I felt like this act of the play was very action packed and was full of detail. We learn a lot about what is truly happening in the plot and in some of the characters minds. I felt like Shakespeare used this act as a way of unraveling what was really happening in the play and detailing it all to us. I found this the most entertaining act to read through so far.
I really felt like Ophelia played an important part in this act. Upon hearing of her father's death she seemingly goes completely mad, a common trend in this play. I felt that she was used for multiple reasons by Shakespeare. The first reason I found for her strange action was that she, similar to Hamlet, had experienced one too many tragedies and could no longer take all of the pain and stress they were causing her. I think this similarity to Hamlet is a way of reiterating the message Shakespeare is trying to convey. Ophelia eventually starts to incorporate flowers into her madness, with each flower representing something different. She hands these flowers out to various characters throughout this act. The flowers that really got my attention were the ones she gave to Claudius and Gertrude. She gives a flower representing adultery to Gertrude and a flower representing repentance to Claudius, which is a way of describing, through her madness, how she truly feels about these characters. I also felt that when we learn about her drowning, from the details we are given it sounds more like a suicide then a tragic accident.
I felt that the theme of suicide was pretty important towards the end of this act. Up until this point in the play there have been quite a few deaths, but none from suicide. When we learn about Ophelia's death from Gertrude she describes it in a way that makes us think that it was an accident. But once we start to think about the events that happened, especially the lack of any kind of fight to stay afloat once she fell in the water, it seems apparent that Ophelia had simply lost the will to live. I believe that she may have not intended to fall in the water, but once in she simply had no reason to fight to get out. I think that Shakespeare intended this death not to symbolize suicide, but to represent the loss of hope. Ophelia loses more than just her father and her lover, but loses hope in the people around her. With all of the questionable events happening around her, I don't think that she wanted to live in a world full of murder and adultery, and chose death over life.
I had the same thought you did about Ophelia's death. As I was reading the details of her death i can't thinking to myself "I can't believe she killed herself". I was very sad to hear this. She simply gave up. I don't know how it is to lose a parent but for a man who I thought loves me at one point murder my father, I would lose faith in love and the will to live. I would know what do or think. Good observation.
ReplyDeleteI really like your perspective of Ophelia's death, when I read it my first thought was suicide but the idea that she might have simply been too depressed and disinterested in life almost makes more sense. The examples that we see of Ophelia's character in the previous acts do not indicate that of someone who had any risk of becoming suicidal to the point of taking action.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts about the action of these last acts of the play. It was intense and revealing. Shakespeare has a way of developing stories within stories that all require conclusion. The last act was indeed the finality of every door he had opened throughout the whole story; this would naturally make it the most exciting and I could often picture the characters interacting while I was reading.
ReplyDeleteOphelia and Hamlet are very much alike in their shared tragedies. Even though Shakespeare doesn’t convey the entire depth of their relationship, we can tell by Ophelia’s actions that her relationship with Hamlet was deeper than a simple crush. I like the evaluation that you made regarding the flowers provided by Ophelia, it was as though she was expressing herself without being outspoken or unmannered.
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