Rachel Smith 10/29/13 Critical Writing about Literature

Ophelias Suicide In around 1600, William Shakespeare wrote his first tragedy entitled Hamlet. Rumored to be influenced by his son Hamnet who died at an early age, the play is a depiction of the character Hamlets thoughts and motivations as he strives to uncover the truth about his fathers death. There are several characters in the play that have a direct influence on Hamlets actions including Claudius who is believed to have murdered his father, Gertrude who is Hamlets mother and has married Claudius, and Laertes who eventually plots with Claudius to try and murder Hamlet. Besides Gertrude, there is only one other female in the play, Ophelia. Ophelia is the sister of Laertes, and supposed love interest of Hamlet. Eventually, Ophelia takes her own life due to overwhelming circumstances that have taken place throughout the tragedy. In The Ophelia Complex, Ophelias suicide is perceived to be a direct influence of the men that she associates herself with in Hamlet. In analyzing Ophelias actions and dialogue from the play however, there are ultimately three reasons as to why she takes her own life: rejection from Hamlet, dependency on her father and brother, and abandonment from those she loved. In Scene Three of Act One, readers are introduced to Ophelias character along with her father Polonius and her brother Laertes. In their dialogue, readers are led to infer that Hamlet and Ophelia are romantically involved, or have somewhat of an interest in each other. Laertes and Polonius are both urging Ophelia not to get too involved, because his interest in her might not be genuine. Polonius tells Ophelia ..In few, Ophelia Do Not believe his vows, for they are brokers, Not of that dye which there investments show. Ophelia is hesitant of taking her familys advice, being stubborn in a way. She lightly teases at the idea of Laertes not practicing what he preaches, but politely accepts what both he and

her father have told her. Ophelias indifference towards her family in their advice towards her not only proves that she had enormous feelings for Hamlet, but that she also was in denial of the future of her and Hamlets relationship. This ultimately contributes toward her confusion of Hamlets strong rejection towards her a little later in the play, due to his own personal motivations. In Act three Scene One, Hamlet scolds Ophelia in an effort to distance her from him. He says Get thee to a nunnry, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? Ophelia is surprised and hurt at his insults, and responds heartbroken O, what an noble mind here is oerthrown! and reports this to her father. In theory, this could be considered the start of Ophelias unraveling. Hamlets rejection towards Ophelia after having confessed his love to her before disrupts her previous admiration for him and eventually starts her madness. Throughout the play, readers are perceived to believe that Ophelia is largely dependent on both her father and her brother. Ophelia was even for a short period dependent on Hamlet and his growing love for her, for her own benefit. Readers have no evidence of Ophelia having a mother figure; she only interacts closely with Laertes and Polonius. The strong dependency on her father and brother is a prominent reason as to why Ophelia begins to deteriorate. In Act three Scene 4, Hamlet kills Polonius. As a result of this, a large portion of Ophelias source of dependency is cut off. When she learns of Polonius death she begins to act mad. In Act 4 Scene 5, she appears in a haphazard state, singing aimlessly. How should I your true-love know From another one?.... In Barbara Smiths essay entitled Neither Accident nor Intent: Contextualizing the Suicide of Ophelia, she explains Ophelias great admiration and love for her father, which fuels her dependency upon him. Despite his neglect of her psychological needs, Ophelia regards Polonius as a wise protector and moral compass whose demands for submission and compliance, especially in light of her own perceived inadequacy, must be heeded. But carefully programmed into her psyche by Polonius is the fear of autonomy and sexuality so that Ophelia is unable to navigate her own way once the "protective" custody of her father is unavailable to her. Without Polonius, and Laertes being away, she has no way to deal with the overwhelming weight of

rejection from Hamlet, and ultimately feels as though her source of protection is gone. Ophelia being this dependent proves as a strong source of reason for her suicide. The third and final idea that aids in Ophelias choice to take her own life is abandonment. Her first encounter with abandonment came with Hamlets rejection to her. His love for her was diminished and in turn he himself abandoned her. Her father was murdered by Hamlet, which gave him no choice to abandon her. Lastly, Laertes in the mix of seeking out revenge on Hamlet abandoned the need to be there for her in the beginning of the disruption of her mental state. At this point, Ophelia is left alone in her mind. She feels as though she has nothing left, and because of the order of events, she takes her own life. Gabrielle Dane explains this in her essay entitled Reading Ophelias Madness. Indeed, what is she left to do? Constituted to accept male command, how then, without it, can she act on her own behalf? How might she find the words to communicate her frustration and longing, how to lodge her protest? To do so, she most explode outside of the categories used to circumscribe her, must journey beyond the boundaries of sanity to a place where she can first locate and then express her rage. To find comfort, Ophelia resides to suicide due to her overwhelming feeling of loneliness and abandonment by those that she loved dearly. The Ophelia Complex in theory, is a depiction of a woman grossly dependent on the men in her life and their positive approval. In a way, this sums up the three reasons as to why Ophelia decides to commit suicide. Hamlets rejection towards Ophelia starts her downward spiral. Her need to depend on those she is closest to proves dangerous to her mental state, and leads to the abandonment of those she loved, which causes her suicide.