« Is Envy of The Seven Deadly Sins found or similar to other religions sin?
Which of The Seven Deadly seven sins can the Monk In the Canterbury tales be compared to? »

What seven deadly sin best represents Shakespeare’s character "Ophelia" from Hamlet?

It’s for an acting class, but I don’t know because I haven’t read the play. I’m just reading a monologue. Please help!!

The tragic flaw of both Ophelia and Hamlet was being untrue to themselves by being too obedient to their fathers. Ophelia let her father tell her what to think:

OPHELIA
I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
LORD POLONIUS
Marry, I’ll teach you: think yourself a baby;

Thereafter she was just a puppet to her father:

HAMLET
I could interpret between you and your love, if I
could see the puppets dallying.

After her father died, Ophelia was like a puppet with its strings cut, so when she fell into the "weeping brook," she made no effort to save herself. At that point, she was suffering from the sin of acedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acedia
Acedia . . . describes a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one’s position or condition in the world. . . . Some see it as the precursor to sloth – one of the seven deadly sins.

For more on Ophelia, please see the following very short essays:
http://www.thyorisons.com/#Envious_Sliver – An Envious Sliver
http://www.thyorisons.com/#Music_Vows – The Honey of His Music Vows
http://www.thyorisons.com/#Chaste_Treasure – Chaste Treasure in the Womb of Earth
http://www.thyorisons.com/#Elegy – Elegy for the Kissing Carrion
http://www.thyorisons.com/#Drama_Filial – The Drama Filial

This entry was posted on Monday, April 11th, 2011 at 4:42 pm and is filed under seven deadly sin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “What seven deadly sin best represents Shakespeare’s character "Ophelia" from Hamlet?”

  1. Lust, envy, sloth (too lazy to learn how to swim)
    References :
    I’m the Man. I’m so bad, I should be in detention.

  2. Ray Eston Smith Jr on April 11th, 2011 at 10:44 pm

    The tragic flaw of both Ophelia and Hamlet was being untrue to themselves by being too obedient to their fathers. Ophelia let her father tell her what to think:

    OPHELIA
    I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
    LORD POLONIUS
    Marry, I’ll teach you: think yourself a baby;

    Thereafter she was just a puppet to her father:

    HAMLET
    I could interpret between you and your love, if I
    could see the puppets dallying.

    After her father died, Ophelia was like a puppet with its strings cut, so when she fell into the "weeping brook," she made no effort to save herself. At that point, she was suffering from the sin of acedia.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acedia
    Acedia . . . describes a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one’s position or condition in the world. . . . Some see it as the precursor to sloth – one of the seven deadly sins.

    For more on Ophelia, please see the following very short essays:
    http://www.thyorisons.com/#Envious_Sliver – An Envious Sliver
    http://www.thyorisons.com/#Music_Vows – The Honey of His Music Vows
    http://www.thyorisons.com/#Chaste_Treasure – Chaste Treasure in the Womb of Earth
    http://www.thyorisons.com/#Elegy – Elegy for the Kissing Carrion
    http://www.thyorisons.com/#Drama_Filial – The Drama Filial
    References :
    http://www.thyorisons.com/ Be All My Sins Remembered – Essays on Hamlet
    Essays on motifs, symbolism, & themes in Hamlet.

Leave a Reply