While she lives in the same patriarchal society that demands that she subjugate herself to her father and her brother until she is married, Ophelia has fallen in love with Prince Hamlet. There is strong evidence that she has even had sexual relations with him. Restricted by the dominating societal mores, Ophelia has engaged in a willful act that would ruin her family should it come to light. When her father dies at the hand of her lover, Ophelia is left guilty and alone.
Ophelia's mother is dead and, unlike so many Shakespearean heroines, Ophelia has no female alliances that might save her from the blindness of her male wardens. She is not clever enough to rationalize her behavior or to teach her men the lesson they would be forced to learn were they in a comedy. Her life is worthless because she has violated her code of ethics. She must die.
Men dominate Ophelia's world. But they are men who want too much and who represent too many contradictions. She cannot comply with their wills, and she cannot assert her own. She cannot live because her Selfhood does not exist.
