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Ophelia Suicide Quotes

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There is an Arabic saying that my dad mentioned to me. It goes something like, “If you want to die, throw yourself into the ocean. You’ll find yourself wanting to survive”. The quote pertains to the idea of a survivalist instinct and builds upon the idea that in near death experiences, instinct will take over in order to stay alive. Circling back to Ophelia, she is described as “one incapable of her own distress” (4.7). 203). The. That line itself shows that she didn’t resist, nor did she have any will to resist either. In fact, the situation that she brought herself in leads me to believe that Ophelia, having succumbed to madness thanks to the death of her father at the hands of Hamlet, finds no reason to live anymore and commits suicide by …show more content…

Ophelia copes with these facts through song. Throughout the act, Ophelia sings songs about death, flowers, and love. She suffers through grief and betrayal, knowing that her once beloved Hamlet was the reason behind her dear father’s death. Her madness concerns her brother Laertes, who now not only wants to fight to avenge his father, but to also bring pain to the man who afflicted his sister with her sense of madness. Ophelia’s strange condition has also been noticed by Claudius. His immediate reaction when Ophelia exits the scene is to assign Horatio to “Follow her close; give good watch” (4.5. 79). The 'Standard' is a 'Standard'. It’s fairly common to have concern over a person who’s gone mad. It’s human nature to care for those who need to be taken care of. Ophelia is no exception, hence why Claudius sent Horatio after her. But, his effort was all for …show more content…

Her burial in scene 5 act 1 begins with something very similar to what I speak about here. Two gravediggers arguing over whether Ophelia should be given a traditional Christian burial or not. This discussion revolves around whether Ophelia committed suicide, a grave sin, or not. She was given a Christian burial at Gertrude’s request. The law at the time was vague in determining if suicide was committed intentionally, or through insanity. The gravediggers lean towards believing that Ophelia committed suicide, however, due to her status as a noblewomen, she was given a proper burial (Peterson 4). Ophelia’s circumstances are still being dictated by the people around her. The rest of the discussion surrounding Ophelia’s death has to be taken from the words of Gertrude, who, similarly to Ophelia, doesn’t serve with much authority. Her status is undermined by Claudius’s status and his decision-making. There is a gap in the story between Ophelia’s descent into madness and her death, Gertrude reported. That gap in the play leaves room for interpretation, and Shakespere uses it to create discussion between how the gravediggers perceive her death versus how Gertrude perceives

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