The Tragic Innocence of Ophelia Essay

The Tragic Innocence of Ophelia

Manipulation, murder, and insanity seem to be the status quo in William Shakespeares tragic drama Hamlet. Ophelia is portrayed as a pre-adolescent victim in the Castle of Elsinore, overwhelmed by matters of love and betrayal. She is plagued by the grief of her fathers death, and the seeming insanity of her love interest. Such matters would be especially devastating for a young inexperienced lady such as herself to handle. Her age however, as she is the youngest character in the play, is the basis for flaws in her actions throughout the novel. Ophelia truly falls as victim to her own age, as her openness, naivety, and strong feminine desires lead to her tragic downfall.

Ophelia opens herself to manipulation and deceit by stating her own naivety and helplessness. In Act I scene three of the play, Polonius discusses with Ophelia her concerns regarding Hamlets affections. She expresses her confusion, I do not know, my lord, what I should think. (I.iii.113). In this case, the term my lord shows that she is asking for his authoritative advice on the matter of Hamlet. She is in other words literally asking to be told what to think, rather than trying to learn and grow for herself. Later, when Ophelia tries to follow her fathers advice and end her relations with Hamlet, he tells her he had never loved her, and she states I was the more deceived.(III.i.130). Here, Ophelia is ultimately telling Hamlet that he has the capability of deceiving her again and again, and that he has already done so successfully. She is expecting him to be more honest in the future by letting him know how deceit has affected her. However, she does not know that she can trust him as she trusts her father. In reality, she is only giving Hamlet the control he needs to continue maneuvering her affections. An innocent young girl speaks her mind, without thinking of the consequences. In this case, the consequence is allowing Hamlet to deceive her the more, again and again. It is natural for a girl of Ophelias age and experience to feel uncertainty, but by openly allowing those close to her into her vulnerable state, she lets them know that she will be easily controlled or mistreated.

Ophelias naivety in matters of love leads to her inability to see fault in her loved one. In the famous nunnery scene, Hamlet deliberately and bluntly insults Ophelia, multiple times. After one of these slanderous remarks, Ophelia exclaims, Heavenly powers restore him! (III.i.153). Instead of praying to heavenly powers for her own sanity, which is being depleted by the demeaning comments, she prays for Hamlet. She shows no sign of self pity, and is only concerned for hamlet. After his exit, she continues to grieve for his sanity, Oh, woe is me, thave seen what I have seen, see what I see! (III.i.175). Here she shows some self pity, as she says woe is me, for having seen such a great change in the man she loves and admires. Still, her sadness is not for the verbal harm being cast upon her, but for the well-being of the abuser. This unconventional reaction to abuse is caused by Ophelias innocence in regards to love. The young at heart wants to believe that her lover always has good intentions. She is blinded by young love, because she has never seen how true lovers should act toward each other. Ophelia exemplifies this concept, because she would rather place the blame on the heavenly powers, and Hamlets growing insanity, than accept the possibility of his hurtful intent.

Ophelias tragic self-imposed end can be linked to her adolescence, as it affects her feminine sexual desires. When Ophelia is floating in the water, Gertrude describes her appearance, Her clothes spread wide, And mermaid-like while they bore her up; as one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and endued unto that element. (IV.vii.174-9.) The mermaid represents an equivocal figure, according to Joshua Cohens literary criticism, Mermaid-like: the tragedy of Ophelia. Cohen explains that above the waist the mermaid is exposed and desirable, while her fish tail fuses her legs together, concealing her sexual organs. Traditionally, mermaids are innocent young ladies in the water, and lured out by sexual desires for a mortal man. It is significant that Ophelia is compared to a mermaid in this scene because she is indeed a young innocent woman, whose pursues the affections of a man. The comparison goes further when Hamlet rejects her through slander and deceit. In mermaid tales, when the mermaid does not win true love, she is forced to return to the water, and her sexual abilities are removed once more. In comparing Ophelia to a mermaid, Hamlet is established as her sexual potential, the mermaids reason for going to the land. With the rejection, Cohen suggests Ophelia has no where left to go but the water, implying that her death was a purposeful reaction to the destruction of her sexual potential. She is perceived in the scene as a creature native and endued unto that element, because while she plays the archetypal role of a mermaid, she is one who has lost her chance with land and love. Ophelia is incapable of her own distress, or unable control her intimate desires for hamlet, as she is a young woman on the threshold of sexual fulfillment. To carry out these desires, she ventures onto land, or into the world of a more experienced man. Once more however, her age causes her to be vulnerable and victimized, and this time the consequences are deadly.

Shakespeare uses Ophelias character to illustrate how ones age may affect ones actions. He proves that her age causes so much vulnerability throughout the play that she is doomed from the beginning to be taken advantage of and victimized. Her own willingness to speak her mind, blindness in love, and eager growing sexuality are all traits caused by her age that allow her to be hurt. Ophelia cannot control her age, and consequently cannot control the actions and feelings that lead to her downfall, which ultimately adds to the tragic nature of Hamlet.