There is no definitive answer to how or why Ophelia died. Throughout the play, we can see patterns and reasons for her death. Hamlet’s madness drives Ophelia to become crazy. From the way he treated her to killing her father, thinking it was Claudius. There are many interpretations of how Ophelia died. Some will say her death was an accident, but Ophelia’s death has suicidal tendencies behind it. Gertrude explains her death, “Clamb’ring to hang, an envious sliver broke, When down her weedy trophies and herself Fell in the weeping brook” (4.7.198-200). As told, we get the sense that her death was a pure accident. However, if we take a deeper look into Ophelia, we can get an understanding of the suicidal actions behind it.
We can trace her suicidal thoughts first by the way Hamlet treats her. Polonius banned her from continuing to see Hamlet. In Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ speech, we see how Ophelia’s loneliness affects Hamlet’s madness. Polonius uses Ophelia as bait to get a rise out of Hamlet to see his madness. Polonius tells her to “read on this book, that show of such an exercise may color your loneliness” (3.1.49-52). Her loneliness can be presented to the reader by not hearing her thoughts. Since we do not hear her thoughts, we have no exact reason for how she is feeling. Hamlet did not like how Ophelia was ignoring him and returning his letter, and he lashed out at her along with his madness. He made Ophelia feel loved. However, he claims, “I loved you not” (3.1.129). The lousy treatment she receives from her father, her brother, and Hamlet makes her begin to be crazy. Her family tells her she is not intelligent enough to make decisions. Ophelia obeys her father, so Hamlet lashes out at her, “Get thee to a nunnery” (3.1.131). Not only is she getting poor treatment from her family, but now she feels betrayed by someone who she thought loved her. She now believes Hamlet’s madness is caused by her ignoring him. After the confrontation with Ophelia, we see Hamlet’s madness rise.
One journal article by Barbra Smith, argues that her madness was not the cause of her suicide. However, Ophelia’s madness has a direct correlation to her death. The article states, “Ophelia regards Polonius as a wise protector and moral compass whose demands for submission and compliance” (Smith). Ophelia thought highly of her father and always obeyed him even when she did not like what he had to say. We see Ophelia’s madness after her father’s death. Plonius’s death was caused by Hamlet trying to kill Claudius. The first time we see Ophelia after her father’s death is when she sings about death and betrayal, “he is dead and gone” (4.5.34). Ophelia singing is the first time we see her madness in the play. Ophelia is grieving and is very devastated about her father’s death. The leading cause of her poor mental state is her father’s murder. Now, she feels alone with her brother’s appscents and Hamlet’s craziness. The grief she is feeling about her father’s death and Hamlet’s rational behavior causes her madness to take control of her. In the book Women of shakespere, by Ada Lee McCracken she talks about ophelia and her different qualities. She stated “Her sorrow brings sorrow to our eyes, and her insanity wrings sympathy from our heart” (McCracken, 16). Ophelia is shown as innocent and pure. She constantly obeys her father and brother even when she is affected by it, and loves Hamlet even though he is cruel to her.
From Gertude’s explanation of her death, you can conclude it was an accident; however, no one was there to witness it. If the actual cause of her death is indeed suicide, Gertude could be covering it up to make the family look better. The priest claims “her death was doubtful” (5.1.234). The priest says there is nothing else to do for her because he thinks she died by suicide. He says this in the context of a Christian burial, but because he thinks she committed suicide, he cannot do it. Right before her death, we see her insane. She starts to sing about how she is feeling, and her fathers death. McCraken states, “I think it can be easily be said that there is no doubt of her insanity. (McCracken,17). Ophelia hands out flowers to everyone; she hands her brother a flower and says, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance” (4.5.199). She gives her brother a flower for remembrance, and then right after, she dies.Yet this is not a clear reason for her suicide; we can be tied to it. If her death was an ‘accident’, then why did she give him the remembrance flower? Every flower she handed out had meaning behind it that explained her mental state.
Sir John Everett Millais’s painting of Ophelia shows her tragic death drowning in the brook. Although this painting does not show the exact cause, it captures the emotional and sad end of the character. Millais portrays Ophelia floating in the brook surrounded by detailed flowers, each carrying symbolic significance. Although the act of suicide is not clear in the painting, there is a sense of tragedy and sorrow. He captures her flowing hair and her flowy dress weighing her down. Ophelia’s open eyes and mouth reflect the character’s psychological and emotional state and themes of loneliness and self-inflicted tragedy. She let her dress “Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay To muddy death” (4.7.207-208). If she did fall, then why did she not stand up? Hamlet’s madness causes her to feel terrible and causes her father to die. Her madness made her want to stay in that brook and to be swept away and die.
Why Ophelia dies has no definitive answer in the play. Whether Ophelia committed suicide on purpose or as an unintentional result of her unstable mental state remains unclear. Some will argue that her death was an accident because it’s possible that she was confused or mentally unstable, and it might have happened accidentally when she entered the water. After looking deeper into Ophelia’s character in the play, we see her conflicts with Hamlet’s rejection, betrayal, and her father’s death. Examining Ophelia’s personality in more significant detail indicates suicidal impulses, even though Gertrude’s explanation suggests an accidental drowning. Hamlet’s madness and Polonius’s death push Ophelia into a bad mental state.
References
Folger Shakespeare Library. (n.d.) Shakespeare’s Plays, Sonnets and Poems from The Folger Shakespeare. Retrieved from https://folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/all-works
McCracken, Ada Lee. (1921). The Women of Shakespeare. https://jstor.org/stable/community.17191267
Millais, J. E., Sir. (1851). Ophelia [Illustration].
Smith, B. (2008). Neither Accident nor Intent: Contextualizing the Suicide of Ophelia. South Atlantic Review, 73(2), 96–112. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27784781Worsley, A. (2015). Ophelia’s Loneliness. ELH82(2), 521-551. https://doi.org/10.1353/elh.2015.0022.
Sprockets and Springes 