1. Monday 17th October 2016
Analysing Hamlet
QFL: Can I comment on the presentation of Hamlet’s character in Act 4 Scene 2?
Act 4 Sc 1 +2
Act 4 is a series of fast moving events. This is typical of revenge tragedies but seems odd in a play full of delays…
Bell Work:
Comment on how you think Gertrude has seemed to changed allegiances?

2. Gertrude and Claudius Self Centered Dishonest
Readers:
Claudius - Amal
Gertrude - Tejasbna
Gertrude and Claudius
How do Gertrude and Claudius display the following traits in this scene?
Self Centered
Dishonest

3. What do we make of Hamlet’s spontaneous reaction?
The Death of Polonius and its Impact on Hamlet's Character
The death of Polonius has given great difficulty, and even offense; its object should be fully comprehended, for it not only illustrates the character of Hamlet, but also is one of the leading motives of the play. No other incident shows so deep a design, or is so appropriate for its purpose. Hamlet, acting blindly through impulse, slays the wrong one; the result is — guilt. This warning, therefore, speaks from the rash act: Let no rational being give up control to impulse which cannot see, cannot distinguish, the nature of a deed. Man must, therefore, reflect before proceeding to action. But, through reflection, Hamlet is unable to slay the right one; thus he cannot perform the great injunction laid upon his soul. Such is his dilemma; if he acts, it is through impulse, and he falls into guilt; if he reflects, he cannot act — that is, he cannot do the Great Deed of his life, and so commits, at least, a sin of omission.
What will be Hamlet's solution? He tells it himself in the latter part of the play. Throw yourself back into impulse, and abandon control through intelligence. But what will be the result of such a doctrine? Death — the thinking being who cannot act from thought must perish.
Through the death of Polonius, Hamlet has committed the very crime which he was seeking to punish; the son of a father murdered has himself murdered a father. Retribution will call up against him a son, at whose hands he will meet his fate. So this incident offers the profoundest illustration of Hamlet's character, and, at the same time, furnishes the motive of his death. Polonius deserved to die for his offences but Hamlet had no right to slay him.
Denton, Jaques Snider. The System of Shakespeare's dramas. St. Louis: G. T. Jones and Company, Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug < >.

4. Act 4 Scene 2 He answers their questions in riddles
Hamlet refuses to tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern anything and criticises their selfish behaviour.
How does this short scene continue to deal with the consequences of Polonius’ murder?
Hamlet is not sensitive or reflective…
Readers:
Hamlet - Mia
Rosencrantz -Amel
Guildenstern - Juliet
Claudius - Annisa
Hamlet’s angry reaction to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – is it necessary?
He answers their questions in riddles

5. Hamlet is Faking Madness
Analysing Hamlet
Hamlet is Mad
Hamlet is Faking Madness
In your table groups, you must provide reasons to prove that Hamlet is actually mad and reasons to prove that Hamlet is faking his madness. To do this effectively:
Allocate each table member an Act to skim through
Each member of the group should jot down key quotes for both ‘reasons’
Read through the critical information and allocate critic quotes to each of your points.

6. Tuesday 18th October 2016 Polonius Deserves to be Killed
QFL: Can I attempt to analyse the purpose of Polonius?
Bell Work:
In your table groups, mind map what Polonius has brought to the play so far.
Think about his:
-relationships
-plot device

7. ‘Polonius has no redeeming features – he deserved to be killed.’
To what extent do you agree with this analysis?

8. Polonius in an incompetent schemer…
As chief advisor to the King, Polonius is well established in the Danish court, but he seems to feel that his position is unstable. He hangs onto his power by agreeing with everything Claudius says and doing everything he asks.
Polonius is knowledgeable about courtly matters and the principles of good kingship, but struggles to apply his intelligence effectively. This means that he is prone to making errors of judgement.
Polonius emphasises that his advice has always been correct and he’s never been ‘proved otherwise’ (2:2:155). Essentially, it seems as if Polonius used to be very capable, but he’s older and less competent now. He’s become more of a fool than a counsellor.

9. Polonius’ Relationship with his Children is Complicated
Polonius behaves as though he is a wise man but he can’t resist childish schemes and deception. Ironically, his most elaborate schemes involve his children, Laertes and Ophelia.
The way that Polonius talks to his superiors is respectful and he is careful about what he says. This contrasts with the way he speaks to his children. For instance he is blunt and direct when speaking to Ophelia: ‘Pooh, you speak like a green girl’ (1:3:101) He does not feel the need to flatter his own children in the same way he does when talking to others.
Polonius does not trust his children and tries to control them, but ironically, it is his children who shouldn't trust him - he’s motivated by self interest and not what is best for them.
Contemporary Context – A04
It was also suggested that Polonius was based on Lorrd Burghley, a spymaster in Elizabeth’s court, who had spied on his son in Paris. Polonius’ critical, interfering and self righteous nature is also said to be a parody of the Puritans – the Puritans hated the theatre, which may explain why Shakespeare made him such a laughable character.

10. Polonius and Laertes Spy Deception Scandal
For the following - Laertes and Ophelia, you have been provided with key words that help to convey the complicated nature of Polonius’ relationship with them.
Provide a short quote that supports the following words:
Polonius and Laertes
Spy
Deception
Scandal
Polonius and Ophelia
Low opinion
Corruptible
Baby
Obeys
Hypocritical
Demanding
Key Scenes:
Act 1 scene 3
Act 2 Scene 1

11. The Purpose of Polonius…
Find examples from the play where Polonius:
Ruins Hamlet and Ophelia’s Relationship
Provides some comic relief
His scheming and foolishness are his own downfall

12. ADMIN Folders should be organised One section for:
Classwork
Critics/Essays
2. The theme trackers should be placed with the classwork (ideally after we have studied each act)
3. Act 3 Theme Tracker Homework for ½ term

13. ‘Polonius has no redeeming features – he deserved to be killed.’
To what extent do you agree with this analysis?
You will now need to, as a group, provide some examples from the play for reasons why Polonius did not deserve to die.
What qualities did he have that are significant? Maybe as a father or as a chief advisor?
Use the further reading to support these points you come up with.

14. ‘Polonius has no redeeming features – he deserved to be killed.’
To what extent do you agree with this analysis?
Because of this - when providing your point of view about whether or not Polonius deserved to die, you must acknowledge the other point of view then counter argue.
Complete the question as an essay response. Ensure that you use CRITICS to inform your response.

15. Hamlet Returns – spurred on by the Captain
Tuesday 1st November 2016
QFL : Can I analyse Hamlet’s soliloquy to ascertain his change in mood?
Act 4 Scene 3-4
Hamlet Returns – spurred on by the Captain
Bell Work:
Though Gertrude is still nominally the wife of Claudius, she is no longer, psychically or sexually , in dyadic union with him. She has…consented to rejoin Hamlet in the paternal triangle , thus re establishing the family configuration in its original form, prior to the intervention of Claudius.’
John Russell, Hamlet and Narcissus (1995)
What are your thoughts on this?

16. Act 4 Scene 3
How does Shakespeare begin to present Claudius as the villain of the story and Hamlet as the hero ‘loved of the distracted multitude’ so that by Act 5, we will be in no doubt of where our sympathies lie?
Readers:
King – Mia
Rosencrantz – Amal
Hamlet – Tejasbna

17. Act 4 Scene 4 Readers: Fortinbras – Mia Captain – Annisa Hamlet – Jay
Rosencrantz – Suad
Alone, Hamlet examines the action of Fortinbras and compares it with his own. As when he compared himself with the actor (Act 2, Scene 2) the comparison leaves him feeling ashamed. He resolves to have bloody thoughts from now.
The episode with the Captain which precedes Hamlet’s soliloquy is a powerful reminder to the audience and to Hamlet of his father’s battle with King Fortinbras , which was similarly prompted merely by a desire for glory.
Shakespeare has been remarkably skilful in his management of tone in the soliloquy as a means on the one hand of stressing again that Hamlet is a man of considerable intellect…and on the other of revealing how the turbulent desire for revenge in him precludes dispassionate reasoning.’
Alex Newell, The Soliloquies in Hamlet (1991)
Hamlet's final soliloquy appears in Q2 but not in the First Folio. Some critics argue that Shakespeare himself cut the passage from the Folio as he made revisions to his work over the years before his death. It is possible that the editors of the Folio printed a copy revised by Shakespeare, but it is highly unlikely that Shakespeare would mutilate his own work by removing such an integral part of the play.

18. How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;'
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!
Hamlet's last soliloquy is crucial to our understanding of his character development. By the end of the soliloquy, Hamlet brings to a halt his solemn contemplation on the immoral act of murderous revenge, and finally accepts it as his necessary duty. It is not that Hamlet has presented a solid and reasonable argument to convince himself of his terrible responsibility; rather he has driven himself to the conclusion with intense and distorted thoughts. Hamlet accuses himself of forgetting his father in that "bestial oblivion" (43), yet, he thinks his problem could be "thinking too precisely on the event" (44). Moreover, although Hamlet has seen Fortinbras only for a moment earlier in the play, and knows nothing of his true motives for going to war, Hamlet convinces himself that Fortinbras is fighting to protect his honor. Part of Hamlet relishes the idea of such conviction, however illogical and futile, and so he focuses on the image of Fortinbras courageously leading his troupes. Hamlet's reason, the part of him that has been dominant throughout the play; the part of him that questions the "honor" in murder and revenge, this time cannot provide a rebuttal. So Hamlet is overcome by his obligations to enact revenge.

19. How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;'
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

20. Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;'
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

21. When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;'
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

22. Wherever Hamlet looks, he sees reflections of himself’. Discuss.
Act II Scene II - Hamlet meets the Players
Act IV Scene IV -Hamlet meets Fortinbras’ army

23. Analysing Ophelia’s Madness
Tuesday 1st November 2016
QFL: Can I analyse the language used in Ophelia’s songs?
Madness
Analysing Ophelia’s Madness
Bell Work:CONTEXT: Write this down.
For a lady to have her hair down as the first quarto directs ‘Enter Ophelia playing on a lute, and her hair down singing’ (IV.5.14) would be regarded in Elizabethan times as an offence against social decorum similar to Hamlet’s sudden appearance in Ophelia’s closet.

24. Act 4 Scene 5 Ophelia and Laertes both go mad – sort of!
Ophelia goes insane
Laertes is angry

25. Act IV Scene V Readers: Queen - Amel Gentleman - Juliet
Horatio - Danielle
Ophelia- Mia
King - Jay
Messenger - Annisa
Laertes - Tejasbna
This scene is like a second exposition. A father is dead; we watch the ways his children respond. In Hamlet’ absence, Shakespeare rapidly develops Polonius’ children as stylised foils to two aspects of the Prince’s personality.
Ophelia is pitiably passive
Laertes displays a rash active response
Where Hamlet was melancholy and talked of suicide, Ophelia simply goes mad and kills herself.
Where Hamlet was instructed by the ghost to take revenge and does not, Laertes plays the conventional revenge hero.

26. Analysing Ophelia’s Songs
Where Hamlet may be faking madness, Ophelia is definitely insane. Polonius’ death and Hamlet’s rejection leave Ophelia alone and without the men that she depended on. She is unable to function without them.
Ophelia’s madness is shown through her songs. They are mostly nonsense, but there is sexual undertone that Horatio worries might spark rumours.
Ophelia:
To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.

27. By Gis and by Saint Charity, Alack, and fie for shame!
Shakespeare lends dramatic variety to this stage of the play by using a young girl’s plaintive music to generate pathos. Ophelia’s songs are a mixture of pretty sadness and bawdy.
Critics have used these songs to question Ophelia’s chastity - this song is about how young men give false promises of marriage to make women sleep with them. OR
These songs suggest that Ophelia has sexuality on her mind - perhaps the pressures of remaining chaste have led to her madness.
Ophelia’s evident insanity symbolises the fact that the rotten elements in Denmark (like corruption and madness) which were hidden, are now becoming clearer.
Ophelia:
By Gis and by Saint Charity,
Alack, and fie for shame!
Young men will do't, if they come to't;
By cock, they are to blame.
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,
You promised me to wed.
So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed.

28. Ophelia’s Madness

29. Shakespeare and Madness
Alternative Shakespearian plays that display the theme of madness
Malvolio’s "mad" scene in Twelfth Night 3.4
The scene following Duncan’s murder in Macbeth 2.3
Leontes’s jealous rage in The Winter’s Tale 1.1
Titus’s famous banquet scene in Titus Andronicus 5.3
Caesar’s assassination in Julius Caesar 3.1

30. Read through the essay by Elaine Showalter, who writes about Hamlet from a feminist perspective.
Tragedies, Gender, sexuality, courtship and marriage, Interpretations of ‘Madness’
Through madness, the women on stage can suddenly make a forceful assertion of their being. The lyric form and broken syntax and unbridled imagination all show ways of breaking through unbearable social restraints.
Maurice Charney, Hamlet’s Fictions (1998)
‘Frailty, thy name is woman!’ In what ways does this comment help to illuminate the play Hamlet?

31. Monday 7th November 2016
Laertes is Rumbled
QFL: Can I understand how Claudius manages to manipulate Laertes.
Bell Work:
There is no sense in which Ophelia may be said to grow up in the course of the play.’
Maurice Charney, Hamlet’s Fictions (1998)
To what extent do you agree with this?

32. ‘ There’s such divinity doth hedge a king/That treason can but peep to what it would’ - Claudius’ hypocrisy
Act 4 Scene 5
Unlike Hamlet, Laertes immediately seeks revenge for his father’s murder storming Elsinore with an army of followers.
Readers:
Laertes - Jay
Claudius- Olivia
Queen -Amal
Followers - Suad
Ophelia - Sammara
Laertes’ unthinking passion is no match for the King’s shrewdness and cunning.
How is Claudius’ villainy developed in this scene with Laertes?
Symbolism of the flowers/herbs:
fennel - flattery
columbines - adultery
rue - repentance
daisy - broken hearts
violets - fidelity
What is the significance of the symbolism behind the flowers that Ophelia hands out?

33. Act 4 Scene 6:
Readers:
Horatio - Mia
Servant - Amel
First Sailor - Sinduja
Deux – ex - machina:
Shakespeare advancing the plot quickly at the cost of some credibility.
Explain in your own words how Hamlet manages to escape the pirate ship.
‘Although the play is filled with tragedy and horror, many of the scenes are extremely funny, and indeed for much of the action, Hamlet and Claudius stalk each other like two murderous clowns attempting to achieve a strategic advance over the other.’
Michael D. Bristol, ‘Carnival and the Carnivalesque in Hamlet’, New Casebooks: Shakespeare’s Tragedies, ed. Susan Zimmerman (1998)
To what extent do you agree with this statement. Base your response on Act 4 Scene 6 and the rest of the play as a whole.

34. Readers:
Claudius: Juliet
Laertes: Tejasbna
Messenger: Annisa
Queen: Danielle
Act 4 Scene 7:
Claudius and Laertes hatch a Plan.
Shakespeare recapitulates the stages of a revenge play, this time with the role played by an uncomplicated, rash young man who does not go through any of Hamlet’s deliberations.
What two reasons does Claudius provide for not putting Hamlet on trial?
2. How does Claudius test Laertes’ resolution? (checking his seriousness for revenge)
3. What question does Claudius ask Laertes to prove himself his father’s son? Why is this ironic?
4. How does Shakespeare continue to present Claudius as a villain and increase the audience’s sympathy towards Hamlet?

35. Laertes is a FOIL to Hamlet
Shakespeare uses various foils to develop Hamlet’s character. The main foil is Laertes, a young man also seeking revenge for his father’s murder.
As foils for one another, Hamlet and Laertes have several things in common:
Hamlet and Laertes both love Ophelia and have a strong sense of love, loyalty and respect for their fathers.
Both are students studying abroad, well known for their swordsmanship.
They both claim to be honorable, but seek revenge through devious means – Laertes uses a poisoned blade and Hamlet feigns madness.
Foils also show contrasts between characters. When Hamlet says ‘I’ll be your foil Laertes’ ( ) he’s modestly saying that the difference in their fencing ability will make Laertes’ skills seem even better.

36. Comparing Laertes and Hamlet
is concerned with spirituality - he wants eternal punishment, so he refuses to kill Claudius when he is praying.
Compare how Laertes is Hamlet’s opposite using the points given for Hamlet.

37. Comparing Laertes and Hamlet
Chooses to study at the scholarly humanist University in Wittenberg
Is a tragic hero - he finds himself unable to take revenge for his father’s death
is a thinker but he wishes that he was more impulsive like Laertes. However, the one time he does act without thinking it has a disastrous consequence.
is concerned with spirituality - he wants eternal punishment, so he refuses to kill Claudius when he is praying.
chooses to study in Paris so that he can live a hedonistic lifestyle
is a traditional revenge hero. He returns home to take revenge when he hears that his father’s dead.
is rash and impulsive but, while Hamlet can act on impulse, Laertes doesn’t think rationally. He acts on his emotions so he’s easily manipulated - Claudius convinces him that vengeance is honourable.
is only concerned with the present and has no time for spirituality - Laertes says he would cut Hamlet’s throat ‘i’ th’ church’

38. Laertes’ language echoes his fathers…
Look at the following scenes to help you use the key words for Laertes’ language…
Act 1 Sc 3
Act 5 Sc 1
Laertes’ language echoes his fathers…
Insincere (5.1)
Pompous tone (1.3)
Exaggeration (5.1)
Hollow and unfeeling (5.1)
Abuses words (1.3
Content and style (1.3)

39. Laertes pretty much exists to act as a foil to Hamlet
Laertes pretty much exists to act as a foil to Hamlet. Horatio’s the cling film, sticking with Hamlet, Ophelia’s the baking paper – she might have a bun in the oven, and Fortinbras is the kitchen roll, he comes and clears up the mess in the end.

40. Tuesday 8th November 2016 Ophelia’s Death
QFL: Can I explore the presentation of Ophelia’s death?
Bell Work: Read through the following and jot it down into your own words.
Gertrude’s account of Ophelia’s death is one of several poetic set pieces in the play; a self contained cameo in Shakespeare’s early lyrical style.
Many have commented upon its ‘unreality’ ; it does not sound like Gertrude talking. Her account is too rich, too improbable to fit the situation or the narrator.
It could be that Gertrude sanitises Ophelia’s suicide to spare Laertes’ feelings and thus not add to Hamlet’s danger.Gertrude deliberately blames everything in her surroundings for her death, rather than the girl herself.

41. Revenger’s sometimes pretend to be mad
In revenge tragedies, the revenger often fakes madness to help him carry out his plan without arousing suspicion.
Titus Andronicus and The Spanish Tragedy

42. Hamlet’s Madness might be an Act…
Provide examples from the play where we see evidence of the following three areas:
Hamlet planning his madness
Appearance
Calculated language

43. …or depression and stress may have made him mad
Now, provide examples for the following area:
His first soliloquy
Questioning of his faith
Audience never see Hamlet before his father’s death so its hard to know what he’s normally like
Act 5 Scene 1 Hamlet warns Laertes
The final scene, Hamlet declares he really was mad.

44. Ophelia
Polonius’ death disturbs Ophelia – the King calls her madness ‘the poison of deep grief’. Its made worse by the fact that Polonius was killed by the man she loved and that his burial was done quickly and secretly while her brother is away and unable to defend the family’s honour.
Ophelia falls into a different kind of madness from Hamlet:
Ophelia’s speech
She has lost self consciousness
Her death is troubling;
a) her death took place offstage
b) distressed by grief so she didn’t care that she was drowning
c) it seem strange that Ophelia death was witnesses but wasn’t prevented.

45. Ophelia’s madness seems genuine
Ophelia’s insanity may be a good contrast to Hamlet’s madness as they’re both grieving for murdered fathers. By comparing the two characters, the audience realises that Ophelia is genuinly mad while Hamlet’s sanity is more ambiguous.
Compare how Shakespeare presents the theme of madness in the play Hamlet.
You should refer to critical reading in the course of your answer.