Holeman 1 Jared W. Holeman Mr. Stambaugh English IV: Early British Literature (C) December 1st, 2016 Oppressed in Society, Imprisoned in Mind Living as a second class citizen can destroy one’s psyche and crush one’s dreams to the point where only two options remain: resist, or die. In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of ​ Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the two female characters, Ophelia and Queen Gertrude, live lives ​ without much personal choice or freedom. The institutionalized misogyny of elizabethan England, the time period in which play was written, rules every aspect of their lives and imprisons in them in their minds, despite the play being set in Denmark. They do not think their own thoughts nor live their own lives. At first glance they seem to be entirely resigned to their subservient position to the men of the play. Upon looking deeper, a few sarcastic remarks and insertions of opinion reveal an entirely secret part of their personalities, a hidden disobedient nature. These hidden personas can not remain tucked away for ever and eventually explode outward through violent and severe actions with grave consequences. With little social power and faced with constant attacks on their intellect and thoughts, Hamlet’s women use sarcastic ​ ​ remarks and internal resistance to provide themselves with some mental power over the men in their lives, until they take grave action to win themselves a more tangible freedom. Early on in the play, Polonius disregards Ophelia's thoughts on whether Hamlet’s interest royal prince’s lustful desire or the amorous longings of a lovestruck gentlemen. He warns her that Hamlet’s “blazes/ [...] Giving more light than heat, / [...] [she] must not take for fire.” (2.3. Holeman 2 126-129). He says that Hamlet’s advances have no weight behind them, and she has been misled by his dalliance and charm. This simple assertion of his beliefs falls well within what would be considered normal paternal advice, yet Polonius goes much further. He discredits her intellect and paints the narrative that she does not have the right nor brain power to interpret Hamlet’s intentions. He condescendingly offers to teach her and scolds her naivety for taking Hamlet at face value; Marry, I will teach you. Think yourself a baby That you have ta’en these tenders for true pay, Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly, Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, [Running] it thus) you’ll tender me a fool. (2.3.114-118). Advising a child may be normal parental action but discrediting a child’s right to interpret their own lives and suggesting that her actions may bring forth great shame goes much further. This passage speaks much to the world that Ophelia exists in. She, at least in her father’s eyes, has no right to opine on the events in her life. She must only do as instructed and try to minimize her thoughts, for any action upon them might work against her one true purpose in life, to further her father’s agendas and advance his station. The mere suggestion of acting in her own self interest goes beyond preposterous and does not even cross her mind for she knows what chaos that could stir. Polonius, Ophelia’s father, rules over her with the near absolute control that would be expected in any paternal relationship of the era. When the subject of Ophelia’s relationship to Hamlet comes up, Polonius sweeps away all her desire and demands Ophelia take great action Holeman 3 against her own interests as if it were nothing. Ophelia holds her relationship with Hamlet’s quite dear to her heart. Polonius demands that she “Be something scanter of [her] maiden presence” (1.3.130). This moment speaks to just how significant his hold on her is and how little they think of it. To forbid someone’s pursuit of love bears the same weight as forbidding someone’s pursuit of happiness. It can not be done without an extreme amount of power over someone and a near complete disregard of their mental well being. Ophelia has no objection, no clarifying question, nor any defense of her actions. She exists on a subordinate level to that of her father and knows this. Despite all this power that her Father wields over her, Ophelia still wages an internal war of resistance that speaks to her true strength. In the wake of her father’s great speech dismissing her thoughts and desires, Ophelia has a simple and intelligent response. She replies “I shall obey, my lord” (1.3 l145.). Whilst this appears to Polonius as the submissive response of a daughter so under his control that she dare not question a command, in reality it is a sarcastic response that Ophelia uses to take back some of her dignity. With these five, subversive words she takes back some of Polonius’s power over her. She conveys to herself that her own will exists unabridged without taking such grave action that she would be putting her own well being at risk. Without disobeying her father, she slips in several other snide comments that, to the self important Polonius, seem to be nothing more than utter agreement. When asked if Hamlet is “Mad for [her] love?” she responds that she does “not know,/ but truly [does] fear it” (2.1.95-7). Ophelia has such affection for Hamlet that both her father and brother must bid her to steer clear of his advances. The prospect of Hamlet being mad for her love fills Ophelia with no fear, nor worry or Holeman 4 doubt. Her remarks here are nothing more than another sarcastic remark hidden behind double entendres and her father’s self importance. Polonius’s power over Ophelia intrudes deep into her mind and no amount of underhanded comments could counteract the mental effects of this. Polonius’s has such absolute power over his daughter that he begins to destroy her Psyche. As Barbara Smith puts it in Neither ​ Accident nor Intent: Contextualizing the Suicide of Ophelia, “under the pressure of irresponsible ​ paternal demands [...] Ophelia’s faith in love and sincerity is crushed” (Smith 97). Polonius lays immense pressure on his daughter and rules over her life despotically. In regards to Hamlet, he “place[s] the burden of blame [...] on his daughter for her gullibility” (Smith 99). Polonius has intentionally attacked his daughter’s mind with constant reprimands and, “carefully programmed into her psyche [...] the fear of autonomy and sexuality so that Ophelia is unable to navigate her own way” (Smith 97.) Despite all this evidence to the contrary, there may remain some notion of Polonius acting in the interests of his daughter. One can make the argument that Polonius acts in the interests of his daugher rather than selfishness. Polonius knows that Hamlet most likely will not marry Ophelia because he is royalty where Ophelia is simply a noblewomen. Perhaps Polonius crushes Ophelia’s hopes for this love simply because he does not wish to see his daughter’s life adversely affected by her presumably short lived love affair with Hamlet. However this seems unlikely as a father acting in the interest of his daughter would not belittle her to the point that he discredits her cognitive ability. The more likely motivation for Polonius’ actions is that he sees Ophelia as property, an investment that he has paid into and must protect if he wishes to see a return. More evidence lies, as Scott Huelin discusses in his Reading, Writing, and Memory in "Hamlet", in the ease that Polonius ​ ​ Holeman 5 “use[s] his daughter as bait” for a man he believes riddled with “madness” (Huelin 32). Ophelia ​ losing her virtue would see Ophelia lose her worth and, just as a small business owner would do anything to keep their shop from going under, Polonius will do whatever he must to prevent Ophelia’s devaluation. Ophelia has a close fraternal bond with her brother Laertes, yet their relationship still occurs within the bounds of the institutionalized misogyny of the period. Much like their father, Laertes rejects Ophelia’s thoughts on Hamlet’s intentions and tells her to “Think it no more” (1.3.13). While he may not see her as property in the same way that their father does, Laertes views her as a delicate and easily corruptible, young flower. He warns her that “The canker galls the infants of the spring” just as Hamlet will destroy her purity and leave her behind (1.343). Laertes wants her that she must “Be wary [for] best safety lies in fear” and completely rejects any notion that she might be able to lead her life and make her own decisions without timidly backing down from uncertain situations (1.3.47). Laertes may have a better relationship with his sister than Polonius does, but the power difference between them remains great. Ophelia’s relationship with her brother, like that with her father, contains subtle remarks but also contains more direct expression of her opinions. Ophelia and Laertes are close and as Scott Huelin states he has a “familiarity with his sister’s soul” that brings them closer (Huelin 29). While being lectured on the merit of her decision making and her decisions she turns the conversation around on Laertes. She retorts his lecture with “my brother, Do not, [...] Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, [while you] the primrose path of dalliance tread” (1.3.50-54). Here Ophelia expresses her true thoughts in a form that can be interpreted by others.