Ophelia's death is one of the great
Shakespearean mysteries that is never fully explained in Hamlet.
Shakespeare probably meant to keep his readers wondering: Did she commit suicide? Did
she drown? Did Hamlet have her killed? We know that her body was found in the brook
with
Her
clothes spread wide,
And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up,
Which
time she chanted snatches of old lauds,
As one incapable of her own
distress…
However, Ophelia's
innate weakness probably assured that she would not have had the courage to kill
herself. Hamlet was in a distant land, so he could not have done it himself. More than
likely, she fell into the brook or was swept downstream by the current. And there is
some textual evidence to suggest this since
When down her weedy trophies and
herself
Fell in the weeping brook. An envious sliver
broke,
meaning that a tree
branch was found near the body. Could Ophelia have broken it off while trying to hang on
against the current? Only Shakespeare knew for sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment