Hamlet’s confrontation with death, manifested primarily in his discovery of Yorick’s skull, is, like Ophelia’s drowning, an enduring image from the play. However, his solemn theorizing …

Ophelia. Say you? Nay, pray You mark. (Sings) He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone; 2890 At his head a grass-green turf, At his heels a stone. O, ho! Gertrude. Nay, but Ophelia- …

Shakespeare has demonstrated Ophelia’s chaste dependence on the men in her life; after Polonius’s sudden death and Hamlet’s subsequent exile, she finds herself abruptly without any …

Ophelia’s tragic death occurs at the worst possible moment for Claudius. As Laertes flees the room in agony, Claudius follows, not to console or even to join him in mourning but because, …

SARAH: Nevertheless, it's a perfect question for Gertrude to be able to describe the scene in which Ophelia meets her death. RALPH: Gertrude begins her account by setting the scene: …

Gertrude can make neither heads nor tails of what she’s saying, but Ophelia’s songs hint at Hamlet’s betrayal and her father’s death. After she leaves, Laertes returns, demanding to …