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Examine Shakespeare's Presentation of Ophelia and how a modern audience might respond to her
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EXAMINE SHAKESPEARE'S PRESENTATION OF OPHELIA AND HOW A MODERN AUDIENCE MIGHT RESPOND TO HER. Throughout the play, Ophelia is treated as an inferior by the men in her life. She is instructed and also used by them to achieve their own selfish goals. As Rex Gibson states, Shakespearean women were 'virtually helpless pawns in the power games of their main relatives.' Her tone towards them is most often submissive and accepting of their commands, although the audience is given occasional glimpses of the seemingly intelligent and opinionated young woman beneath her clichéd exterior. In the play, she is merely a side story. She has no particular role in the play rather than to reflect the traits of other characters, and this secondary importance to the plot reflects Shakespeare's presentation of her. Upon Ophelia's first appearance in the play, it becomes obvious that she and her brother have a close relationship. Laertes...
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