RALPH:  This scene is rightly famous for the poetic beauty of its descriptions, but I love it because it’s so symbolically perfect – it just ties together so much of what’s happened so far in the play.

SARAH:  How do you mean, Ralph?

RALPH:  Well, first, it’s fitting that it’s Gertrude who comes to announce Ophelia’s death.  First of all, they’re the only two women in the play, we’ve already mentioned that – but more interestingly, Gertrude is, in a completely indirect way, a kind of source of Ophelia’s troubles.

SARAH:  How is this Gertrude’s fault?

RALPH:  Sorry, I don’t mean that – it’s just that the main reason that Hamlet is so worked up about women’s chastity, and female sexuality, is that he’s obsessed with his mother’s new marriage.  This causes him to rant and rave about Ophelia, which in turn causes her, at least partly causes her, to go crazy, which then causes her to fall in the stream and kill herself.

SARAH:  Interesting, Ralph. So it’s not Gertrude’s fault, and yet Gertrude is one of the triggers for this long, tragic chain reaction.

RALPH:  Yes, and tragic is the right word – in fact, it’s only now that the play really starts to get tragic.  In fact, here, it’s almost like a greek tragedy, where Gertrude is the chorus, narrating the horrible things that happen offstage.

SARAH:  Yes, and Gertrude’s narrative also echoes Ophelia’s earlier narrative, when she comes to her father in Act II and describes how Hamlet burst into her room.

RALPH:  Exactly.  That earlier scene launches all the action of Act II, because Polonius runs off to tell the King, and they begin their plotting.  And this scene with Gertrude will launch the next part as Act V begins, as it takes place at Ophelia’s burial.

SARAH:  Ralph, we haven’t yet talked about the alternative way to understand Ophelia’s death.

RALPH:  What do you mean, Sarah? She slipped and drowned.  You don’t think… that someone killed her?

SARAH:  Oh don’t be ridiculous!  I’m referring, of course, to the idea that Ophelia committed suicide.

RALPH:  Oh yeah, of course. Well, it doesn’t seem entirely out of the question, does it?  She certainly seems to have nothing to live for, and she does seem to have lost her sanity.

SARAH:  Furthermore, there’s obviously speculation at Elsinore that it was suicide.  We’ll see in Act V that Ophelia’s gravediggers will discuss her death, and they seem fairly convinced that she killed herself.

RALPH:  Suicide is one of the mortal sins, in which case Ophelia shouldn’t be allowed a proper burial.  The gravediggers speculate that she’s only getting a funeral because she’s from an upper-class family with influence.

SARAH:  But simply because some gravediggers think she killed herself – that’s not exactly evidence, is it?

RALPH:  No, not at all – in fact, we’ve seen this play is full of characters misinterpreting each other, both their actions and their characters overall.  And – the idea of suicide has been floating around in the play ever since Hamlet’s first soliloquy.

SARAH:  And yet the way that Gertrude describes her death, it’s so compelling – Ophelia has completely lost her mind, she’s no longer aware of her situation, and she certainly doesn’t care what happens to her.  So when she falls into the water, she doesn’t try to save herself – she may not even realize she’s drowning – but she doesn’t intentionally try to end her life.

RALPH:  That’s what’s so tragically symbolic about Ophelia’s death – it’s as if she’s already drowning in the poisonous atmosphere of the court.  Her madness and her death are both signs that she’s letting go, perhaps even escaping this cloistered situation where no viable opportunities or joys seem possible.

SARAH:  That’s fascinating, Ralph, if we think about Ophelia’s madness in comparison to Hamlet’s.  Hamlet’s madness is a strategy – there is method in it, as Polonius says.  For him, it’s a way forward, a part of plan to achieve his goals – although it’s still not entirely clear how his madness fits in those plans, but regardless, that’s the idea.

RALPH:  While Ophelia’s madness is not a way forward, but a way out – a way out of the terrible grief and pressure of her situation, and even a way out of the strict behavior codes imposed on a young woman in her social class.  Ophelia’s madness is striking in its transgressions – she wanders wherever she wants, finally doing and saying, or singing, whatever comes into her head, even if they’re dirty songs.

SARAH:  So there’s a kind of parallel between Ophelia’s and Hamlet’s madness, however different they are.  It also seems to me that Ophelia is an important part of the parallel between Hamlet and Laertes.

RALPH:  What do you mean, Sarah?

SARAH:  Well, both Hamlet and Laertes have had their fathers murdered, and both now have to contend with the pull of revenge, as an act of duty.  But they also both suffer the tragic loss of Ophelia to whom they have strong emotional attachment.

RALPH:  Good point, Sarah.  And it seems that Hamlet only really admits to himself that he loved Ophelia, after it was too late, when he sees her funeral procession in Act V.

SARAH:  Laertes and Hamlet even compete in their expressions of love for Ophelia, going so far as to starting a fight with each other while literally standing in Ophelia’s open grave.  This competition is absurd and inappropriate – but perhaps it helps us understand how much Ophelia’s death has truly rattled Hamlet.

RALPH:  I did love you once.

SARAH:  Sorry?

RALPH:  Oh… nothing… just quoting Hamlet…