HOW IS OPHELIA'S MADNESS REPRESENTED? Flashcards
What are some different ways Ophelia’s madness can be interpreted, according to critics?
- Foucault: Madness was a permitted space for truth-telling in the Renaissance. Ophelia’s songs thus allow her to critique a corrupt society and male hypocricy,
- Jungian lense: Her madness is the emergence of her shadow self- the unconcious socially unacceptable aspect of her psyche (repressed by social norms).
- Feminist reading (Janet Alderman): Ophelia’s madness is psychological and raw, wheras Hamlet’s is a political construction.
Ophelia’s bawdy refrain transforms her into a subversive voice critiquing male exploitation. As Showalter argues, her madness allows a ‘language of protest’ against the patriarchal order that silenced her (1985). The sexual innuendo of ‘By Cock’ mirrors Hamlet’s misogyny in the ‘nunnery’ scene, yet Ophelia’s delirium grants her an agency she lacked when sane.
Young men will do’t if they come to’t, By Cock they are to blame.
Ophelia’s fragmented allusion to the biblical story of the baker’s daughter links her psychic disintegration to patirarchal opression.The folktale (Showalter) traditionally warns against female disobedience, yet Ophelia repurposes it to highlight her victimization: she is punished not for greed, but for obedience to Polonius and Hamlet. Her addendum—’we know what we are, but know not what we may be’—reads as a Jungian confrontation with the shadow self; the line trembles between self-awareness (‘what we are’) and the terrifying potential of madness (‘what we may be’). Unlike Hamlet’s controlled soliloquies, Ophelia’s speech is a raw eruption of the Real (Lacan), exposing the violence beneath Elsinore’s order. The owl, a symbol of silenced wisdom, thus becomes her emblem—a creature damned for seeing too much.”
They say the owl was a baker’s daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be.”
Ophelia’s words might be understood as offering counsel to other women, her songs and repetitive goodbyes could symbolize a kind of mournful wisdom passed on to those who might face similar fates. Ophelia’s way of addressing the other women in the play, as if giving them a sombre, almost prophetic farewell. It’s as if she’s not just saying goodbye, but acknowledging a shared female experience.
And so I thank you for your good counsel. Come,my coach! Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.
In this scene in Act 4 Ophelia in her madness, distributing flowers to the members of the court.
Pathos- use of imagery suggesting death and decay ‘withered’ ‘dead’
Flower symbolism- represents fragmented psyche- each herb/ flower critiquing the court/ also a way of expressing her grief/ inability to mourn her father’s death (she holds a pseud-funeral).
Daisy- symbol of innocence (note she does not give this to anyone- attempt to retain her innocence/ rejection of societal shame of her sexuality)
Violets- symbolise her ‘witherd’ faith/ love eroded by the corruption around her.
Robin- symbolise unrequirted affection/ death as they symbolise the return of spring.
There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end.
Sings. For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy.
