Tuesday, January 11, 2005

NAUGHTY NAUGHTY BOYS

A reader writes in response to my webpage about how Ophelia's pregnant, suggesting that it's not Hamlet but Claudius who's done the deed.

In act IV scene 5, Ophelia is talking to the king, and she says several things that lead me to believe that she might have had an affair with him. (Starting with her reference to being the king's valentine, and being a maid at his window. Later, Ophelia, speaking to the king, says that "Young men will do it, if they come to it, by Cock they are to blame. Quoth she, 'Before you (the king) tumbled me, you (the king) promised me to wed', and then "he," (referring to the king) answers, according to Oph., 'So I have done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed.')

In act V, scene 1, when Hamlet and Laertes have an argument at the graveside of Ophelia, in which Lar. accuses Hamlet of being the root cause of Ophelia's death, (and, presumably the reason that she shouldn't truly receive a Christian burial due to the suicide??) Hamlet vehemently denies it (says that he will "fight with him on this theme until my eyelids will no longer wag,") and says that he loved Ophelia more than 40,000 brothers, implying that he wouldn't have done this to her.

[...]It seems to me that if this were true, and especially if Hamlet had known about it, it would have further fueled and explained his anger and desire for revenge against the king, who took from Hamlet his father, his mother, and possibly his intended bride???

Hmmm ... I think the evidence is still in favorite of our hero. The King has been busy seducing Gertrude, of course, and there's no reason to suppose he's been two-timing her. Ophelia's song is just a song -- it's not sung to the King. Hamlet may feel horrible about Ophelia's death, but that hardly means he's not to blame; quite aside from anything else, Ophelia probably hoped he'd feel horrible when he heard she'd killed herself. Moreover, if she was bearing the King's illegitimate child, she could reasonably hope that the King would take care of her. Having Hamlet's child, when Hamlet is likely fishfood already, puts Ophelia in a much worse spot.

But I'm glad to see how many people have found the argument that Ophelia should be showing, interesting.

8:14 PM

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