There is a common misconception as to what drove Ophelia mad. In Hamlet there is a scene where Ophelia is seen to be handing her brother Laertes a bunch of different flowers with specific purposes. For example, she states “There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love, remember: and there is pansies. that's for thoughts.” Ophelia is inferred to be mad or so have gone crazy due to her father’s murder. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the flowers scene between Ophelia and Laertes was a symbol for the struggles between Ophelia and Hamlet.
In “Shakespeare’s Hamlet,” James Persoon poses the question of if the common misconception that the flowers were for Laertes. This is assumed because Ophelia was giving the flowers to Laertes and he was talking back. It is assumed that she is giving him these flowers so that he could remember their father and to think about the plan of revenge for who killed their father. Though these assumptions are very easy to understand, that does not make them right. …show more content…
This would tie Ophelia to Hamlet through their romantic relationship. He also explains how the flowers have lost their “sweet breath,”(p.4) which explains how Hamlet forgetting her in his maddened state has influenced Ophelia to become mad herself. He states, “Perhaps Ophelia's gift of "remembrances" and pansies to her brother when they are more appropriate for a lover contributes to our sense of her madness.”(p.4) which introduces the thought that maybe there was a symbolic meaning behind the flowers other than a mad Ophelia’s way of
In “Shakespeare’s Hamlet,” James Persoon poses the question of if the common misconception that the flowers were for Laertes. This is assumed because Ophelia was giving the flowers to Laertes and he was talking back. It is assumed that she is giving him these flowers so that he could remember their father and to think about the plan of revenge for who killed their father. Though these assumptions are very easy to understand, that does not make them right. …show more content…
This would tie Ophelia to Hamlet through their romantic relationship. He also explains how the flowers have lost their “sweet breath,”(p.4) which explains how Hamlet forgetting her in his maddened state has influenced Ophelia to become mad herself. He states, “Perhaps Ophelia's gift of "remembrances" and pansies to her brother when they are more appropriate for a lover contributes to our sense of her madness.”(p.4) which introduces the thought that maybe there was a symbolic meaning behind the flowers other than a mad Ophelia’s way of