Book Reports / The death of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: how and why it maters - prompt [22]

Wow, I will definitely include that.

Right now I am trying to write about how Ophelia's death was a result of the corruption of the state. Any ideas? This is how the body of my paper looks so far: Ophelia as the only innocent character in the play, her death contrasting with the deaths of the other not-so-innocent characters. Her death as a result of the corruption of the state and manipulation of other characters, and what that says about Denmark. What her death says about the true state of Hamlet's love, and as the final push he needs for revenge.

It definitely needs to be flushed out and tweeked though. Any suggestions?

Book Reports / The death of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: how and why it maters - prompt [22]

Innocence- throughout the play, she is conflicted with her love of hamlet and duty to be faithful to her father. She attempt to deceive Hamlet, but only out of fear for her father. Other than that occurrence, she is innocent. Unable to take her father's death at the hand of the one she loved, she goes crazy and dies in the brook. All of the other characters are guilty of something. Polonius is a conniving hypocrite (weak argument I know), Claudius killed king Hamlet, Gertrude committed adultery, Laertes premeditated the murder of Hamlet, and Hamlet (though not planning the ultimate killings of Polonius and Claudius) premeditated the murders of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Disorder of the state- this is my weakest standpoint. I want to show how she was simply the victim of the manipulations of Polonius, Claudius, and Hamlet. I want to take this to say that when the authority is corrupt it negatively effects the innocent citizens. I'm trying to make an example with how Laertes's instructions to avoid Hamlet due to political obligations are incorrect, made evident when Gertrude at her funeral says she wishes she were instead decorating her bride bed with Hamlet.

How her death effects Hamlet- when he fights Laertes in the grave and says that he truly loved Ophelia, it shows that he had true and honorable intentions all along, and had simply been side tracked with thoughts of revenge.

Also, how it is the final straw in his procrastination. He declares himself as Hamlet of the Danes, taking his father's name as an indication that he is ready to stand up now. (Also going to work into this his inaction as opposed to Ophelia's action urging him to take revenge --thanks for that one :) )

Book Reports / The death of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: how and why it maters - prompt [22]

Ok so then how would I set up the paper?

The reason I argue she is innocent is mainly because my teacher has attempted to beat the idea into our heads in class. I'm trying to incorporate his thoughts with my own, and it's messing me up. He is also the one who said that Ophelia's death proves Hamlet loved her all along, so I just went with it. Obviously the wrong thing to do.

Basically, you're telling me I need to narrow my focus to just how her death affects Hamlet?

Book Reports / The death of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: how and why it maters - prompt [22]

OK so this is what I'm trying to work with now: how Ophelia's death matters when she is considered as a parallel to Gertrude and a foil to Hamlet.

Gertrude: parallel: Ophelia is caught between the conflicting wills of men (Hamlet, Father, Brother)-example in scene where brother and father urge her to forget Hamlet while she makes known that he has given her affections as of late, or in her becoming an instrument for Claudius to spy on Hamlet because of her father's belief that she is the reason Hamlet is mad.

Gertrude yields to Claudius without knowing of the murder, loves both Claudius and Hamlet and sinks into passivity over which to believe and follow (Before Hamlet kills Polonius, when he is speaking with the Queen he reveals that he is not truly mad and trusts her to keep his secret, Claudius in his planning with Laertes says he can not kill Hamlet because the Queen loves him.

Meaning of Death: Since Ophelia died due to her weak-willed acquiescence to the evil of others (causing confusion of priority, who to believe and listen to, the one she loves or her patriarch, then the death of Polonius by the one she loves--its too much for her to handle)

Her parallel to Gertrude suggests a foreshadowing that Gertrude too may die due to her feminine weakness and surrender to male aggressiveness. (although her death is not a suicide it is passive and expiatory much like Ophelia's)

Hamlet: Foil: Hamlet is determined to feign madness and revenge his father's death, yet is hindered by delays and thoughts of suicide, leading him to a state of inaction.

Ophelia has also lost a father through violent means yet she has truly gone mad and taken action in her death (possibly suicide?)
Meaning of Death: Ophelia's death is the final push for Hamlet to commence action. He states he had always loved Ophelia, takes his father's name, and shortly afterward in 5.2 resolves that it will come one way or the other and that he is ready to take his revenge.

Book Reports / The death of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: how and why it maters - prompt [22]

Obviously, but my question is does that adequately fit the prompt? Or do you think it would be better to focus just on Hamlet and not Gertrude, and then discuss how it adds to the theme of duality in the play with appearance v. reality, reason v instinct, thought v action, etc.

I've got so many different ways to approach this paper, I'm finding it difficult to decide which is the best approach.

Book Reports / The death of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: how and why it maters - prompt [22]

Ok, I think I'm going to stick to the Gertrude and Hamlet one, and try to do this on my own now. If I fail utterly, I'll be back.

Book Reports / The death of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: how and why it maters - prompt [22]

oops, too late. I turned it in today, and while there are some rough spots I think I did pretty well overall. I focused only on Ophelia's death in terms of how it affected Hamlet. Thank you so much for your help! I don't know what I would have done without you guys!