Blog #26: Hamlet AP Test Prep Materials

Essay: “Reading Ophelia’s Madness” by Gabrielle Dane

Argument: Ophelia's mad ramblings reflect the schism between appearance and reality, between what "seems" versus what "is, (Dane). The author quotes an author of another literary criticism, Ranjini Phillip, when she writes, “In her madness [Ophelia] mimics the corruption of the state of Denmark,”. As Ophelia does not have a motherly figure in her life, she finds it difficult to decipher the contradictory expectations of her father (to stay away from Hamlet) and to follow her heart (as she believed she truly loved Hamlet). Ophelia’s desperation sends her into madness as she cannot please her father, brother, and Hamlet as they all long for different things from her.

Clues to author’s position: The author touches on the subject that Ophelia has no mother figure in her life, which is used to help justify a reason as to why she descended into madness.

Ethos: Dane quotes an author of another criticism when she says, The young woman Jacques Lacan calls "that piece of bait named Ophelia"5 is used, abused, confused--utterly manipulated by the men in her life: father, lover, brother, king. Scoffed at, ignored, suspected, disbelieved, commanded to distrust her own feelings, thoughts and desires, Ophelia is fragmented by contradictory messages.

Logos: “Male voices fill her head, guiding her very thoughts. When the voices' directions become increasingly muddied, she grows more and more confused, more sundered from any sense of personal identity, until she finally admits to Hamlet, "I think nothing, my lord" (3.2.116-emphasis added). Then suddenly--with her brother in France, and her lover banished to England for the murder of her father--the voices stop. Confronted with such a thunderous silence, Ophelia becomes mad,” (Dane).

Pathos:

Is the essay Persuasive: Yes, I would say the essay is persuasive because the author not only uses various quotes from Hamlet to support her thesis, but also quotes other authors as well.