[Lidz argues that Shakespeare dramatized Ophelia's madness to provide acountertheme to action surrounding Hamlet's own insanity. But whereas the playwright remains ambiguous about the reality of the prince's madness, the critic continues, he portrays Ophelia as classically insane. According to Lidz, Ophelia's descent into madness does not merely the resultfrom her father's murder, but rather his murder by Hamlet, whom she loves. As aresult, Opheliais placed in "the intolerable predicament of having to tum awayfrom the person she loves and idealizes because that person is responsiblefor her father's murder. .. For further commentary on Ophelia's character, see the excerpts by Arthur Kirsch and J. Dover Wilson.]
Shakespeare carefully places Ophelia's madness in apposition to Hamlet's, illuminating the causes of each by making Ophelia's plight the female counterpart of Hamlet's dilemma. The action around Ophelia's insanity.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 1,384 words. This
study guide contains 92,332 words (approx. 308 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Hamlet Access Pass.
