I don't have a particular anthropological theory for this post. I just have this tiny pet peeve about the younger women in Shakespeare's plays that I feel like ranting about briefly because of Ophelia's suicide.
Something that I've noticed in Shakespeare's plays is the reactions of women to tragedies in relation to their age. It seems to me that the younger the girl is the more melodramatic she is, but I know this is the case in real life too. Sometimes I just want to slap these ridiculous girls in the face. Do not kill yourself over a man. Good heavens, ladies, keep it together.
I don't feel like our society is really helping young girls learn to control themselves emotionally at all, in fact I think it's encouraging them to be even more melodramatic, prissy, and strumpet-esque. Or has it always been this way? Was it this way in Shakespeare's day too? Being a whore with a temper does not make you a powerful woman. I'm not saying that Ophelia's character was a whore, or that she had a temper by any means, but I do think she overreacted.
And to lighten the mood, I'd like to share this little youtube video dealing with Ophelia's situation. Hopefully it won't be too offensive.
i totally love this clip. I didn't think anyone knew about it! And I was thinking about it as I read Ophelia's death. SO glad you're awesome enough to post this!
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