Flowers, herbs and willows Essay

Also, the fact that Shakespeare did not add any stage directions to the play helps the coach deliver the protagonists in the light they see last. This has granted directors the licence to portray Ophelia as either virginal or k nowadaysledgeablely knowledgeable. Brannagh uses the device of flashbacks to short show his audience that he sees Ophelia as macrocosm less than costless and that she and Hamlet have previously been intimately active. He does this without taking anything outside from the script and gets his point across using a dialogue-less scene.However in the most recent silver screen version of Hamlet say by Michael Almereyda, Ophelia is portrayed as being virginal and innocent as no knowledgeable references appear during the film. This shows how different the character of Ophelia fuel b portrayed, almost as they were two separate individuals. The lack of stage directions not only makes it simpler for directors to portray her the stylus they want, yet as well for the audience, as they move intot have to decide whether she was innocent or not for themselves, but have it done for them.The third interpretation of Ophelia is that if her being sexually active. The scenes in which she goes mad strongly suggest her sexual knowledge comes from her own experiences with Hamlet, as she acts in a sexual manner. The songs she sings during her madness are also of a sexual nature, which further points to her being sexually active. There is evidence of sexual activity in Branaghs production, during the previously work forcetioned flashback scenes. Richard Corum also supports the view that she was sexually active, however Shakespeare never states whether she was a virgin or notHer dialogue with Hamlet in act3 scene2 strongly suggest that she and hamlet have had sexual relations, you are keen, my lord, you are keen. The keenness may be that of his sexual lust and she teases him by pointing it out. However much this may point towards the liking that the y both have had sexual relations, Shakespeare still never specifically says whether she is a virgin or not. Richard Corum investigates the symbolism and significance of the flowers, herbs and willows, that Ophelia talks off in chapter nine.Corum implies that through the flower mental imagery that Ophelia uses, it is undoubtedly obvious that she is not innocent. The flowers stage Ophelias wishes to regain her lost purity and to once again work an innocent flower. The fennel that is mentioned represents the fickleness of love. Folklore of the time also suggests that fennel and rue were abortion-inducing agents. The willow which Ophelia was holding when she was found dead, was also estimation to hold the same properties, which means that Ophelia attempted to abort a maternalism before the died.Furthermore, the term flowers was used at the time as a term for menstruation, which suggests that Ophelias interest in rosemary was a way of her trying to tell herself that her menstruatio n cycle continued as is normal, core she was trying to convincer herself that she was not pregnant. Corum also states that rue supposedly made men impotent and that in handing it to Hamlet, Ophelia was trying to prevent a situation that is now perhaps unpreventable Corums examination of the flowers in Act 4, scenery 5, seems to be viable.This is mainly due to his study being based on folklore that existed in Shakespearean times. The ideas themselves are plausible as they clearly fit into the character of Ophelia and can be related credibly to her apparent social occasion with Hamlet. Instead of outright stating Ophelias sexual knowledge Shakespeare uses this symbolism and imagery as subtle undertones to incorporate the idea of her sexual exploits. Shakespeare has always had strong-minded female protagonists in his plays, which means that the assertion that Ophelia is a character of colossal aptitude is not a new phenomenon.Lady Macbeth for example is the impetuous force behind her husbands ambition and influenced him to kill the king. Juliet is other astute and determined character despite her young age, her character proves that women can challenge the authority of the men, as she does with her father by marrying Romeo. Taking the creation of Ophelia being a strong minded and autonomous character would by no means be extreme, as the examples I have effrontery surely provide enough evidence that Shakespeare has presented female characters as being of a significant standing.