Ophelia in a Hamlet Voice Shakespeare wrote Hamlet during the Elizabethan age, which is the time when England was under the reign of a woman for the second time. Despite this, maintaining the years of traditional patriarchal society was still a basis followed by many people in 16th century England. This would explain Ophelia's rapid conformity to the standards of the men close to her. A more in-depth examination of this can be done in act 4, scene 5 of Hamlet, which has also been nicknamed the “Mad Ophelia” scene. Patriarchal constraints can be seen when both Hamlet and Ophelia have put their "madness" on display, but one is considered doer while the other is diagnosed as mad as King Claudius says, "...poor Ophelia, divided from herself itself and by its just judgment" [IV. V.85]. Actress Frances Barber portrayed Ophelia as "sharply intelligent and highly perceptive" rather than mad, which opposed Elaine Showalter's contention that Ophelia's madness stems from a "predictable outcome of erotomania" (139, 287 ). In addition to these arguments, Ophelia is repressed because she cannot express her opinion unless she acts hysterically. Hamlet, on the other hand, has more freedom in this category, whether he acts sanely or not. What Shakespeare conveys in this scene is not madness, but the voice of a repressed woman. The first sign of Ophelia's oppression is shown with her ready obedience to the men around her and this gives a typical portrayal of Elizabethan women. Ophelia does not hesitate to say “No, my good lord, but as you commanded me, / I rejected his letters and denied him / his access” [II.I. 106 – 108] and Polonius does not hesitate to sell his daughter when he orders her to “Read on this book,/That sight of such an exe...... middle of paper......ll his arm", which helps create a visual image of Ophelia acting out what Hamlet specifically did to her (II.I. 85 - 86). going so far as to repeatedly try to demonstrate Hamlet's affection for Ophelia in front of Claudius would have taken this act to a whole new level before her death queen, could be executed and buried in secret like her father if they found out how much information she actually knew Knowing too much is dangerous and the audience knew that the outcome of someone too curious in Hamlet could end up with Polonius' tragic fate. Therefore, Ophelia possesses another power over her life and that is to choose where to die and how to die.