Ophelia Eulogy

Oh, Ophelia. Dear sweet, innocent, and good Ophelia, we are gathered here today grief stricken over your death. Words cannot describe how unjustified the events were that contributed to your feelings of loneliness and abandonment.  Even if we could give you the Christian burial you deserve, I believe even that wouldn’t be enough to truly honor you. I just hope that wherever you may be now, that you are finally at rest and have found the feeling of warmth being at home could only give- something I now know was impossible for you to find here still with us.

In her last moments, Ophelia was clearly not herself. But, even reflecting back, Ophelia was never really her own person. It was her constant obedience and lack of control that drove her into depression and madness. For one to feel as Ophelia has there isn’t much, or any, motivation to continue on with life. In Ophelia’s eyes things weren’t going to get better. There simply wasn’t anything left for her to live for. Although, there was hope remaining  in Ophelia’s after-life. It is said that before succumbing to the waters of the river, Ophelia was singing songs of “old tunes.” Ophelia wasn’t scared; she knew death held possibilities of happiness and freedom.

It is my belief that Ophelia didn’t go to the brook that fateful day with the intention to kill herself- rather that she welcomed her death with open arms. Though it may be hard for the rest of us to accept, or too hurtful to, Ophelia dying was what was better for her in the end. All at once Ophelia was used and controlled by her father (that died under pretenses that Ophelia suspected to be caused by her), was abandoned by her brother, and discarded and betrayed by her boyfriend, Hamlet. With no one there for her, especially when she needed loved ones the most, it’s no wonder that she got lost. She was searching for love this whole time, but was able to obtain no such discovery. Maybe it was best she continued her search elsewhere. Dear Ophelia, I pray that in your better place you have finally reached sound mind and heart; just know you were and always will be loved.

Hamlet's Dilemma

In my opinion, I think Hamlet’s hesitation over killing Claudius was necessary. I don’t think Hamlet treated the act as carefully as he should of, but  overall the smart decision was to wait.  Taking action would stay true to Hamlet’s purpose in getting revenge, and prevent him from later killing Polonius, but the future ramifications would be even worse.

I imagine that the consequences for Hamlet immediately taking action involve either execution or exile. For example, in Shakespeare’s other play, Romeo and Juliet , Romeo’s original punishment for killing Tibolt (Juliet’s cousin) was going to be the death penalty. However, when the people learned that Tibolt killed Mercutio (Romeo’s best friend) first and realized that Tibolt would have been executed for committing this crime anyway, they amended Romeo’s punishment to being banished.  Both Romeo and Hamlet hold a high social status in these plays, but only Romeo had proof of his enemy committing murder first. If Hamlet was to kill the king with no evidence of Claudius killing his brother, Hamlet’s punishment could be more or just as (with extreme luck) dreadful. Also, because Hamlet appears to be going crazy, his credibility is compromised.  It would be difficult for anyone to take his word that his father was murdered by his uncle when he looks like he’s losing his mind. Since he seems so affected by his mother and uncle’s marriage, people could also believe it was just a ploy to get rid of Claudius in order to end their relationship.

Besides the potential cons to taking action, taking time has a few advantages on Hamlet’s side. For instance, Hamlet’s idea about waiting for when killing Claudius would put him outside of heaven wouldn’t have come if he didn’t hesitate.  Taking Claudius’ life wouldn’t have been revenge- Hamlet would have to wait for this moment in order to truly inflict the pain on him that Claudius caused his father. Time also gives Hamlet the opportunity to prove to people that Claudius had killed his dad in order to replace him.  Although Hamlet mistakenly killed Polonius while he was “waiting for the perfect time,” I believe the action was still done impulsively; given the circumstance, Hamlet was probably full of adrenaline and anxiety. I think even more time was needed in order for Hamlet to carry out his plan meticulously. Then, he would be more focused and would have had no room for error.

To be, or Not to be...

The first take on Hamlet, directed by Oliver, starts off with Hamlet perched on a cliff looking down at the crashing waves of a troubled sea, which could represent the tumultuous feelings he has about his own life. Slow sad music plays as Hamlet, behind closed eyes, fantasizes about the possibility of death ending all of these troubles. Suddenly at the line: “… perchance to dream…,” the music speeds up and Hamlet sits up with a wide-eyed expression as if woken up from an actual dream. The music and facial expressions indicate that Hamlet realizes the sweet dreams he has of suicide could in turn be nightmares, or impossible to ever come true. In the middle of his speech, Hamlet lets go of the dagger he carried with him and drops it in the dark stormy ocean. I think this action spoke to the idea of how Hamlet essentially “drops” going through with the act of killing himself and leaves the thought of death deep inside his troubled mind.

The second rendition of Hamlet sets the scene in a tomb; this choice is symbolic to the idea of death surrounding his thoughts. When saying “… tis a consummation..,” his eyes are tightly shut as if praying for death. Death appears to be something he needs, deeply desires for, and looks forward to. When transitioning to “…aye there’s the rub..,” his speech is faster paced and more emotional. In comparison to the other three clips, the sad and angry inflections of his voice let the audience comprehend exactly what he means even if they don’t necessarily understand the Shakespearian language.  Towards the end, Hamlet speaks in the middle of the light. When people “see the light” it can mean that they come to a realization. To me, Hamlet walking into the light while saying his last line represented the epiphany he was having about human life versus death. However, before he says his last word he trudges back into the darkness, which could show how he felt depressed and helpless after coming to this conclusion.

In Branagh’s version we only see Hamlet as he is talking through his reflection. A reflection is a false image, therefore I  believe it was meant to create an unsettling tone of uncertainty. I think it was a symbol for how we don’t really see the real Hamlet, how we don’t know if he’s really insane or not. In this scene, Branagh makes it clear that his interpretation of Hamlet was that Hamlet was indeed insane. This is evident in his expressionless tone which made him sound indifferent towards death, as if he’d feel nothing over a lost life. I found the part where Hamlet pulls out dagger and the camera flicks to Claudius to be a very interesting choice. I saw it as a symbol that Claudius is the real person who must die being he is the real cause behind Hamlet’s misery and not Hamlet himself. Throughout the entire scene, Hamlet slowly inches towards the mirror, which is a representation of how he gets deeper into his thoughts with every word. I also like the choice of putting Hamlet in front of the mirror, it literally and metaphorically shows how Hamlet talks about “facing himself”, confronting the pain and sufferings versus killing himself.

In the last clip we viewed, the Almereyda take, Hamlet doesn’t speak out loud when talking about how he wishes for death. I think there is a parallel in this and how he mentions later it’s not in people’s will to actually kill themselves – the idea only stays in their head. The camera shows a death scene in a movie playing in the video store when Hamlet starts talking about the consequences of death and when hamlet concludes his speech. I think that this could be a hint of foreshadowing, maybe Hamlet won’t kill himself, but someone else will? Or will hamlet have to kill someone else?