Soft You Now, the Dear Ophelia! Remix

[Kate Winslet as Ophelia]

           Dear, dear Ophelia. How difficult it must be to be in Ophelia's position. As I was reading this scene, I felt so terrible for Ophelia! So many things are going on in this poor girl's life that her head must be exploding from all the different things being told to her and how she is being used and abused. I actually wonder what's going on in Ophelia's mind as she's seeing all of this unravel around her. So I kind of broke the scene down, focusing on Ophelia, and explaining in it my own words of course.

           The King, Queen, Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Ophelia gathered together to discuss Hamlet, of course. The King is hearing about how Guildenstern and Rosencrantz's spy mission went down, and what things they learned. After the spies leave, the King and Polonius turn to Ophelia and reveal HER mission: becoming bait. They basically tell her that she's gonna have to talk to Hamlet, the boy who's supposedly gone coo coo for cocopuffs, and see if SHE's the reason behind it. 

          Ophelia, of course, goes a long with the plan because she is a good daughter and always listens to her father. What choice or say did she have at all? And how confusing would that actually be?? Her dad is first like "Ophelia, stay away from that boy! He's like, no good for you, and he will totally take advantage of you, 'cause you're a girl and stuff." Now, Polonius has turned around and said "Oh Ophelia, I know I told you to stay away from him, but I need you to go up and do yo' thing with Hamlet so my boss Claudius and I can see what's up with him. Got it? Good girl." Thanks for turning a whole 180 on me, Dad. And worse, the queen told her that she hopes Ophelia is the problem for her Hamlet's craziness! I mean, that's got to put a LOT of pressure on the girl. Such conflicting suggestions and ideas from all these people would definitely drive someone insane (hint hint.)

          And here comes Hamlet, the source of all these problems Ophelia seems to be dealing with. This guy sees her after strangely talking to himself (Something about lose the name of action? Whatevever.), and then seems to be acting totally different! I mean, he called her a nymph! What is this nonsense, does he love her still? They keep talking, but things turn sour really fast. Hamlet denies having given her "remembrances" when she brings up returning them, and then later goes on to say that she should go to a nunnery, that she is deceptive, her father is a fool, and he never loved her! Okay, WHAT is going on with this man? This verbal abuse has just come out of nowhere (Although, he is right in most of what he is saying. I mean, she is acting as bait for her father and the King, AND her father doesn't seem to be the smartest dude). 

         Hamlet leaves, after getting one more "You should go in a nunnery!" in, and Ophelia is terribly upset. She can't believe that Hamlet has gone mad, and that he isn't the smart, handsome, brave guy that she first loved. This encounter has left her totally sad and upset. Of course, daddy and the king don't seem to care. They only discuss the source of Hamlet's madness, which doesn't seem to be love for Ophelia. Claudius wants to send him off to England, but Polonius wants to play spy one more time to make sure it isn't love that's causing him mad. This whole time, is anyone asking Ophelia if she's okay? Is anyone asking her what's going through her mind, or why she was upset? No. She is alone, having to deal with the confused feelings rushing through her head. 

End scene. :)