revenge.


By
committing suicide, Ophelia may be seen, not as a victim, but as taking control of her
own fate, albeit a tragic one. If she did die accidentally, she remains an victim; not
necessarily passive, and certainly one of, if not the, most innocent person in the
play.

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