ipl-logo

What Does Ophelia's Body Symbolize In Hamlet

755 Words4 Pages

In Act IV, scene v, Laertes has just come back from France and he went to the throne room to question the King about the whereabouts of his father. The King tells Laertes that his father is dead. As Laertes and King Claudius discuss who could’ve killed Polonius, Ophelia prances in covered in flowers while she singing random ballads. Laertes exclaims that his sister has gone mad, but little does he know that Hamlet is the cause of Ophelia’ current state of mind. In Act IV, scene v, Ophelia’s madness was caused by the death of her father. Indirectly, Hamlet caused Ophelia to go to her lowest self by killing her father. The flowers on Ophelia’s body symbolize her state of mind and show the extent of her grief in this scene.

Polonius’ murder was …show more content…

In Act IV, scene v, Ophelia comes in the throne room singing and giving out flowers. When she gives out a flower, she explains what it represents. These flowers are very symbolic in terms of her insanity and her grief. Whether these flowers are real or imaginary is questionable. The first flower she hands out is rosemary and she says it is for remembrance. Her brother relates her madness to the flower’s meaning of remembrance. Ophelia explains the other flowers’ meanings and gets distracted from her flower explanations when she mentions violets. Ophelia says, “There's fennel for you, and columbines: there's rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays: O you must wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy: I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died […].” Ophelia was triggered when she mentioned the violets. She immediately connected them to death which made her slip back into her singing. The flowers’ meanings connect to her madness in which every meaning explains her current condition. Ophelia is remembering her father’s death (the rosemary and violet meanings) and she feels great sorrow for her father’s death (the rue’s meaning). Also, how fragile she is in this scene exposes her innocence to death (the daisy’s meaning). Ophelia’s madness is represented through the flowers she gives out and they also expose her

Show More
Related
766 Words | 4 Pages

Gertrude reveals that Ophelia drowned while climbing in a willow tree above a brook, where she subsequently fell. Gertrude observed Ophelia crafting garlands “of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples” (scene vii, line 187). The tree Ophelia scaled and the flowers she plucked have symbolic meanings that characterize Ophelia. Willow trees’ drooping branches symbolize depression and mourning, which is befitting of Ophelia’s character as she fails to cope with the murder of her father and Hamlet’s rejection of her. Each of the flowers also has a meaning attached.

Read More
673 Words | 3 Pages

(Shakespeare 4.5.199-201, 204-209)” From the quote above the reader clearly starts to realize that Ophelia is giving someone flowers. As Ophelia states a flower's name she would then

Read More
279 Words | 2 Pages

Ophelia’s dress is blue, yellow, and red; each of these colors has a strong symbolic meaning that can apply to Ophelia. Blue is the most prominent color on Ophelia’s dress and can be “used to represent depression, sadness and gloominess” (Jacob Olesen). This is an accurate representation of Ophelia because of the situations her character was put into, she lost everything and then fell into a mad depression. The second most obvious color on her dress is the gold/yellow lace, a very fitting color because yellow can be an “unstable color associated with cowardice and mental illness” (Jacob Olesen). The cowardice interpretation of yellow can fit the interpretation that she committed suicide, because instead of face hear madness she was a coward

Read More
798 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet has come to see his mother, Queen Gertrude, and ends up stabbing Lord Polonius, which ultimately leads to his death. Lord Polonius’ final words include “O, I am slain!” Even though this provides a slight amount of comic relief to the reader, it has a reverse effect on Ophelia’s mental state. Her father’s death seems to be the potent punch in this fight because she officially goes mad after this final event. This is apparent in Scene IV Act I, when Laertes has come back to visit his sister and check on her well being.

Read More
416 Words | 2 Pages

It is no coincidence that each flower given out has a specific meaning that pertains to each character. Actually, Ophelia never mentions who gets what flower, but one can assume who potentially receives each flower based on Ophelia’s relationship with each character. The first flower, rosemary is likely given to Hamlet, because Ophelia wants Hamlet to remember her or remember their encounters with each other. Ophelia may have given panises to her brother because pansies represent thoughts and remembrance. Due to the fact that, Laertes and Ophelia are siblings, they share many memories together.

Read More
701 Words | 3 Pages

Then Hamlet lies to her saying he never really loved her which made her situation worse. And she was set up to see why hamlet is acting crazy and is spied on by Claudius to see where hamlet is week. So, as you can see Ophelia is put

Read More
1154 Words | 5 Pages

When Ophelia returns all his letters and gifts he tells her that he has never loved her and that she should “get thyself to a nunnery.” This is one example how his mood changes throughout the play. Then after all this her father, Polinous, is murdered by Hamlet. The Hamlet is sent away to England All of these actions result in her feeling such stress that she becomes insane in the end.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

Ophelia goes mad throughout the story. She is overwhelmed by the loss of her father and the rejection of Hamlet. Her character is seen spiraling down a dark path that also ends in death. Ophelia is depicted as not having control over her actions; speaking and acting erratically. While Hamlet is speaking erratically and behaving oddly, he still maintains control over his actions and movement throughout the story.

Read More
436 Words | 2 Pages

During this scene, we see Ophelia literally melting into Larates arms, this helps show the intent by showing how truly upset she is about her fathers death, and that she's not crazy she just needs time to grief. A version that did not do as well of showing this is the Branagh version. In the Branagh version Ophelia was talking about the flowers, but there was nothing there making her seem delusional, this did not fit well because the setting and context just don't fit with the character

Read More
1410 Words | 6 Pages

In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. Moreover, these significant events are categorized as new awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax which associate with their external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes, who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a

Read More
1140 Words | 5 Pages

In the Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, some of the most significant events are mental or psychological events that make the audience feel and have an emotional connection with the characters. These significant events can be awakenings, discoveries, and changes in consciousness that set off a mental or psychological effect to the readers. The author, Shakespeare, gives these internal events to characters such as Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet throughout the play to give the sense of excitement, suspense, and climax usually associated with external action. Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius and the sister of Laertes who both tell her to stop seeing Hamlet. To Polonius, Ophelia is an eternal virgin who is going to be a dutiful

Read More
1234 Words | 5 Pages

This is where we first see Ophelia deteriorating a person. The next thing that drove her off a cliff was her father being murdered. Claudius said “O, this is the poison of deep grief;

Read More
860 Words | 4 Pages

Even though her songs and insanity, she was lucid enough that her floral messages were intentional quips and attacks; additionally, the Shakespearian and Elizabethan eras were a time of sacred politeness, meaning that even were Ophelia sane, she could not have felt free to express her opinions in words for fear of the ridicule she would have endured in their face. Consequently, Shakespeare created a setting for Ophelia's flowers. Because of the cultural implications of extreme civility and politeness regarding social standing and appearance, everyone (especially women) would have understood the messages that Ophelia was sending even without her singing what they were (Huntington). With that said, the plants the princess used were these: rosemary for remembrance and faithfulness would go to her beloved brother Laertes, urging him to remember what happened to their father and help her; pansies, also refer to her brother for thoughts in addition to remembrance. However, the king’s “gift” is not heartfelt, Ophelia gives him fennel representing false flattery that fades as quickly as the root itself, and Columbines symbolizing adultery, ingratitude, faithlessness, and foolishness.

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

Ophelia is grieving the loss of her father after Hamlet kills him. Ophelia doesn't know that Hamlet killed her father. But Ophelia has gone mad from learning about her father's death. Also, after Hamlet telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, Ophelia is a little bit discouraged. She is discouraged because Hamlet had told her before that if Ophelia would sleep with him that they would get married.

Read More
1427 Words | 6 Pages

In “Hamlet” a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, the death of a character is an occurring event. William Shakespeare uses imagery and allusion to demonstrate the result of manipulation from other characters upon Ophelia, daughter of Polonius, and leading up to her death. Her death was not the consequence of disgraceful actions of her own, but rather by the involvement of others and their influence on her life. Hamlet’s apparent rejection of her love and her father’s personal vindictive leads up to her simple-minded state, entering a world of madness. She has now gone mad, singings nonsense songs and giving people flowers that she has picked from the garden.

Read More

More about What Does Ophelia's Body Symbolize In Hamlet

Related Topics

Open Document