Page 14 - Ophelia's Flowers

Ophelia

Ophelia’s Flowers look into the depths of each character in Hamlet

and how they should be perceived. Laertes must learn to remember, and
to think; Claudius is hiding a corrupted face behind a flattering mask;
Gertrude must acknowledge her transgressions and grieve for her losses;

the continuous tragedies are making Denmark as a whole at loss. One
thing that many of us fail to acknowledge is the fact that Ophelia—in her
seemingly insane state—made all of these conclusions by assigning

symbolic flowers to each person. A lot is revealed about Ophelia’s
personality in this scene without us even realizing it. First of all, we can
see that she is an incredibly knowledgeable, and observant person. How

else would she have known all of the hidden faces of each character?
Next, her bravery is presented when she openly insults both the King
and Queen in front of their faces; an extremely terrifying idea when you
consider the fact that they have the power to take her life, right then and

there. Within her comments about her father and brother, we can also
see that she is loving, thoughtful, and cares dearly for her family. She
even goes as far as saying that her father’s death symbolizes the end of

faithfulness in the court of Denmark; a statement that cannot be made
unless she truly respects and loves Polonius. Last but not least, her
humility and strong emotions for Hamlet are revealed when she keeps
some of the Rue for herself. Keeping the Rue symbolizes her repentance

and grief for avoiding Hamlet, and the acknowledgement of her own
misconducts. She does not insult the King and Queen without exploiting
herself as well.

Although Ophelia does take her own life in the end, it is important
to consider the situation which caused such an action, and the relentless

grief she must have faced prior to it. By looking closely into the
symbolism of Ophelia’s Flowers, we are able to uncover the depths of
Ophelia’s intricate personality.