A Woman s Descent Into Madness - 1588 Words

Shayna Pospisil Professor Callis English 112 29 April 2015 A women’s descent into madness Hamlet is praised as one of the greatest literary works ever written but unlike the title, many characters play key roles in the development of the story and his progression towards revenge induced madness. One such character is Hamlet’s lover Ophelia. She is a pivotal character in the effectiveness as well as execution of the plot for revenge. One fact that is commonly short sited is the relationship Ophelia has with Hamlet and how that ultimately affects his road towards revenge. Without Ophelia there is no Hamlet. Ophelia’s innocence, lack of knowledge and ignorance, and weakness of the mind all play a key role in not only her own but also Hamlet’s demise. One of the most talked about subjects in the play itself is Ophelia’s innocence of purity. Because Hamlet was going to Denmark a relationship with Ophelia would never work therefore her father felt the intense need to protect her innocence. Any kind of relationshi p would be detrimental to not only Ophelia but her family as well. If Ophelia were to lose her purity before marriage she would no longer be desirable to any other man because she would be â€Å"used goods†. That would reflect not only on herself but on her family. Another interesting point is just how protective her brother Laertes is of her virtue. In Act I, Laertes gives advice to Ophelia on the pitfalls of a pre-marital relationship in a lengthy speech that s gearedShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1579 Words   |  7 Pagesthe nature of a nineteenth century woman’s descent into madness. After moving into a new place the narrator s mind begins to slowly degenerate because of the conditions of her environment; which completely affect her life and identity. The narrator a middle class woman moves into a colonial hereditary mansion for the summer. She lives with her husband John and two other adults. All three adults affect her mentality in different ways. John is the narrator s husband and is also a physician. Before theRead MoreThe Yellow Wall Paper By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1107 Words   |  5 Pageshealth in the 19th century and is considered to be an important part of early American feminist literature. During the 19th century, women were confined to the idea of the â€Å"ideal† woman and the â€Å"domestic sphere.† According to Barbara Welter, in her 1966 paper entitled â€Å"The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860,† an ideal woman embodied piety, domesticity, pureness and submissive. Women would find true happiness in taking care of their families and living a simple and uncomplicated life. â€Å"The Yellow Wall-paper†Read More A Doll’s House Essay1511 Words   |  7 Pagesseemingly ignorant chi ld-wife to a desperate woman in order to preserve her illusion of the security of home and ironically her own sanity. A Doll’s House ‘s depiction of the entrapment of the average 19th century housewife and the societal pressures placed upon her displays a woman’s gradual descent into madness. Ibsen illustrates this descent through Torvald’s progressive infantilization of Nora and the pressure on Nora to adhere to societal norms. Nora is a woman pressured by 19th century societal standardsRead MoreEsther’S Madness Is Presented As A Consequence Of Her Rebellion1316 Words   |  6 PagesEsther’s madness is presented as a consequence of her rebellion against the archetypes of gender roles, which she is surrounded by in the novel. Chodorow argues that, in our subjective understanding of gender relations, individuals ‘create new meanings in terms of their own unique biographies.’ Chodorow’s argument is evident in how Esther und erstands gender relations through her experience with Buddy Willard. His mother believes that ‘what a man is is an arrow into the future and what a woman is isRead MoreThe Effects Of Postpartum Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper1273 Words   |  6 PagesCharlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, is a short story, published in the late 1800s, about one woman’s descent to madness. Finding herself plagued with postpartum depression after the birth of her son, the narrator’s ailment is overlooked by everyone around her. Her husband, â€Å"...a physician of high standing..† (Gilman) describes the narrator’s illness as â€Å"temporary nervous depression...a slight hysterical tendency.† Her brother and male doctor, also agree with this diagnosis and becauseRead MorePostpartum Depression And The Yellow Wallpaper1536 Words   |  7 PagesYellow Wallpaper† The descent into madness by the main character in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† shows the impact of postpartum depression coupled with the oppression of women during the time period in which it was written.   The author, Charlotte Gilman, suffered from postpartum depression herself and is considered the model for the main character and what she goes through, as chronicled in an article she later wrote in 1913 entitled â€Å"Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper.†   The woman in the story is takenRead MoreInternal And External Captivity By Langston Hughes1739 Words   |  7 Pagesthe narrator’s captivity within a room and the mechanics of her mind growing more and more chaotic as her isolation from the outside world (mostly her husband) leads to her insanity. Kate Chopin expresses the many freedoms of an upper-class married woman but shines some light on how she is still restricted through this marriage and by her health in her text â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, eventually reaching a sense of liberation only to abruptly lose it. Throughout all three of these texts, the theme of freedomRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper Analysis872 Words   |  4 Pageskeeping it her own little secret. Her writings include her thoughts about john, and descriptions of the room, mainly describing the wallpaper and how she believes there to be a woman trapped inside. She is convinced that she herself, is the woman trapped inside of the wallpaper and she tears the wallpaper down to free the woman and give herself a sense of relief. While reading this story it is highly important for us as readers to think about the context that this story was written in. The historicalRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Perkins Gilman1523 Words   |  7 Pageshow the conflicts of the narrator of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, and her behavior/actions towards these conflicts indirectly state the themes of gender role, freedom, madnes s, and women’s health throughout the story. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† starts off with the narrator, an unnamed woman, who is writing in her journal. Speaking in first person, the narrator of the story has recently given birth to her first child and has been diagnosed by her husband, a physician, as sufferingRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Charlotte Perkins Gilman1700 Words   |  7 Pagesone such author that has used themes and symbols to effectively give a certain story she wrote a large amount of importance in furthering her ideology with society and reformation at the time. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† uses the symbolism of the story s title, confinement to the room, and the narrator’s husband to reveal different themes about society at the time the book was written along with why Gilman wrote the story as she did. Gilman wrote â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† in 1890, and it was