Patriarchy Of Ophelia In Hamlet

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In 1854, French novelist Alexander Dumas offered the advice: to find out why a man act strange, cherchez la femme—find the woman—that is causing it. The sentiment, however, is not new, and it would be unsurprising to find that Dumas takes it from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In Hamlet is the constant theme of women being the key cause of disasters that face Hamlet and other characters. Though much of Shakespeare’s contemporaries probably shared in such sexisms, Hamlet is unique in that it is also rife with commentary on other social hierarchies, such as religion and insanity. Through the character of Ophelia, we can see the intersection of all three of these aspects, and through an analysis of her character can gain insight the complex social factors that lead to the patriarchy of Elsinore. …show more content…
From the introduction of Ophelia in Act 1, Scene 3, her Shakespeare’s role for her appears evident. Immediately she is defined in relation to the men in the play, first with Laertes, “Farewell. / And, sister, as the winds give benefit / And convoy is assistant, do not sleep” (1.3.1-3). While all the other characters are introduced similarly superficially, they will all get their individual backstories as the play continues, but Ophelia is unique …show more content…
Yet despite its generally pessimistic view of Ophelia as an individual, perhaps in its many acts we can read an almost liberating story of women. Though morbid in such conclusion, its words are saturated with religious and psychological themes regarding women that we see maybe too often even today. It may be business as usual in Fortinbras’ Elsinore, but in our memory Ophelia is finally
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