Part 2: Ophelia’s drowning shrouded in lies, like other deaths in Hamlet

Deaths in Hamlet are shrouded in lies, including Ophelia’s.

The play offers a king murdered by his brother,
but the murderer’s lie claims it was by snake bite [1],
and
an Ophelia who died from the accident of a broken branch [2],
but the “churlish priest” insists that she died by suicide.[3]

The ghost says,
"… the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abus’d
Upon my secure hour thy uncle …
…
… in the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous distilment
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand
Of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatch’d
(1.5.36–8, 61–4, 74–5)

So
the king was killed by Claudius with intent, but
the truth was obscured by his murderer’s lies of accidental death.

Ophelia drowned by accident, but
the truth was obscured by claims that she died by intent, suicide.

A reversed echo?

One could say (paraphrasing),
"… the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of (Ophelia'sdeath
Rankly abus’d..."

I tend to believe Gertrude’s story of the death as accident: From all that Ophelia says about “the owl was a baker’s daughter” [4] and “the false steward,” [5] Ophelia seems to come to understand the state of her soul; it takes some work to unpack, but seems quite sane. [6] She would not be working this way to come to terms with her mistakes and those of her father and brother, if she were simply despairing and suicidal.

A SECOND POSSIBLITY:
Gertrude was uncertain or knew it was suicide, so she made up a story of the accident to save Ophelia from the indignity of being buried as a suicide, outside of the churchyard, judged as damned.

In that case:
A king was murdered,
but the murderer’s selfishness required a cover story of accidental death to hide it.

Ophelia may or may not have died by her own intent,
but a generous and compassionate Gertrude created a cover story of accidental death to hide the possibility of suicide. [7]

(A strong contrast, between Claudius’ motives for lying and Gertrude’s...)

The death of Ophelia takes place off-stage: it would have been too difficult to stage.

But Gertrude’s account inspires new questions: A few days ago, Hannibal Hamlin voiced a question in an online forum that others have pondered: “how did she see so much while doing so little?” [8]

A THIRD POSSIBILITY is voiced in the center image of this blog post, a poem in sonnet form by Grace Tiffany, [9] which deserves fuller treatment in a play or film. It suggests in an imagined voice of Gertrude that the queen, in a Freudian moment of motherly jealousy, drowned Ophelia herself and shrouded the death in lies.

Fantastical, yes. Probably not at all what Shakespeare or his original audiences would have considered, but compelling in its own way.

The couplet at the end is mysterious, either sarcastic about Hamlet’s earlier accusation in her closet, or perhaps revealing that Gertrude had a hand in the murder of King Hamlet.

The focus of my blog is usually to ponder what the play meant to audiences in Shakespeare’s time. But in our own, we may need to imagine the possibility of a more selfish and evil Gertrude as much as some (often like me) would like to push back against the traditional assumption that Gertrude is damned.

No wonder a dying Hamlet asks Horatio,

“report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.” [10]

So many other deaths are either kept secret, shrouded in mystery, or lied about, not reported aright.


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NOTES:
[1] ‘Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forgèd process of my death
Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Now wears his crown. (1.5.42-47)

All references to Hamlet are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online version: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/

[2] Ophelia (according to Gertrude) died from the accident of a broken branch:

QUEEN
There is a willow grows askant the brook
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream.
Therewith fantastic garlands did she make
Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples,
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do “dead men’s fingers” call them.
There on the pendant boughs her coronet weeds
Clamb’ring to hang, an envious sliver broke,
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide,
And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up,
Which time she chanted snatches of old lauds,
As one incapable of her own distress
Or like a creature native and endued
Unto that element. But long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.
(4.7.190-208)

[3] In dialogue with Laertes, the priest (doctor) says the following of the king’s influence (“o’er sways”) on the coroner’s inquest, and voicing his own opinion:

DOCTOR: Her obsequies have been as far enlarged
As we have warranty. Her death was doubtful,
And, but that great command o’ersways the order,
She should in ground unsanctified been lodged
Till the last trumpet. For charitable prayers
Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her.
Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants,
Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
Of bell and burial.
LAERTES
Must there no more be done?
DOCTOR  No more be done.
We should profane the service of the dead
To sing a requiem and such rest to her
As to peace-parted souls.
(5.1.233-247)

[4] “the owl was a baker’s daughter” (4.5.47-48)

[5] “It is the false steward that stole his master’s
daughter.” (4.5.96-97)


[6] Ophelia seems to come to an understanding of the mystery of her own soul’s possible failings, and of how others failed her.
Regarding the mystery of her possible failings, this may involve humility to consider that she might have done better to disobey her father and not reject Hamlet when the prince was like a beggar at her door, equivalent to the beggar Lazarus, or the beggar in the tale of the owl and the baker’s daughter. See my previous blog post on “the owl was a baker’s daughter” here:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-begggar-lazarus-at-bakers-door-in.html

On how others failed her, like false stewards, see my previous blog post here:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-false-steward-that-stole-his.html


[7] On the possibility of a Gertrude who might lie about Ophelia’s death out of generosity and compassion, see my previous blog post about Gertrude as recipient and source of gifts, and her character arc: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/10/gertrude-as-recipient-giver-of-gifts.html

[8] Hannibal Hamlin’s comment of June 8, 2023 was on a post in the “Shakespeare and Early Modern Friends” facebook forum, in response to my last week’s post, and to Grace Tiffany’s poem. https://www.facebook.com/groups/174255305946944/posts/6302302856475461/

[9] Grace Tiffany, poem, “Gertrude and Ophelia,” published in NEW ORLEANS REVIEW Issue 42 (2016). Published by Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Page 22. With permission via Grace Tiffany, image via  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2192204914302729&set=p.2192204914302729&type=3


IMAGES:
Left: Detail, “Ophelia,” John Everett Millais, circa 1851. Elizabeth Siddal (sitter). Tate Britain. Public domain via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Everett_Millais_-_Ophelia_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Center: Grace Tiffany, poem, “Gertrude and Ophelia,” published in NEW ORLEANS REVIEW Issue 42 (2016). Published by Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Page 22. With permission of Grace Tiffany, image 7 June 2023 by Grace Tiffany via  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2192204914302729&set=p.2192204914302729&type=3

Right: “Ophelia,” Paul Steck, 1895. Petit Palais, Paris. Public domain via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steck-paul_albertophelia.JPG

Part 1, The Controversy over Ophelia's Death in Hamlet
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-controversy-over-ophelias-death-in.html

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INDEX OF OPHELIA POSTS:
My 2023 series on Ophelia, and earlier Ophelia posts:

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/10/index-of-ophelia-posts-2023-series-and.html
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IF YOU LIKE and are able,
you can support me on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried

IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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Thanks for reading!
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