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Lesson 4

We will view a film adaptation of Act 4, Scene 5 and examine Ophelia through a feminist lens.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I analyze Ophelia through a feminist lens?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Hamlet, William Shakespeare, Simon and Schuster, 2003

Optional

  • Multimedia
    • Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh, Sony Pictures, 1996
  • Unit Reader
    • Excerpt from “Hamlet: A Feminist Argument,” Steve Henderson, ThoughtCo., 2019

Materials

Tools

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: View

We will view a film adaptation of Act 4, Scene 5.

View the film adaptation of Act 4, Scene 5. Use the following questions to guide your viewing:

  1. What do you notice about Ophelia?

  2. How do the other characters react to her?

Though you are watching the film, be sure to have the text at hand so that you can use it to find textual evidence to support your answers in the following discussion activity.

Activity 2: Discuss

We will discuss Act 4, Scene 5, returning to the text for evidence to support our interpretation.

As a class, discuss the following questions. Be sure to have the text at hand to find textual evidence to support your answers.

  1. What change has taken place in Ophelia? What evidence from the text supports this?

  2. What are the causes of this change? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

  3. What choices did the director make to enhance viewers’ understanding of Ophelia’s mental state?

Both Ophelia and Hamlet are portrayed as mad. Compare Ophelia with Hamlet. Discuss if their madness is believable.

Activity 3: Discuss

We will discuss the significance of the scene through a feminist lens, returning to the text for evidence to support our interpretation.

Read the following quotation from the informational text “Hamlet: A Feminist Argument”:

Likewise, “the object Ophelia” (the object of Hamlet’s desire) is also denied a voice. In the view of author Elaine Showalter, she is portrayed in the play as “an insignificant minor character” created mainly as an instrument to better represent Hamlet. Deprived of thought, sexuality, and language, Ophelia’s story becomes...the cipher of female sexuality to be deciphered by feminist interpretation.”

In groups, discuss the following question:

  1. What feminist issues does this scene touch upon?

Capture key takeaways from the discussion on your Feminist Lens Note-Taking Tool. Be sure to reference the text for textual evidence and proper line citation.

Activity 4: Read – Write

For homework, read selected exchanges between Laertes and Claudius in Act 4, Scene 5.

Though the bulk of this scene focuses on Ophelia’s transformation, the scene includes important information about Laertes’s motivations and state of mind. Reread the following passages from Act 4, Scene 5, and respond to the guiding questions in your Learning Log.

Passage 1: Act 4, Scene 5, Lines 122–175

  1. What is the cause of Laertes’s “rebellion” (Line 136)? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

  2. How do Laertes’s motivations mirror Hamlet’s? How do they differ? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

Passage 2: Act 4, Scene 5 Lines 225–245

  1. How does Claudius calm Laertes down? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

  2. What do you predict Claudius will tell Laertes? Will it be honest or deceitful?