Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Act III, Scene ii, Lines 150~161



Ophelia: O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!
              The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword,
              Th' expectation and rose of the fair state,
              The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
              Th' observ'd of all observers, quite, quite down!
              And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,
              That suck'd the honey of his [music] vows,
              Now see [that] noble and most sovereign reason
              Like sweet bells jangled out of time, and harsh;
              That unmatch'd form and stature of blown youth
              Blasted with ecstasy.  O, woe is me
              T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see.

This is Ophelia's soliloque as Hamlet bids her to 'get to a nunnery'.  To Ophelia, this is proof enough that Hamlet has lost his sanity.  Having pursued her so keenly previously, and now not only disowning his love for her, but ruthlessly scoffing and ridiculing her.  Ophelia can be seen as a scape-goat figure in this tragedy, being the only one dying without a stained reputation.  She is most pure and most innocent.  True, Gertrude is not a villain.  However, by marring the murderer of her husband, she has contaminated her pure soul, with or without knowing the crime committed by her newly wed husband.  Therefore, it is important to have Ophelia's suicide acting as a sacrifice in order for justice to prevail once more. 

Though it is not clear whether her death was mainly caused by Hamlet's dejection, her father's death, or both; she dies, and that is a crucial detail that can bring about order back to the state.

Ophelia在Hamlet嘲笑她之後說出這段感傷獨白。對她來說,這已經足以證明Hamlet神志不清,已不是她所愛的男人。之前對她熱烈的求愛,如今卻演變成冷酷的嘲笑諷刺。還有什麼會另一個熱戀中的女子更悲傷的事情?不過在劇中,她的死是必要的。因為劇中沒有其他角色與她一樣,無邪、純白。對此劇來說,她扮演的角色是一種犧牲品。唯獨犧牲她,公正才會見光明。雖然Gertrude不算壞人,但在她嫁給殺害親夫的那刻起[無論她是否知道真相],她的靈魂潔白與否已經不是她自己能夠決定的。所以Ophelia的自殺是必要的。

雖然引起她自殺的念頭可能是被自己所愛的人拒絕、或是因為父親被殺害而傷心過度、或兩者皆是,肯定的是,唯有這種純淨角色的一死,才能夠還原公道、恢復原來公正的社會。


收場白:會以女角色們做為本系列探討的話題,最主要的原因是因為我是女生。女生念起女角色的台詞本來就比較自然。而由於我的英國腔只有娛樂效果,對於發音的精準度我的確不是很有把握,所以才會勉強以北美腔呈現。另外,這些是『朗讀版』而非『戲劇版』。所以對於情感表達能力的不足,非演員的我必須先跟說聲抱歉。

Epilogue:This series contain discussions of Shakespeare's female characters mainly because I am a woman myself, and it is only reasonable that a woman reads a woman's part.  As for the accent, my British accent is only suffice in terms of entertainment values.  Other than that, I make no other claims.  Therefore, I thought it best to do the readings in my original accent.  Also, as a reminder, these are 'readings' and not 'dramatizations' of the lines.  In case anyone would care enough to comment on the deliverance of feeling and emotion, I must, hereby apologize for I am no voice-actress.
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