OPHELIA . Her name means ‘Help’. And by the end of the play she has committed suicide. She is treated as badly by nearly everyone in the play, just as Juliet is sometimes treated by Romeo, – who murders Juliet’s cousin and could have saved her life in the final scene! These characters are complicated.
Ophelia’s gradual move to suicide is not an easy thing for most actors, because actors are positive, – they always have something to live for. But all of us have short moments in our lives when everything seems to have gone wrong, and Ophelia’s father is killed by the man that she loves, just as he man that she loves had a Father who was murdered by the man now married to his Mother!
So just surviving, just hoping for kind words from somebody, must be almost unbearable for the poor girl (or young woman), yet she sometimes seems the sanest person in the play, and occasionally manages moments of humor, which could be why Hamlet so loves her.
When her father insults her she makes no complaint, and when her brother scorns her love for Hamlet she keeps perfectly calm. She tries to serve everyone, and the play is a ‘tragedy’ not just because Hamlet dies, but because she does. But is she really calm, or is she just being patient? Is she being kind? How does she stay quiet, and generally hide her distress?
Her words, if combined into an audition monologue, can simply sound boring. The whole play can seem to be about twelve characters meeting together to speak poetry! And the feelings, the subtext, the secrets inside the lines, have to be kept very nearly hidden, otherwise, of course, the other characters would realize.
I have more thoughts on all characters mentioned here, which any actors are welcome to ask me (for no charge) to send them, because this site is not here just to show I’m an acting-coach, as many of you may be able to work out how to play parts on your own! I am only begging more actors look at what is behind any character’s lines.
HORATIO
Horatio is Hamlet’s best friend. He is the perfect brother we might all want. When Hamlet does not even recognize him – after being apart – Hamlet only half-apologizes, but Horatio is not embarrassed, and calls Hamlet “The best of men”, probably laughing at Hamlet’s confusion. Perhaps because the play is a thriller and we need some moments in it when people are relaxed!
When Hamlet involves him in a plot to show Claudius is a murderer, Horatio is seriously scared, but he supports his friend, and hardly questions Hamlet’s wish to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern murdered. Yes, this is the brother we might all want if we were in Hamlet’s situation!
I have more thoughts about Horatio, which I’ll happily pass on in an email to anyone (for free), but that may be enough for some actors to want to work on the part on their own! If you want an hour with me going into lines in detail then yes, I charge for that, but this may be all you need to make the damned guy interesting!
