Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Ophelia’s Flowers
Ophelia apparent descent into insanity is a cause of Hamlets harsh betrayal as he is the murder of her father, and also having to deal with the death of her father. In addition I believe that Ophelia is driven into insanity because now she doesn't know who she can trust, and all she has left is Laertes. Hamlet has betrayed her and is now basically dead to her, and her father who she relied on so heavily is now gone. I think that she is now lost and alone and doesn't know what to do with herself.
As Ophelia is passing out flowers I think that she gives fennels to Rosencrantz and Guilenstern because is symbolizes flattery and deceit and throughout the book they have been sucking up to the king and giving him lots of flattery as seen when they say, "We will ourselves provide./ Most holy and religious fear it is/ To keep those many many bodies safe/ That live and feed upon your Majesty." (3.3.8-11) they are telling the king that they will do whatever he says, all while deceiving and spying on Hamlet to be loyal to the king. I think that she gives a Violet which symbolizes faithfulness to Horatio because in the book so far he has been a faithful and loyal friend to Hamlet. I think she gives a daisy with represents dissembling or a pretender to Hamlet and the king because they have both concealed their true motives and have been pretending/ acting throughout the entire book. As she is handing out the daisy's she says, "There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died."(4.5.207-209) showing how Hamlet had once been faithful and she had trusted him until her killed her father. I think that she gives rosemary which represents Remembrance to the Queen because she has moved on so quickly from her first husband with his brother and she needs to remember her first husband. The Ghost even says to her and Hamlet, "Do not forget" (3.4.126). Lastly I believe that she gives a Violet which symbolizes Faithfulness to Laertes because he has been a good and faithful brother to her throughout the book always looking out for her best interests.
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I agree with Kennelly, however, I believe that the main reason behind Ophelia's insanity is because of her fathers death. The fact that Hamlet was the murder of her father just makes her become more crazy because it shows that he betrays her. Now the only person she has left to count on is Laertes. That is not too bad though because he is a great advice giver and already helped Ophelia out when she was confused about Hamlet's love for her. However, for the flowers I believe that Ophelia gives them to Laertes, the Queen, and also Rosencrantz and Guildenstern like Kennelly said above. First off, the person who I think Ophelia would give the first flower to is Laertes. I think the main reason why Ophelia would choose to give her brother a flower is because of all the great advice he has given her from the past. one line that Laertes says to her is, "The virtue of his will, but you must fear.His greatness weighed, his will is not his own For he himself is subject to his birth" (1.3.16-18). This is showing that Laertes is giving great advice to her and it is one of my favorite lines to show how good of a brother he really is by telling her the truth about Hamlet. Laertes basically tells her that she should fear him and his power. The next person I think Ophelia would give Flowers to is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern because they would do absolutely anything for the king and they treated her father right. An example of them being sucks ups to the king is when Claudius says, "And can you by no drift of conference Get from him why he puts on this confusion, Grating so harshly all his days of quiet With turbulent and dangerous lunacy?" (3.1.1-4) Claudius asks this to the both of them about Hamlet and they actually went to Hamlet for the king to see why Hamlet is acting so confused. This also helps her father because he too was curious about the way Hamlet was acting. So Ophelia can tell that they are both good persons. The last person that I think Ophelia would give a flower too is the Queen. I think she would give the Queen a flower because her husband has just recently died too, so she feels bad for Gertrude. Also, she knows that Gertrude moved on really fast from the death of her husband and wants to show her how much fathers mean to their daughters and sons.
ReplyDeleteGoing off of these points, I too think Ophelia's odd behavior is due to her father's death. Part of the song Ophelia sings has the lyrics, "He is dead and gone, lady,/ He is dead and gone" (4.5.34-35). Ophelia clearly struggles with the idea of laying her father "i' the' cold ground" and "cannot choose but to weep" (4.5.74-74) when thinking about it. Even the murderous King, who doesn't seem to have a heart, realizes Ophelia's actions are "the poison of deep grief" which "springs from her father's death" (4.5.80-81). I find it interesting how Ophelia is acting differently after her father's death, which is very similar to the way Hamlet starting acting different after his father's death.
ReplyDeleteI think Ophelia would give both the rosemary and the pansies to Gertrude, seeing that the rosemary resembles remembrance and pansies resemble thoughts. As Laertes points out, "thoughts and remembrance fitted" (4.5.202-203), making it a perfect option for Gertrude, to allow her to think about who she must remember is important in her life and her past, such as Hamlet's father, not the new King Claudius. I think Ophelia would give the fennel, a flower symbolizing flattery and deceit, and columbines to everyone since everyone is acting in a way and trying to receive information out of flattery. I think Ophelia would give the rue, a flower symbolizing sorrow and repentance to Hamlet since they are both experiencing the same emotions, seeing that both of their father's dies/were murdered in a way. She know Hamlet is sad about his father's death, but perhaps she also wants him to repent about killing her father. I think Ophelia would give a daisy, symbolizing dissembling, to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern because they are hiding their true spy-like identities by pretending to be friends with Hamlet when really they are "sponges" (4.2.12) who use their fake friendship to retrieve information for the King. I think Ophelia would give violets to Laertes since he was also such a good father-like figure to her, however, "they withered all when my father died" (4.5.208-209), so she has no way of expressing how much she needs Laertes father-like advice and help. Finally, I think Ophelia prays, "God be with" Claudius, simply since he is such a mess and seems to be loosing control over personal relations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the previous reasons for Ophelia's madness. I, in fact, think that Ophelia’s insanity is a result of Hamlet’s rejection, her father’s death, and betrayal by the king. This passage also reveals that she is aware of all of the character’s guilt. Ophelia becomes mad because she loses everything important to her all at once and has nothing left to live for. Due to all of the losses in Ophelia's life, she goes on singing sad songs to herself with lyrics such as "and will he not come again? / No, no, he is dead. / Go to thy deathbed. / He never will come again" (4.5.214-217) as well as telling people what she thinks things are since she has nothing left to lose.
If I were to have Ophelia give out the flowers, I would have her talking to herself (and pretending that Hamlet is there) when she gives out the rosemary and pansies. She would be doing this because Ophelia is saying that rosemary symbolizes remembrance and that she wants this person to remember love. Ophelia would give Hamlet pansies because they symbolize thought, and she wants Hamlet to think about what he has done.
Ophelia is giving fennel to Gertrude since they symbolize flattery and deceit. Gertrude receives these because she is easily deceived by Claudius and is so flattered by him that they get married.
Ophelia would also give Claudius the rue because it is for repentance, and he admits “Pray can I not [….] And, like a man to double business bound, / I stand in pause where I shall first begin, / And both neglect” (3.3.42,45-47)
Ophelia would then give the daisy to both Claudius and Ophelia because it is the symbol for hiding feelings, something that they are both doing with their marriage. Neither of them will admit to their unhappy marriage.
Ophelia tells Claudius and Gertrude that she can't give them violets, the flower of faithfulness, because Polonius was the only one faithful (he was faithful to the king). Claudius is not faithful to his brother because he killed him, and Gertrude is not faithful to him either since he hatefully married his brother.
I agree with you Zack on how Ophelia is going to give out the flowers. I see her being completely insane and talking to herself and giggling while this is occurring. I also agree with which flowers go to which person. I like how you had the fennel go to Gertrude because of its symbolization with flattery and deceit. Gertrude seems very caring with Hamlet and loves him greatly. She also tries to help him get over his fathers death. Ironically, she is a major factor in Hamlet's depression because of his father's death and mother's quick remarriage with his brother. This can be seen as deceit because she is not taking her son's side in this dispute. Also, I like how you say Claudius will get the rue because of him repenting for his sins. However, he was not able to pray because he does not feel sorry about what he has done. However, I would give the daisy to Hamlet instead of Claudius and Ophelia because Hamlet can hide his feelings so well people think that that is his normal behavior. Also, I believe Gertrude should get the violet because of her faith that everything will work itself out. Unfortunately she is very wrong so it would be fitting if Ophelia gave a fake violet to Gertrude because it is almost like false faith.
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