Mr. Sullivan, my 12th grade English teacher, made us dress up in Burger King crowns and sword fight with paper towel tubes to make sense of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Here at the American School in Guadalajara we are going to use the internet instead. In the posts below, follow us as we seek to understand why this really is the greatest play in the English language.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
IV, 5
Before the 20th Century, mental illness was not seen as a treatable medical condition, as it is today, but as a permanent problem (or worse, possession by the devil). What do you think of Ophelia's "treatment"?
Ophelia's "treatment" is worthless. It can't even be called a treatment. Just leaving Ophelia alone will not help. She won't suddenly be cured of her mental illness. Ophelia will not be cured because there is nobody helping her regain her senses. The room can calm her down but she needs someone to help her begin thinking rationally again.
Ophelia is not recieving any treatment. They just tied up her arms, put her in a straight jacket and into a room with padded walls. Evyone is telling her and talking about how she has lost her mind. That is why she is not reciving any treatment, because no one is helping her with her mental illness, they are just putting her away from the "healthy" people. She will not recieve help like this.
If I was to entered a hospital, for mental treatement and had suffered the same atrocities as Ophelia, with some luck... i would make myself mad. Because in fact, Ophelia´s treatement consisting of ice cold showers, strain jackets, and padded walls is the ancient form of segregation. Separating the "normal ones" from the " mad ones" What exactly makes us "normal"? Or mad, for that matter? i wouldnt expect less of poor Ophelia´s reaction to the events in her life. i doubt that in any point of the story Ophelia is going to get miracuously healed by the power of god. just get her some prozac... Alejandra Ramirez
I think that Ophelia is not being treated like she should be. They put her in the crazy suit and locked her up in the padded room for her not to hurt herself. I think if they would have let her be, she would have managed to control herself. Overtime, she would get over her father´s death, but being locked up in a room, won’t resolve anything. I also think, that her brothers arrival, just messed the whole thing up, because she saw that he was also pretty shaken up, so I think that just worsened the situation.
I think they are not treating her with the right amount of attention that a carzy people should be treated. She is lock up in her cell so she can notr hurt hersel or others. But they just used her to give information or something and then they ourt her back in her room. She is like and experiment rat.
What Ophelia is passing threw is not called treatment, it is called isolation. Nothing is made to make her better, and that is the purpose of treatment. She is just basically left in a room, were people are just waiting for her to die so they can move on with their lives and not deal with her. In my opinion it is inhumane to treat someone as a muster, but in those times I don’t think there was another way to deal with that. Lourdes Loera
I believe it is just stupid. A "crazy" person will just become crazier when they are stuck in a room with nothing to do. I know that in that time they thought it was permanent but they could at least try helping, an irrational womam wont become rational without help. This treatment, is exactly as a monkey in a cage, how could it help...
Ophelia is not getting any treatment. She is just getting treated as a mental ill person. THey are just taying her up and letting her screme.They should get her some treatment instead of just calling her a sick person.
I´d say Ophelia got lucky. I mean, it could have been a lot worse. She could have been exorcised, or even sent abroad to some weird place no one will ever hear her scream. People thought madness was act of the Devil, and that is pretty serious. If Ophelia was someone else, who knows if she wouldn´t have been killed. Instead, she is in the King´s palace, she has many people watching over her, feeding her, and making sure she is alive. That sounds like a fair treatment to me (in those days).
what i think of ophelias treatment is that there is nothing worse than isolating a mentally illed person. The treatment they are giving to her is horrible for its not going to do her any good and eventough she recieves proper treatment she will never be as charismatic and joyful as she was for at the time theres not a proper medication to help cure mentall illness.
i think that even inthe present, people might be having problems, but they could still be cured or at least controlled, but when they isolate those kind of people, they become desperate and start listening voices, and become more and more out of their mind, sometimes they have many problems that the best way to cure them is letting them be... Carlos Perez
Of course that Ophelia's treatment is not a very good one, it will never help a mad person become sane again. But considering the time and place in which they are I think that what they did is the most reasonable thing to do. It wont help the illness to heal but it will at least keep people from having to deal with a mad person. Besides, they can keep the person alive this way and ensure that nothing happens to them. So I think they just did what they could and that's ok.
Ophelia´s treatment is a clear definition of brutality and careless. What Ophelia really needed was someone that would treat her with love and care, but instead she received worse. She was hosed down with water and locked in a room when she needed human interaction. The way they treated Ophelia for me was the quickest way of how they could lead to her death.
Ophelia's "treatment" is worthless. It can't even be called a treatment. Just leaving Ophelia alone will not help. She won't suddenly be cured of her mental illness. Ophelia will not be cured because there is nobody helping her regain her senses. The room can calm her down but she needs someone to help her begin thinking rationally again.
ReplyDeleteDaniel oon
Ophelia is not recieving any treatment. They just tied up her arms, put her in a straight jacket and into a room with padded walls. Evyone is telling her and talking about how she has lost her mind. That is why she is not reciving any treatment, because no one is helping her with her mental illness, they are just putting her away from the "healthy" people. She will not recieve help like this.
ReplyDeleteAbraham Showaki O.
If I was to entered a hospital, for mental treatement and had suffered the same atrocities as Ophelia, with some luck... i would make myself mad. Because in fact, Ophelia´s treatement consisting of ice cold showers, strain jackets, and padded walls is the ancient form of segregation. Separating the "normal ones" from the " mad ones" What exactly makes us "normal"? Or mad, for that matter? i wouldnt expect less of poor Ophelia´s reaction to the events in her life. i doubt that in any point of the story Ophelia is going to get miracuously healed by the power of god. just get her some prozac...
ReplyDeleteAlejandra Ramirez
I think that Ophelia is not being treated like she should be. They put her in the crazy suit and locked her up in the padded room for her not to hurt herself. I think if they would have let her be, she would have managed to control herself. Overtime, she would get over her father´s death, but being locked up in a room, won’t resolve anything. I also think, that her brothers arrival, just messed the whole thing up, because she saw that he was also pretty shaken up, so I think that just worsened the situation.
ReplyDeleteNicolas Chemello
I think they are not treating her with the right amount of attention that a carzy people should be treated. She is lock up in her cell so she can notr hurt hersel or others. But they just used her to give information or something and then they ourt her back in her room. She is like and experiment rat.
ReplyDeleteDiego Leon
What Ophelia is passing threw is not called treatment, it is called isolation. Nothing is made to make her better, and that is the purpose of treatment. She is just basically left in a room, were people are just waiting for her to die so they can move on with their lives and not deal with her. In my opinion it is inhumane to treat someone as a muster, but in those times I don’t think there was another way to deal with that.
ReplyDeleteLourdes Loera
I believe it is just stupid. A "crazy" person will just become crazier when they are stuck in a room with nothing to do. I know that in that time they thought it was permanent but they could at least try helping, an irrational womam wont become rational without help. This treatment, is exactly as a monkey in a cage, how could it help...
ReplyDeleteOscar B.
Ophelia is not getting any treatment. She is just getting treated as a mental ill person. THey are just taying her up and letting her screme.They should get her some treatment instead of just calling her a sick person.
ReplyDeleteIvan Figueroa
I´d say Ophelia got lucky. I mean, it could have been a lot worse. She could have been exorcised, or even sent abroad to some weird place no one will ever hear her scream. People thought madness was act of the Devil, and that is pretty serious. If Ophelia was someone else, who knows if she wouldn´t have been killed. Instead, she is in the King´s palace, she has many people watching over her, feeding her, and making sure she is alive. That sounds like a fair treatment to me (in those days).
ReplyDeleteAdrian Llamas
ReplyDeletewhat i think of ophelias treatment is that there is nothing worse than isolating a mentally illed person. The treatment they are giving to her is horrible for its not going to do her any good and eventough she recieves proper treatment she will never be as charismatic and joyful as she was for at the time theres not a proper medication to help cure mentall illness.
i think that even inthe present, people might be having problems, but they could still be cured or at least controlled, but when they isolate those kind of people, they become desperate and start listening voices, and become more and more out of their mind, sometimes they have many problems that the best way to cure them is letting them be...
ReplyDeleteCarlos Perez
Of course that Ophelia's treatment is not a very good one, it will never help a mad person become sane again. But considering the time and place in which they are I think that what they did is the most reasonable thing to do. It wont help the illness to heal but it will at least keep people from having to deal with a mad person. Besides, they can keep the person alive this way and ensure that nothing happens to them. So I think they just did what they could and that's ok.
ReplyDeleteJ.P. Vallejo
Ophelia´s treatment is a clear definition of brutality and careless. What Ophelia really needed was someone that would treat her with love and care, but instead she received worse. She was hosed down with water and locked in a room when she needed human interaction. The way they treated Ophelia for me was the quickest way of how they could lead to her death.
ReplyDeleteClosed Sunday 8am.
ReplyDelete-Mr. Paul