http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/ophelia Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Tue, 02 Jun 2026 23:16:55 -0400 Tue, 02 Jun 2026 23:16:55 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/274/and-i-of-ladies-most-deject-and-wretched-diagnosing-shakespeares-ophelia-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder By Ellen T. Goodson - If William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is “the most famous play in English literature,” his Ophelia is arguably the field’s most tragic female figure (Meyer 1588). Torn from her lover and bereft of her father, the young woman falls into grief-stricken madness that ends, in many literary and theatrical interpretations, in suicide. Critics and directors have characterized her as an innocent child, a passive daughter, compassion-inducing soul, and an undeserving victim. Yet her clichéd portrayal as “helpless, crazy wretch” gains a humanizing dimension when seen... Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/274/and-i-of-ladies-most-deject-and-wretched-diagnosing-shakespeares-ophelia-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder