“reason.”
Ophelia describes Hamlet’s “madness” and a few scenes later she goes mad herself. This might be an opportunity for you as an actor to show flashes of Ophelia’s impending insanity. Hamlet’s abuse of her in this scene is the first real trigger of her decline. When describing Hamlet’s madness, traces of mental instability might show in Ophelia’s face.
How does one portray someone heading toward madness? Let’s start with the imagery of the bells. When Ophelia says “Like sweet bells jangled, out of time and harsh” she could lift her hands up to her ears as if hearing something loud. On the words “blasted with ecstasy,” Ophelia might widen her eyes, perhaps breaking into a grimace or grin. It might help to look in a mirror or videotape yourself when trying these physical gestures and facial expressions. Over-exaggerate the gestures and expressions to a grotesque level, then bring them back down. Find a level of “expressed madness” that fits the words and the scene.
The final sentence begins with the syllable “O” repeated twice, which can provide a nice symmetry to the monologue. Is it the same “O” that we started the speech with or is it completely different? After the first “O,” Ophelia laments Hamlet’s condition. By the final “O,” she is bemoaning her own condition: “O, woe is me.” Although this is not a particularly long monologue, the phrases are rich in poetic imagery and emotion, and it can be a vehicle for you to further the story of one of Shakespeare’s great tragic heroines.
SUGGESTED VIEWING
HAMLET, 1948
Director: Laurence Olivier
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
HAMLET, 1976
Director: Celestino Coronado
Starring: David Meyer, Hellen Mirren
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY
The following is a list of characters that appear in this scene of Henry IV, Part 1.
KING HENRY IV: Father to Prince Henry; formerly Henry of Bollingbroke
PRINCE HENRY: Also called Harry or Hal; oldest son to King Henry IV
NARRATOR
SET AND PROP LIST
SET PIECES:
Throne
London. The palace.
Enter NARRATOR from stage right, coming downstage center.
NARRATOR
Prince Hal reconciles with his father, King Henry IV, by swearing to fight the rebels and to defeat Hotspur.
Exit NARRATOR stage right.
Enter KING HENRY IV and PRINCE HENRY from stage left. KING HENRY IV sits on the throne.
KING HENRY IV
I know not whether God will have it so,
For some displeasing service I have done,
But thou dost in thy passages of life
Make me believe that thou art only mark’d
For the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven
To punish my mistreadings. Tell me else,
Could such inordinate and low desires,
Such barren pleasures, rude society,
As thou art match’d withal and grafted to,
Accompany the greatness of thy blood
And hold their level with thy princely heart?
PRINCE HENRY
So please your majesty
Find pardon on my true submission. (kneels)
KING HENRY IV
God pardon thee! Yet let me wonder, Harry,
At thy affections, which do hold a wing
Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors.
The hope and expectation of thy time
Is ruin’d. Harry, thou has lost thy princely privilege
With vile participation: Not an eye
But is a-weary of thy common sight,
Save mine, which hath desired to see thee more.
PRINCE HENRY (touched and surprised)
I shall hereafter be more myself.
KING HENRY IV
For all the world
Percy now leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on
To bloody battles and to bruising arms.
Thrice hath this Hotspur, Mars in swathling clothes,
Discomfited great Douglas, ta’en him once,
And what say you to this? Percy, Northumberland,
The Archbishop’s grace of York, Douglas, Mortimer,
Capitulate against us and are up.
PRINCE HENRY
I will redeem all this on Percy’s head,
And, in the closing of some glorious day,
Be bold to tell you that I am your son,
When I will wear a garment all of blood
And stain my favors in a bloody mask,
Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it.
