The Madness of Ophelia

Paper Summary:

The paper analyzes how the three factors of father, king and lover help to bring about Ophelia's madness through a sever Oedipal complex. The paper further analyzes how the externalized identity of Ophelia, a silent, obedient woman, eventually transforms her into a victim of the murders that ravage her family and love life. The paper discusses how, although she is wise and knowledgeable, she has no individual feminine identity that prevents her eventual suicide during the play. The paper concludes that madness is conjured through a lack of externalized feminine identity, which culminates in suicidal tragedy and madness of the mind.

From the Paper:

"In this drama study the madness of Ophelia will be the center of analysis in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. By understanding Ophelia's love for hamlet, as well as the close relationship she had with her father, the notion of madness is construed from external Freudian Oedipal sources. The lack of motherly affection and the abuse that men compound her within play not only isolates Ophelia, but also gives her little psychic strength to deal with her relationship problems. In essence, after her Father's death and her alienation from Hamlet, Ophelia displays madness by becoming and internalized person unable to cope with the excessive demands of a patriarchal culture. The familial issues that surround Polonius and Ophelia create Oedipal complex problems that revolve around an almost incestuous stranglehold on the woman."

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• Analytical Essay # 112037 : "Revenge and Madness in "Hamlet"

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