How Is Ophelia Portrayed In Hamlet

Interpretations Of Ophelia In Different Hamlet Film Adaptations

Across all different movie interpretations of Hamlet, Ophelia’s character has always been subjected to a tragic fate. Spiraling into madness after the death of her father, Ophelia acts strange--singing and dancing in front of the king, queen, and her brother. While some directors may make different stylistic choices when interpreting the scenes of her madness, each scene helps to effectively portray Ophelia's grief and madness. By comparing the scenes that showcase Ophelia’s madness (Act 4 scene 5) across several different adaptations, the true nature of Ophelia’s character and the different interpretations of Ophelia can be determined. While some interpretations are stronger and

She appears to be completely mad at the loss of her father, handing Laertes imaginary flowers, although she still can recall the pain of his death as she tells Laertes that all of the violets withered when her father died (Branagh). Even Ophelia's clothing helps to prove Ophelia's true insanity in this movie, as she is wearing a white gown and was shown to be kept in some kind of room for mentally ill individuals (Branagh). This is different from other films, as she is usually wearing a normal type of garment. While comparing other Hamlet films can be hard due to the different settings the stories take place in, I still firmly believe this film to be the most faithful adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. From the set design, the outfits of the characters, to the script closely resembling the actual text, Kenneth Branagh stays faithful to the original work and the time period the play takes place

This is starkly different from the first two mentioned adaptations, as Ophelia is usually depicted as outwardly calm, if not slightly saddened by her fathers demise. But this Ophelia is being dragged away, yelling at Claudius (Almereyda). This version of Ophelia appears to be less mad in the insane way and more mad in the angry way. She is angrily grieving the loss of her father in this version, while in other versions she has simply lost her mind. As this version of Hamlet takes place in a modern setting, there is already a differing aspect in this movie when compared to the previous films. With the depiction of Ophelia being more angry than somber, there is another difference between these