Hamlet: Branaghs Ophelia and Showalters Representing Ophelia Essay

Hamlet Branaghs Ophelia and Showalters Representing Ophelia Ophelia falls to the floor, her screams contrasting eerily with the song pieces she uses as her speech. In an instant she is writhe and thrusting her pelvis in such a gross sexual manner that it becomes buy the farm that, in his film interpretation of William Shakespeares Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh wants to imply a wholesome relationship between female insanity and female sexuality. Such a relationship is exactly what Elaine Showalter discusses in her essay -- Representing Ophelia Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism -- I get out be showing first of all the representational bonds between female insanity and female sexuality (Showalter 223). Tracing various representations of Ophelia throughout hi bill, Showalter attempts to tell Ophelias story by examining the way in which the culture of a society, their views of women, and psychiatric theory relates to the representation of Ophelia at that time . With the amount of attention Branagh affords the role of Ophelia in his film, and because Branaghs Ophelia represents many of Showalters ideas close Ophelias drowning death, the bond between sexuality and insanity, and the conventions of femininity, Branaghs Ophelia can supplement Showalters essay -- her trace of the history of representation of Ophelia -- serving as a Post-modern example of the representation of Ophelia. In his representation of Ophelia, the relationship that Branagh attempts to establish between female insanity and female sexuality is a strong and obvious one. Through costume, cinematography, blocking, and various other aspects, Branagh makes clear his interpretation that Ophelias insanity is t... ...helia. Not only does Branagh use the conventions of femininity that Showalter describes but he also relies heavily upon ideas similar to Showalters, that everything about Ophelia is symbolic, to convey his Ophelia as spokesperson of femininity and to express the inverse correlation that such femininity has with Ophelias sexuality and her insanity. Works Cited Hamlet. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perf. Julie Christie, Billy Crystal, Kate Winslett. Castle Rock Entertainment, 1996. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Susanne L. Wofford. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. capital of Massachusetts St. Martins, 1994. Showalter, Elaine. Representing Ophelia Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism. William Shakespeare Hamlet. Ed. Susanne L. Wofford. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. Boston St. Martins, 1994. 220-238.