Polonius gives Ophelia her blocking. What sort of director is he? Does he just point to the location he wants her to walk in? Does he demonstrate for her the manner in which she should walk? Is he specific about this location or general? That is, does he point, with a finger or hand or just give a bit of a wave in some direction or other?
Polonius does have some experience in the theatre. He did play Julius Caesar that time. Is he orchestrating another great play here?
Month: June 2015
Madam, I wish it may.
I’m at an age in which people are now calling me ma’am on occasion. I hate it. I’ve gotten used to Miss and Ms. and ma’am feels like a terrible demotion.
What’s funny though, is that ma’am would seem to be a shortening of madam and madam, I somehow don’t object to. Madam makes me feel like a queen, worthy of respect, with a hint of power. Ma’am makes me feel like an old lady trying to buy lingerie from a snotty young salesgirl.
So shall I hope your virtues Will bring him to his wonted way again, To both your honors.
This line makes me think that the Queen genuinely does want Ophelia for her son. She says so at her funeral, that she hoped Ophelia would have been Hamlet’s wife and the way she talks to her here would seem to confirm it.
It’s quite a hopeful line in its way. And it does give Ophelia a lot of credit. Could a girlfriend’s virtues bring her boyfriend back from the brink of madness? Possibly. If they were accompanied by a lot of active help.
And maybe that’s what the Queen is implying? Is listening one of Ophelia’s virtues? Understanding? Problem-solving? We don’t see any evidence of any of those things in the text but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have them.
Fact is, we rarely see Ophelia without her father until after his death, is she herself when he’s not around? Or is her self based entirely on her relationship with her father? The fact that she falls apart at his loss points in that direction.
But all of that is beside the point. Here Gertrude hopes that Ophelia has the power to retrieve Hamlet. It is the only exchange between two women in the play, mad scene excepted.
And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish That your good beauties be the happy cause Of Hamlet’s wildness.
Beauty, yes, beauty is the maddener. It is Ophelia’s beauties that might make a man run mad. Not her spirit, not her intelligence or herSELF, really. It is her beauty.
“For which of my good parts did you first suffer love for me?”
With women, it is always their beauty. Men in poetry, songs and stories, they are struck dumb by beauty, inspired by beauty, could run mad by beauty. And it becomes a woman’s beauty that incites a man to rape her. It’s a woman’s beauty that turns a man into a beast. He will blame her beauty, claim no responsibility for it – in the face of such extraordinary beauty, what was he supposed to do? Beauty is often framed as dangerous for men but it seems to me even more dangerous for women. Nothing will get you into trouble faster than the possession of an unusual amount of beauty.
I can’t help thinking that Ophelia must be particularly beautiful because she has the blandness of the exceptionally beautiful. Not that all exceptionally beautiful people are bland – I’ve met some really gorgeous brilliant firecrackers. But some people get away with great blandness due to their beauty.
The Hamlet Project 