Madness Of Ophelia

In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, each character tends to stand out in different ways. Ophelia’s character shows the reader that she is weak through the complete male dominance in her thoughts and actions. Ophelia’s madness is a result of many factors: her inability to stand up for her self, Hamlet’s cruel treatment, and the death of her father.
Ophelia is influenced and controlled by those around her. This is evident in Act I when Laertes tells her to be wary of Hamlet and his intentions. When he speaks with Ophelia he warns her “best safety lies in fear� (1.3.43.) Ophelia responds to her brother by telling him she will keep his advice “as watchman to my heart� (1.3.46.) In this scene Ophelia takes her brother’s advice without an argument. When Polonius enters, he begins where Laertes left off. Polonius orders her not to see Hamlet any more, to which Ophelia responds, “I shall, obey my Lord� [1.3.135.] It is evident in this scene that Laertes and Polonius command her to do things that she does not agree with, but she does them with no argument. Afraid to stand up for herself, she stands back and watches everyone else control her life. “Motherle

In the fourth Act it is clear to the reader Ophelia has gone mad with grief after she “bears the brunt of Hamlet’s acerbic cynicism” (Bloom 67) and the death of her father. “Sorrow overwhelms her and she is distracted with thinking obsessively of her dead father” (Bender 46). The men in her life are gone and she has no one to make decisions for her. “Act 4 Scene 5 shows the after effects of Polonius’ death. Ophelia goes mad with grief, and her madness takes form of an extreme and touching flightiness. She wanders in and out of the scene singing snatches of Ballads and speaking in poignantly nonsensical fragments” (Bloom 21). The death of her father ignites her madness. In this scene her true feelings come out and demonstrate how distraught she really is. The death of her father is too much for her to handle by herself and drives her mad.

“Ophelia is presented throughout the play as loving, innocent and obedient. She is “victimized by the play’s tragic actions, [which lead to] her madness and subsequent death” (Bloom 26). She is unable to express her true feelings having to restrain these emotions leads to her madness. It is only in her insanity that the reader can see what is going on beneath her calm surface. Ophelia’s madness is a result of her inability to stand up for