The Global Ophelia:

Giving a Voice to the Voiceless

Erynn Kim

Mrs. Hamilton

English IV AP Literature: Global Shakespeare

10 January 2013

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A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together. -Margaret Atwood

“Shakespeare does not belong to any one country” (Huang). These are the words of Dr.

Alexander Huang, the man who coined the term “Global Shakespeare.” Indeed, nearly every country in the world has integrated Shakespeare into its culture, using his work in many ways: as a means to discuss controversial issues that, in any other context, would be unable to be discussed; as a medium to understand world cultures; and, overall, as a vehicle for cultures to understand and express themselves. Though accurate translation is important, interpretation is just as vital. The unique perspective of each culture results in many different interpretations of

Shakespearean works. Writers, artists, and filmmakers often take poetic liberties in order to prove a particular point or support a certain opinion, using the original as a framework upon which they can build their own creations. Many cultures have chosen to create their own interpretations of Hamlet, most often by reshaping the characters of the original and casting them in a different light. Ophelia, in particular, though a very minor character in the original, has taken many new forms in the works of different cultures, whether from political, social, or literary motivations. The Japanese, Arab, and Chinese cultures have all expanded Ophelia’s role in the

Hamlet story in order to emphasize their own unique points. Ultimately, though the Japanese,

Arab, and Chinese Ophelias may differ from one another due to each cultural representative’s personal motivations, desires, and biases, all three are similar in the fact that, unlike the original

Hamlet, each cultural interpretation gives Ophelia a voice and with it the power, whether good or evil, to make a statement. Kim 2

In the original Hamlet, Ophelia is a static character, playing a very minor role that has little effect on the outcome of the play. Controlled completely by the men in her life, Ophelia is doomed to remain in the shadows and watch helplessly as the events of the play spin out of control. Ophelia depends on the men around her—her father, Polonius; her brother, Laertes; and her lover, Hamlet—to form her opinions for her. When conversing with Polonius, Ophelia replies demurely to her father in one instance by saying, “I do not know, my lord, what I should think” (Shakespeare 47), a statement that, perhaps, best characterizes Ophelia throughout the play. In her passivity, Ophelia seems to be the exact opposite of Hamlet; while Hamlet constantly grapples with his overabundant thoughts and opinions, Ophelia does not endeavor to clearly express her own state of mind in any place during the play, for she relies on others to tell her what to think. It is only after the men in her life abandon her and Ophelia loses her mind to madness that she finally speaks freely without anyone feeding her the words to say. Even then, her barely coherent words convey no meaning in their own right, rather, as a gentleman states,

“she may strew dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds” (Shakespeare 205). Ophelia again shares no personal opinion; instead, others are free to impress their own opinions onto the words she says. Ophelia is truly a tragic figure—helpless and voiceless, she is used and abused by everyone around her until she finally lets herself die when the opportunity presents itself, failing to take an active role in directing her life’s course even in its final moments.

Using the basic storyline of the original Hamlet, Japanese director Akira Kurosawa expands upon the character of Ophelia and her influence on the plotline in his film The Bad

Sleep Well, a work that criticizes corporate corruption in 1960’s Japan. A cripple, the Japanese

Ophelia, Yoshiko, must not only depend on the men in her life for emotional and mental support, as the original Ophelia does, but also for physical assistance. Thus Kurosawa emphasizes Kim 3

Yoshiko’s weakness and utter lack of individualistic strength through her physical disability.

Yoshiko is quite similar to the original Ophelia in that Yoshiko is a passive character, defined by purity and innocence, if not naïveté. Her desire to see only the best in people is her downfall.

Blind to the faults of her father, Iwabuchi, in particular, Yoshiko cannot comprehend that his loving actions toward her could ever be second to his own hidden and corrupt desires. Even when it is obvious that Iwabuchi, the Japanese Claudius, has willfully deceived her for his own gain, Yoshiko can only wonder helplessly, “Why would Father lie to me?” (Kurosawa). Having lived her entire life in a state of passive weakness and complete dependence on her father’s support, Yoshiko cannot mentally process his betrayal. Thus, she descends into madness, the complete loss of control and the ultimate form of passivity. It is in her passivity and madness that

Yoshiko is very similar to the original Ophelia. Despite these characteristics, however, Yoshiko is still stronger than the original Ophelia in that Yoshiko has a voice of her own. Circumstances force Yoshiko to make a decision for herself when she alone knows where Nishi, her husband and the Japanese Hamlet, is hiding (Kurosawa). Her knowledge gives her a special sort of power that only she can unleash by deciding whether or not to use her voice. In this case, the combination of this power and Yoshiko’s innocent and loving nature prove fatal; by choosing to share her knowledge with the wrong person, namely Iwabuchi, Yoshiko directly causes Nishi’s death. Ironically, the weakest character ends up having the greatest power and influence over the outcome of the film. At the same time, while the greatest villain, Iwabuchi, escapes the scandal unscathed, Yoshiko, the most innocent character, receives the greatest punishment: the death of the man she loves and the accompanying guilt for inadvertently causing his death, as well as the insanity that follows due to her inability to cope in the corrupt world around her. The tragedy of

Yoshiko’s insanity, in place of the original Ophelia’s suicide, is accentuated by her purity, which Kim 4

Kurosawa emphasizes by leaving Yoshiko’s marriage to Nishi unconsummated to the very end

(Kurosawa). In this case, it makes sense that Director Kurosawa would decide to give the character of Ophelia special significance; Kurosawa’s criticism of corporate corruption is all the more potent in the cruel destruction of a character who represents both the weakest and the most innocent members of society. There is power in using the most powerless character to send the most significant message, for in this way Kurosawa is able to convey the horror of societal victimization, where innocents are hurt by their voices and are thus unable to speak in a world that has no place for them.

Similar to the Japanese version, the Arab version of Hamlet, Sulayman Al-Bassam’s The

Al-Hamlet Summit, gives greater scope to the character of Ophelia, as Al-Bassam confronts an important issue of his time: the politics of the war-torn Middle East. Al-Bassam’s play takes place at a conference held by a faltering, nameless Arab dictatorship. As a woman in the Arab world, the Arab Ophelia has very little power. Like the original Ophelia, the Arab Ophelia is subject to the wills of the men around her. The Arab Ophelia, however, is not a passive figure but has an opinionated mind of her own as shown by her sarcastic comments to Gertrude and her vocal opposition to an arranged marriage with Hamlet. She and her opinions, however, are constantly suppressed by everyone and everything around her. Indeed, the Arab Ophelia seems to have no place in the world in which she lives, as she is torn between the traditional role of

Arab women and that of modern, western-educated women. “The animal that the world forgets”

(Al-Bassam 78), Ophelia is a refugee; she is a woman lost without a concrete role to play. In the end, it seems that the Arab Ophelia never has any other option than the suicidal path she takes. A woman without a place in the world, Ophelia is also associated with the Palestinian cause, representing the Palestinians who seek a home but find none (Al-Bassam 14). Al-Bassam, like Kim 5

Kurosawa, gives his Ophelia a voice, but one that is stronger than that of the Japanese Ophelia, as the Arab Ophelia actively applies her voice to aid her own personal cause. To this end, the

Arab Ophelia frees herself from the restraints of her culture and society by becoming a suicide bomber. She finds her voice in her final speech before she—actively, unlike the original

Ophelia—commits suicide. Ophelia accompanies her voice with her actions, seeking to “express with [her] body what is not able to express politics and mighty nations” (Al-Bassam 79). By becoming a martyr, Ophelia is finally able to make a decision for herself and to show the world with her voice and body how the politics of her society make victims of the innocent, the helpless, the lost souls. The fact that her death makes no impact on either the outcome of the play or on the world around her emphasizes the tragedy of Ophelia’s fate and, more importantly, of the situation in the Middle East. By expanding upon the character of Ophelia, who in the original play has no place in a world dominated by men, Al-Bassam neatly adapts Ophelia to the context of the Middle East. Through the Arab Ophelia, Al-Bassam illustrates the chaos of the war-torn

Middle East, where innocents are lost in a situation that gives them nowhere to turn. Al-

Bassam’s cynical answer to their dilemma is suicide. Thus, Al-Bassam’s satirical play uses

Ophelia to convey to the audience his feelings of hopelessness regarding the Palestinian cause and more generally the situation in the Middle East where the victims of politics and society in general grow daily and never seem to receive justice.

While the Arab and Japanese versions of Hamlet seek to make statements about the societies from which they arise, the Chinese version of Hamlet as portrayed in Xiaogang Feng’s film The Banquet focuses on the broader issue of moral ambiguity rather than specific societal or political victimization. The Chinese Ophelia, Qing Nu, has the strongest voice of the four versions of Ophelia, as Qing not only conveys the moral of the story but also is the only Ophelia Kim 6 to use her voice for her own purposes while making an impact on those around her. In the film,

Qing is the only one to voice her opinions freely. Furthermore, she is the only one who shows any true, unwavering loyalty to anyone else, specifically to Prince Wu Luan, The Banquet’s

Hamlet. By being the one constant in his life, Qing gives Luan a reason to live and to love. It is

Qing’s uncompromising goodness that makes her the film’s voice of morality and also the only truly likeable character in the film. Luan, the character with whom the audience is supposed to empathize due to his status as the film’s protagonist, pales in comparison to Qing, as he hides like a coward while allowing for the slaughter of helpless innocents and continues throughout the film to bring suffering upon others, like Qing and her family, in his all-consuming quest for revenge. In the end, it is Qing’s undeserved and accidental death that completely redefines

Luan’s values. After Qing’s death, Empress Wan, the Chinese Gertrude, tells Luan to do with her what he will, for she was the one who inadvertently caused Qing’s death (Feng). Luan responds with a simple rhetorical question: “Would killing you bring Qing back to life?” (Feng). Luan, unlike the original Hamlet, comes to the realization that revenge does not solve anything, for it can never bring true justice. In a way, Qing is the sacrificial lamb; only through the death of one so entirely pure as Qing can the endless cycle of revenge, murder, and desire be put to a stop, if only for a moment. Although the cycle of violence eventually continues after her death, Qing’s dance to the “Song of Solitude” and her subsequent death in the arms of the man she loves compose a perfection illustration of the moral of the film, namely that there is evil in unchecked desire, whether for power or revenge. Thus, similar to the Arab Ophelia, the Chinese Ophelia makes her greatest statement in her martyrdom. Unlike the Arab, Japanese, and original Ophelia,

Qing’s actions result in change; perhaps Qing does not change society or politics, but at least she, acting as the voice of morality, changes one person, which is more than the other Ophelias Kim 7 accomplish. By giving the Chinese Ophelia such a strong voice, Feng transforms the weakest character in the original play into the strongest character in his film. Feng takes all of the characteristics that make the original Ophelia weak—her femininity, her innocence, her purity— and uses them to make his Ophelia strong. The only real difference between the original Ophelia and the Chinese Ophelia is that Feng’s Ophelia has a mind of her own, unable to be swayed by those around her. Feng’s Ophelia is strong because she stands out from the crowd. Feng simply gives her the voice that enables her to effectively exhibit her strengths and simultaneously make a statement on the immorality of the lust for power and revenge.

It is interesting that three very different cultures chose to expand upon the same minor character in order to make their points. Perhaps it is because there is something powerful about using the weakest person to make the greatest statement. Perhaps it is because Ophelia’s purity amidst a world of dirty corruption makes Ophelia such an intriguing character to begin with, for in the original Hamlet only Ophelia is left untainted by the end of the play. Perhaps it is because

Ophelia had so much potential as a character but was left undeveloped by Shakespeare, thus giving the interpreter much more freedom to mold her to his own purpose. Whatever the reason, the Chinese, Arab, and Japanese cultures all saw that Ophelia, not just Hamlet, had something to say. They simply gave her the voice with which to say it. With this newfound voice, Ophelia becomes something much greater than herself or anything she represents; she becomes a mediator between worlds, representing the essence of Global Shakespeare, as creative minds from different cultures find her essential in their own interpretations of Shakespeare’s living text.

In Ophelia, the voiceless have a voice.

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Works Cited

Al-Bassam, Sulayman. The Al-Hamlet Summit. Hatfield: U of Hertfordshire P, 2006. Print.

Feng, Xiaogang, dir. The Banquet. Perf. Zhang Ziyi et al. Prod. John Chong and Wang

Zhongjun. 2006. Huayi Brothers, 2006. DVD.

Huang, Alexander. "Global Shakespeare." Polytechnic School, Pasadena. 12 Dec. 2012. Lecture.

Kurosawa, Akiro, dir. The Bad Sleep Well. Prod. Tomoyuki Tanaka. Perf. Toshiro Mifune,

Masayuki Mori, and Kyoko Kagawa. 1960. Toho Company, 1960. DVD.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and

Paul Werstine. Folger Shakespeare Library ed. New York: Washington Square, 1992. Print.