Ophelia

Once upon a time I went to College and I studied English. The great thing about being an English major is how everything is up for interpretation, also, you read Shakespeare. I mean almost ALL of Shakespeare. And what Shakespeare class would be complete without reading Hamlet? In this post I want to share some thoughts I had from a Shakespeare in film class. The assignment was to write a character study, below you will find my thoughts on Ophelia.

I think Ophelia is a fascinating character. She is famously known as the young girl who was in love with the Danish Prince Hamlet and then kills herself when he rejects her. But what if this wasn't the case? It is my opinion that Ophelia is much more complicated.

In the play, after Hamlet sees the ghost of his father and is told to avenge his death he says he will perform an “antic disposition” to fool the king into confessing to the murder. It is not unreasonable to assume that Ophelia is also performing madness.  There are 4 films that I watched to compare Ophelia performances. The first, and my favorite, is Kenneth Branagh. His interpretation of Ophelia is unique. He is the only director that says, “Yes, Ophelia is a performer”. His Ophelia takes the road less traveled, playing a girl who sees suicide as her only option. The other directors, Zeffirelli, Almereyda and Doran have the more traditional performances of Ophelia.

Branagh goes to great lengths in his film to show that Ophelia and Hamlet are in a relationship. As Ophelia is being interrogated by her father she remembers the time she and her prince were together, and when she and Hamlet meet in the lobby of the palace, his greeting is more than that of a friend. Branagh follows the popular notion that Ophelia is distraught over Hamlets treatment of her and that she is terribly grieved by her father’s murder by him. That is where the similarities with the traditional portrayal of Ophelia end. The first time the audience sees mad Ophelia is when she meets with the queen dressed in a strait jacket. Her speech is nonsensical at first but it soon becomes apparent that it is all an act.

When Branagh’s Ophelia has moments of lucidity he uses close ups of her face. For example, when she says “we must be patient...” Branagh cuts from lucid Ophelia to confused king and queen then back to a close up of “sane” Ophelia’s face. He does this again when Laertes witnesses his sister’s madness. Just before Ophelia goes back into her padded room the camera zooms in on her face, she looks over at her brother, recognizes him and says “g-d by you” before going of her own will into her room. The last view we have of Ophelia is of her receiving “treatment” for her madness, being sprayed by water hoses. As the attendants leave her, closing the door with a satisfying click, Branagh again closes in on Ophelia’s face to show her taking the key out of her mouth. When next we hear of Ophelia, she has committed suicide.

While Branagh is exploring new territory for the character, Franco Zefferelli displays a traditional reading of Ophelia. He shows Ophelia as that of fragile girl broken by the death of her father and Hamlet’s vicious personal attack. To show her impending madness, Zefferelli has Ophelia always apart, isolated from other people. The very first time we see her she is in a sewing room full of women, but when Laertes finds her she is separate from them. As she and her father go to see him off she walks behind the men, a chaste figure in white. Zefferelli also has Helena Bonham-Carter play Ophelia as a simpering girl, always differing to her father and brother. This view of the sweet obedient girl who is jilted by Prince Hamlet is shown most clearly in the scene where Ophelia is mad.

In this sequence Ophelia is introduced in a close up that emphasizes her disheveled appearance, then slowly pulls away to show Ophelia wandering around Elsinore singing about the dangers of allowing a man into your bed. Throughout this scene Zeffirelli continues his technique of showing Ophelia apart from the rest of the court. Entering Elsinore, she is framed by the giant oak doors and the crowds of people who have all moved away from her. Her exchange with Gertrude is nonsensical, as are her emotions. She moves from manic to despondent from second to second. There is no moment in this sequence when the audience doubts that Ophelia has lost her wits. Her nonsensical behavior guarantees that the audience feels sympathy for the poor girl jilted in love and driven mad by the grief of a lost father.

A more modern adaptation on this “traditional” madness is in Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet. His Ophelia is modern, hip, and relatable to a younger audience because of her relationship with her father and brother. Almereyda portrays Julia Stiles’ character as a young girl pressured by the adults around her to act and behave a certain way and is therefore driven to madness.

In this production the first sign that all is not well with Ophelia is just before she meets with Hamlet, as her father and the king and queen are taping a microphone to her shirt. Before the camera cuts to her and Hamlet in his apartment, it shows a close- up of Ophelia’s face and the tears on her cheeks. Clearly, the actions of the people in authority are wearing down on her. Then, in the opening of this version of act four, scene five a camera angles down to the visual representation of Ophelia’s mental state. A spiral walk way where Ophelia is running up. As she approaches Gertrude, the audience can tell that she is distraught, her cheeks are wet and her clothing is inside out. The editing out of the majority of the lines from this scene serves to convey the lack of sense in Ophelia’s words. Her rhyming is more about her descent into insanity and the loss of her father than about being jilted in love. Finally, the tracking shot of her and Gertrude walking around the spiral walkway further illustrates Ophelia’s descent into madness.

Another modern Ophelia may be seen in Gregory Doran’s production. In this portrayal of Ophelia, she is a classy young lady, always calm and poised. It is this composure that makes her madness so disturbing. Her meeting with Gertrude shows her to be even more disheveled than Almereyda’s Ophelia, a drastic change from the preppy girl who sees her brother off to school. The medium shots and the stage like setting in the act four, scene five, sequence allows the audience to have the illusion of watching the play in the theater. This gives the witnessing of Ophelia’s madness a greater intimacy. And the brilliant medium shot of the queen with a broken mirror behind her, reflecting Ophelia to the audience, represents the fracturing of the young girls mind.

While Zefferelli’s, Doran’s and Almareyda’s Hamlet adaptations present different performances of Ophelia’s madness, they all portray her as truly insane. Branagh takes all of the available material on the play and is able to direct a performance of Ophelia that is unique. His Ophelia is devastated by the actions of her boyfriend and the death of her father, but she is not insane. She is in despair and sees suicide as the only way out of her situation. However, she lives in a catholic country and believes she will not be correctly buried if she is not seen as blameless. Therefore she “performs” madness, puts on an “antic disposition”, and is able to be buried according to her faith.

Variations on a Theme

Here are some more 70's book covers:

     Farewell the Tranquil Mind by R.F. Delderfield is a historical fiction novel set mostly in France during their revolution. David Treloar must leave his native England for France after his father is caught smuggling. While there, he is taken in by a the Rouzet family and he falls in love with their cousin Charlotte Lamotte. The novel follows the goings on of the Rouzet household, a family passionate about the revolution in it's most philosophic terms. As the Revolution reaches a fever pitch David and the Rouzet family must find a way to escape Paris before they are all imprisoned. 

     This novel took me by a pleasant surprise. I began it thinking I would be enjoying another light Gothic Romance. What I held instead was a well thought out captivating historical novel. I found myself delighted by the reality of the characters, they all embody traits that you would expect in people today. The plot was engaging, the novel takes place over the course of two years, the bloodiest in the history of the French Revolution. I would recommend this novel to someone who likes to read for the details of history, but if you want historical romance, this might not be for you.

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart is a Gothic romance novel also set in France, this time post WWII. Young Linda Martin is hired by a wealthy French family, the Valmy's, to act as an English governess to their young nephew, Philippe. At first everything is very pleasant, but then strange accidents start happening around the chateau. A gun goes off and hits a tree where a moment before Philippe had been standing and a part of a balustrade on his balcony breaks off as he runs out in a thunderstorm. There are too many secrets and silent looks at the chateau, what could they all mean? And what part does the dashing Raoul, son of the intimidating Leon de Valmy, play in this drama?
     OK, this was much more along the lines of brain candy. Mary Stewart is effective in creating an atmosphere of suspense, there was one scene that left me unable to turn off the light, there is not much historical meat to the story. However, I would recommend this novel to someone looking to read on their commute, or some light reading on their lunch break.

Used bookstores....

     Hold the most amazing treasures. I like to find novels from the 70's at used bookstores. Especially romances, they have the most outrageous titles and cover art.

Here is one that I picked up recently....

     This is the story of a young woman, Christina, who goes from America to stay with her father's estranged family in England. It was her Father's dying wish that the bridge be mended between himself and his father and his daughter has gone to fulfill that desire.

     The setting is the coast of England and here there be smugglers. It is dark and dreary, the patriarch of the family is manipulating everyone into doing his bidding, including trying to blackmail Christina into marrying her cousin. Little do they know that Christina comes as a lady with a mind and a will of her own and she won't allow anyone to manipulate her so easily. 

     I enjoyed this novel. There is a love story mixed in with the intrigue of nearby smugglers and the threat of their discovery and all of these elements mixed together to make for an enjoyable reading experience.

     Also, how could you say "no" to that wonderful, dramatic cover art?

I just LOVE finding geeky finds at Goodwill.

The First 100 Pages of Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart.

Reading the first 100 pages of this novel makes me think that maybe I need to reevaluate the 100 page policy. Or maybe this book just takes a while to get started. That could prove problematic as it's only 264 pages long...

Rose Cottage is a suspense romance by Mary Stewart, who also wrote The Crystal Cave. It takes place in England shortly after WW II. We are introduced to Kathy Herrick, Née Welland. She comes from a small village in the English countryside, the illegitimate granddaughter of the gardner and cook of the local big house. She is returning to her childhood home, Todhall to retrieve some papers for her grandmother who is moving to Scotland.
On the day of her arrival she runs into an old friend, Davey Pasco, who agrees to assist her in opening her Grandmothers safe. Back at the house, she discovers that someone has been in the cottage and removed the contents of the safe. The next day she goes into the village and begins to ask questions about any goings on at Rose Cottage.

And that's the first 100 pages.

I don't know if I will finish this novel. It didn't really grasp my attention, and I don't really feel motivated to discover who would have gone into her grandmother's house to get the things out of her safe.

So, for now, I will set Rose Cottage down and move on to the next novel.

Pinterest Inspired Outfit

Y'all, sometimes I hate taking pictures. Anyways, the outfit to the left was one that was spotted on Pinterest. I love simple outfits made up of basic pieces. On the right is my version of the outfit, waist down is pretty much the same, I changed up the outfit by choosing the cropped denim jacket and instead of a screen print tee I went with a white tank.

Another Writing Exercise

There is a White Barn candle on my desk. It's not lit yet. The silver bottlecap top is crusty with soap scum. The label is peeling and wrinkled. Scent? Sparkling Limeade. It smells like a bathroom cleaner and burned wicks. When I look at this candle, I am reminded of pastel bungalows on a Miami beach, faded and bleached by the sun and the salt.

For the Ordinary Girl on a Budget.....

Check out Goodwill.
     I tend to have very good luck finding treasures at Goodwill, but my secret is very simple. I touch pretty much every item on the rack and when I find something I like I try it on. Goodwill is not a place I go to find an outfit quickly. Rather, I go when I have the time to spend finding staples for my wardrobe.

My outfit today was made up almost entirely of Goodwill finds.

These shoes were slightly used on Amazon. They retail for about $120 USD and I bought them for $50!

     The t-shirt was about 3$ and the pants are Eddie Bauer for $5!!!

Two Writing Exercises

I'm working on a free creative writing class offered through my public library and thought I would post some of the writing exercises I've done so far. I can't vouch for the quality, but I hope they are slightly entertaining! Enjoy!

The Room Where I Write

     The room where I write is my bedroom. There are large dust bunnies under the bed where the dog and cat hair hides. I sit at a corner desk wedged between the wall and an IKEA table. Piles of books surround me. I pick one up to start reading and get distracted by the computer
     The computer is an old Gateway I bought with my first tax refund at my current job. It's at least 3 years old. The speakers are built into the monitor (it's an all in one) and dust has gathered at the edges. You can tell what keys I use most often by the amount of dust gathered on the key board.

Four Things in My Room: A Free Writing Exercise

Dust Bunnies: Who the heck came up with that name? Wait, focus. Collections of dead skin cells, the hair of various beasts, dirt and gravel. These things make up dust and we refer to the collected batched of this smut as Dust Bunnies? It's too bizarre.

Corner Desk: A cheap little desk I bought at Target. It used to be where I did my makeup every morning and now it is where I write. It's pretty banged up; the black paint is coming off of the edges.

Pile of Books: Wow my hand is tired now. OK so a pile of books. Rose Cottage, Uprooted, Alexander Hamilton, Boneshaker, The Student Bible. The Bible is at the bottom; a support, a cornerstone.

Computer: A tool. Covered in dust. Don't look too deep in the cracks.

It takes 100 pages...

to become involved in a book.

That's what my librarian mother has always told me and I find it to be mostly true. In 100 pages I think the plot should be sufficiently built up so that you, the reader, know whether or not you will continue with the book.

I was thinking about this philosophy as I looked at my "unread" bookshelf. Yes, there is an entire bookshelf dedicated to books I own and have not read. I'm sure I have at least 120 books that I really do want to read, but haven't got 'round to it.

So I'd like to start a little series here called 100 pages. I will pick a book from my TBR bookshelf and read the first 100 pages. Once that is done I will give a brief summary here saying what the book is about and my findings in the first 100 pages, then move on to the next book. I hope that by doing this I'll be able to power through the books that I ultimately won't interest me, and the ones that do I'll know to get back to, or just continue on reading, whichever.

See you soon with my first First 100 page book!

Here there are fairy tales.....

When I was in college I took a creative writing class. Part of our final assignment was to write a 10 page short story. I decided to do a modern retelling of the Scottish fairy tale Tam Lin. This is the "prologue" of my story. I welcome any and all constructive criticism, I am always looking to improve. Don't leave nasty comments, if you don't like my work just close the page, no one will be the wiser, thanks!

When Janet was a little girl she knew that no one could possibly know more stories than her GiGi. GiGi was old when Granny was little, she wore green all year long and made the worlds best peanut butter cookies.Every date night Janet’s Mama and Daddy took her to GiGi’s house to spend the night. Those were the best times; They would build a fort and defend it from Yankee soldiers, bake cookies and eat the dough; which Mama never let her do at home, finally it would be time for bed and Janet always asked for the same bedtime story; the story of Tom Allen.

Once upon a time, GiGi would begin. The whole of this land was wild. Indians lived right where we are now, Creek and Cherokee, and they were always fighting each other. They had their spirits, both good and evil and they had charms against them. Then the white man came. He brought with him industry and his own demons that the wise of both parties realized were the same as those of the cherokee.

Years passed, the land became more tame that it had been, but in the dark corners of the land still lurked the superstitions and the evil, waiting for a chance to return. Then a rich man with a gold pocket watch came to the land and in one of the dark corners he saw a way to make a profit by building a mill.  It was at a bend in the river, where the water ran swift and deep,  

        All of the old people were against the project. The grandmothers told of children going to gather berries there and never returning, they said the evil fey folk took them because of their beauty and purity. The grandfathers said that young men were tempted by the beautiful fairy queen, who lured them into the swift moving water to their death. The Indians said that devils lurked in the water, and poisoned the riverbed so nothing could nest there and nothing could grow. The man with the gold pocket watch ignored all the warnings and set about building his mill, his young son Tom by his side.

        Tom was the most good and handsome man in the land. He was tall with hair that was black with traces of steel blue. He was brown from working in the sun all his life, for his father, though rich, did not think it beneath him to send his son outside to work. He was gentle and he was strong and knew what was right. He stood by his father as he set about building the biggest cotton mill in the south.

        The design of the mill was strange. It was thought up by the man with the gold pocket watch and he would not tell anyone, not even Tom, where his ideas came from. The mill was to take up both sides of the river. On one side were the sorting and carding rooms, on the other were rooms that turned out the cotton fabric. Connecting the two was a huge bridge with several water wheels attached to the bottom that powered the mill. No one had ever seen anything like it.

From the beginning things were strange at the mill site. Three crews were hired and then dismissed because of missing tools and machinery. A fourth crew was hired and then left the night after a body was found deep in the foundation of the building. The final crew was bossed by Tom, who would allow no superstition to spook his men and was able to finish the mill faster than any man before or after would have thought possible.

        Finally the mill opened and for a while everything went well for Tom Allen and the man with the gold pocket watch; but the stories of the old people should have been listened to, for there was evil at Carterhaugh, it had been waiting and watching, it had seen Tom Allen and it wanted him for its own.

It happened one cold October night. Tom Allen, who had been put in charge of the mill, was checking the machinery, long after the men had left for the night. The stories say that as the midnight church bells struck a beautiful woman was seen by him on the far side of the mill. There was a small valley there and it was near the hills beyond the valley that Tom Allen saw her.

She beckoned to him, and he, struck by her beauty, crossed the bridge.

It was icey that night, unnaturally so. More than once Tom slipped and nearly fell into the river, but it wasn’t until he was opening the door to the opposite mill building that his boot caught on a board and he slipped into the icy river.

A large search party was sent out at dawn the next morning but there was no body found. Not a trace of Tom Allen has been seen since. His father went mad with grief and closed the mill, it stood empty for a long time before anyone noticed it didn’t seem to be decaying the way a wooden building normally does. It grows older and more grown over but it never falls into the river. The people of the land take this as a sign; that there is a great power at work at the Carterhaugh mills and stay away from it. They bolted the great iron gate that was at the start of a long dirt path and they told their children of the evil there.

“Is Carterhaugh a real place GiGi?” Janet would ask when the story was over. GiGi would smile, “You know it is little girl, it straddles the river in between the big hills and the interstate, it’s all grown over now, you can barely see it from the road.”

        “And is Tom Allen real?”

        “Some say they’ve seen him, by the river bank or over on top of the big hills, he rides every seven years with the fairy queen’s band.”

        Janet would always be falling asleep at this point, but she would find enough energy to say, “I will find him, GiGi, I will save him from the Fairy Queen.”

        “No Janet,” GiGi said with a fright. “No you must not go down to Carterhaugh, promise me!” But Janet was asleep, dreaming of fairy princes and didn’t hear her Great Grandmother’s plea.

In which there is an ordinary girl....

Hello, I am an ordinary girl. I decided to start this blog as a creative outlet for all of my ideas and ramblings. I firmly believe in keeping negativity to yourself, so if you see something here that you don't like or disagree with your options are listed below:
1) Just keep scrolling
2) Leave the page altogether
3) If you feel the need to leave a comment, keep it polite and constructive

We can absolutely start a dialogue (I love and encourage it!!!). However, negativity for the sake of being petty will be deleted.

Now let's have some fun!