Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Ophelia and Laertes know their father’s burial was abbreviated and secretive [1]. Claudius says, For good Polonius’ death, and we have done but greenly In hugger-mugger to inter him… [2] Claudius confides in Laertes that Hamlet killed his father [3]: This suits his purposes, to enlist the help of Laertes to kill Hamlet without Claudius revealing that he killed his brother, the king. But Claudius does not reveal to Ophelia how her father died. While he confides in Laertes, Ophelia is drowning [4]. There is no scene in Hamlet in which a character tells Ophelia that Hamlet killed her father. None. No character refers to Ophelia having been told, or knowing it, or finding out via gossip from Elsinore guards or servants. This may *not* be a small point: It is one thing to assume that Ophelia should be defined mostly by her familial and romantic relationships, and to have gone mad merely because of them. Yet it is very different for her to be defined by political awakenings, to have - lov...

Part 45: Ophelia's Terrible Awakening and Liberation Ophelia and Gertrude awaken from earlier naivete and become liberated from aspects of an oppressive and inauthentic patriarchy, Ophelia from her father, and Gertrude from her husband. Consider Ophelia: Ophelia had been excited to spend “free and bounteous” time with Hamlet [1], to be wooed by him “in honorable fashion” [2], to receive from him “almost all the holy vows of heaven” [3], probably a marriage proposal, not snares [4] to steal her “chaste treasure” [5] as her brother and father fear and suspect. She is forbidden by Polonius to see Hamlet or receive his letters [6], but used as bait by him and Claudius for their spying [7]. Gertrude tells her that she hopes Ophelia’s “virtues” will help to heal Hamlet [8]. Hamlet does not tell her that he has spoken with an apparition like the ghost of his father, but seems to fear that those he loves most may be at risk at least of suffering purgatory for sins, apparently like his fa...