Hamlet's Ophelia is tragically a victim of the dominant and unquestioned feminine stereotypes of her time. Trapping her in the type of chaste and devoted woman, Polonius strips Ophelia of her individual identity and silences her voice. He reduces her to a mere pawn, prostituting her to serve his own selfish interests. It is only in madness that Ophelia is offered an unexpected respite from this puppet game, a respite that even the finality of death is incapable of offering. When the reader first meets Ophelia in Hamlet, she is speaking with Laertes, her brother, and Polonius, her friend. father. From these interactions, Ophelia emerges as the true embodiment of what a woman is supposed to be. She listens respectfully to her brother and father, speaking only twenty-one lines compared to a hundred and twenty in total. She responds conscientiously to their advice: “I will keep the effect of this good lesson” (1.3 l.49) and “I will obey, my lord” (1.4 l. 145). However, apart from this expected and somewhat boring picture, the reader learns little about Ophelia. In response to the play's call: “Stand up and unfold” (1.1 l.2), Ophelia seems to have nothing to say. However, if Polonius is satisfied with this one-dimensional and limited image of his daughter, the reader should not be. According to the context of Shakespeare's Hamlet, in the early 17th century, "chastity was the most frequently praised quality in women" because it directly influenced and determined male honor. Thus, Polonius' command to Ophelia "not to slander her leisure by giving words or speaking with the Lord Hamlet" (1.4 142-143) cannot be read simply as the words of a loving father concerned about the fragility of her daughter's child. heart. On the contrary, it must be much more than the incisive words of a boy eager to prove his manhood. King Claudius's response is no better, using Laertes' grief over Ophelia's death to motivate his revenge: "Strengthen your patience during our speech last night...We will bring the matter to the present point . This tomb will have a living monument… Until then, our approach will be patient” (5.1 ll. 313-314; 317; 319). Thus, once again, Ophelia appears as the scapegoat – her death guilty of motivating the deaths of Hamlet, Laertes, Gertrude, and Claudius. Although Hamlet does indeed come to a tragic end, it is an ending dominated by men. Fortinbras arrives on stage in all his manhood, ordering that Hamlet be born “like a soldier on the stage,” restored to his former healthy identity. Ophelia, however, is not mentioned, erased from the memory of Denmark, her “monument” having never been built as King Claudius had promised...