“Ophelia”

Arthur Rimbaud (translated by Daisy Aldan)

Jean Nicolas Arthur
Rimbaud (/ræmˈboʊ/[2] or /ˈræmboʊ/; French: [aʁtyʁ
I. ʁɛ̃bo]
On the calm black wave where the stars sleep
Floats white Ophelia like a great lily, ( 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891)
Floats very slowly, lying in her long veils… was a French poet who
-From distant woods, the flourish of the kill. is known for his influence
on modern literature and
For more than a thousand years sad Ophelia arts, which
White phantom, passes, on the long black river. prefigured surrealism.
For more than a thousand years her sweet obsession Born in Charleville-
Whispers her love to the evening breeze. Mézières, he started
writing at a very young
The wind embraces her breasts and unfolds her great veils age and was a prodigious
In a corolla gently rocked by waters; student, but abandoned
Trembling willows weep on her shoulder, his formal education in
Reeds lean on her lofty pensive brow. his teenage years to run
away from home amidst
the Franco-Prussian
Bruised water lilies sigh about her,
War. After running away,
Sometimes in a sleeping alder tree she awakens during his late
A nest; a tiny wing-flutter escapes; adolescence and early
Mysterious sounds fall from the golden stars. adulthood, he began the bulk of his literary output, but completely
stopped writing at the age of 21, after assembling one of his
II. major works, Illuminations.
O pale Ophelia! fair as snow!
You died, child, yes, carried off by a river! Rimbaud was known to have been a libertine and for being a
Because the winds falling from the great cliffs of Norway restless soul, having engaged in an at times violent romantic
Spoke low to you of fierce freedom; relationship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, which lasted nearly
two years. After the end of his literary career, he traveled
extensively on three continents as a merchant before his death
from cancer just after his thirty-seventh birthday. As a poet,
Because a wind, tearing your long hair, Rimbaud is well-known for his contributions to Symbolism and,
Bore strange shouts to your dreaming spirit; among other works, A Season in Hell, which was a significant
Because your heart listened the strains of Nature precursor to modernist literature.
In the wails of the tree and the sighs of the nights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rimbaud
Because the voice of mad seas, immense rattle,
http://www.mag4.net/Rimbaud/poesies/Ophelia.html

Because on an April morning, a handsome pale courtier 1. Explain Symbolisms in the poem
A sorry fool, sat mutely at your feet!
* calm black wave
* white Ophelia like a great lily
Heaven! Love! Freedom! What a dream, O Foolish girl!
* Trembling willows weep on her shoulder
You melted toward him as snow near flame:
* Because the winds spoke low to you of fierce freedom
Your words were strangled by your great visions
* Your words were strangled by your visions
-And the terrible Infinite frightened your blue eyes!
* The terrible infinite frightened your blue eyes
III.
2. Female Archetypes in Shakespeare’s work
And the Poet says you come at night
To gather flowers in the rays of the stars;
3. Surrealism in Literature
And he has seen on the water, lying in her long veils,
White Ophelia floating, like a great lily, Surrealism in literature can be defined as an artistic
attempt to bridge together reality and the imagination. Surrealists seek
Ophelia - Polonius’s daughter, a beautiful young woman to overcome the contradictions of the conscious and unconscious
with whom Hamlet has been in love. Ophelia is a sweet and minds by creating unreal or bizarre stories full of juxtapositions.
While the movement itself may have ended, surrealism still
innocent young girl, who obeys her father and her brother,
exists in much of today's literature. Using surrealist imagery, ideas, or
Laertes. Dependent on men to tell her how to behave, she poetic techniques, writers attempt to stretch the boundaries, free the
gives in to Polonius’s schemes to spy on Hamlet. Even in mind, and make readers think.
her lapse into madness and death, she remains maidenly,
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-surrealism-definition-artists.htm
singing songs about flowers and finally drowning in the river
amid the flower garlands she had gathered.
The Bawdy Woman Falsely Accused of Adultery

These characters are sexualized, cheeky and flirtatious. They are Women in Shakespeare’s plays are sometimes wrongly accused of
often working-class characters such as the Nurse in Romeo and adultery and suffer greatly as a result. For example, Desdemona is
Juliet, Margaret in Much Ado about Nothing or Audrey in As You killed by Othello who supposes her infidelity and Hero falls terribly ill
Like It. Mainly speaking in prose, as befitting their low social status, when she is falsely accused by Claudio. It seems that
these characters often use sexual innuendo when conversing. Low- Shakespeare’s women are judged by their sexuality even when they
class characters like these can get away with more risqué behavior remain faithful to their husbands and husbands-to-be. Some
– perhaps because they have no fear of losing social status. feminists believe that this demonstrates a male insecurity about
female sexuality.
The Tragic Innocent Woman
https://www.thoughtco.com/female-characters-in-shakespeare-2984939
These women are often pure and chaste at the beginning of the play,
and tragically die once their innocence is lost. In stark contrast to his Surrealism in literature can be defined as an artistic attempt to bridge
presentation of bawdy women, Shakespeare’s treatment of young together reality and the imagination. Surrealists seek to overcome the
innocent women is fairly brutal. Once their innocence or chastity is contradictions of the conscious and unconscious minds by creating
taken away, they are literally killed to signify this loss. These unreal or bizarre stories full of juxtapositions.
characters are generally courtly, high-born characters such Founded by André Breton (1896-1966), surrealism began as an artistic
as Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, Lavinia from Titus Andronicus or movement in Paris in the 1920s and lasted until the 1940s. Writer and
Ophelia from Hamlet. Their high social standing makes their demise philosopher Breton propelled this movement with his publication of The
seem all the more tragic. Manifesto of Surrealism, as a way of fighting against the way art was
understood at the time.
The Scheming Femme Fatal
With the horrors of World War I still in Europe's wake, art had become
controlled by politics. It came to be used as a way of maintaining order
Lady Macbeth is the archetypal femme fatal. Her manipulation and keeping the revolution at bay. However, surrealists wanted to break
of Macbeth inevitably leads them to their deaths: she commits free from the constraints being posed on art and to do so in an extreme,
suicide and he is slain. In her ambition to become Queen, she yet positive way.
encourages her husband to murder. King Lear’s daughters, Goneril
and Regan, plot to inherit their father’s fortune. Once again, their Though they fought against political control, the movement's goal was
ambition leads them to their deaths: Goneril stabs herself after not political in nature. Surrealism sought to free people spiritually and
psychologically. These artists and writers wanted to repair the damage
poisoning Regan. Although Shakespeare seems to appreciate the
done by WWI. Unfortunately, World War II was on the brink, and such
intelligence at work in his femme fatal characters, allowing them to
a movement made the surrealists a target. During the rise of Nazism
manipulate the men around them, his retribution is brutal and and Fascism, many surrealists were forced to seek haven in America.
unforgiving. Fortunately, for American culture, their ideas began affecting changes
in the States as well.
The Witty, but Unmarriable Woman
While the movement itself may have ended, surrealism still exists in
much of today's literature. Using surrealist imagery, ideas, or poetic
Katherine from The Taming of The Shrew is a prime example of the techniques, writers attempt to stretch the boundaries, free the mind, and
witty but unmarriable woman. Feminists have commented that their make readers think.
enjoyment of this play is marred by the fact that a man literally
“breaks” Katherine’s spirit when Petruchio says “Come on and kiss https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-surrealism-definition-artists.html
me, Kate.” – should we really celebrate this as a happy ending?
Similarly, in the plot to Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick
ultimately conquers the feisty Beatrice by saying, “Peace, I will stop
your mouth.” These women are presented as clever, bold and
independent but are put in their place by the end of the play.

The Married Off Woman

Many of Shakespeare’s comedies end with an eligible woman being

married off – and therefore being made safe. These women are
often very young and passed from their father’s care to their new
husband’s. More often than not, these are high-born characters
such as Miranda in The Tempest who is married to Ferdinand,
Helena and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hero
in Much Ado About Nothing.

Women Who Dress as Men

Rosalind in As You Like it and Viola in Twelfth Night both dress as

men. Consequently, they are able to play a more active role in the
play’s narrative. As “men”, these characters have more freedom,
highlighting the lack of social liberty for women in Shakespeare’s
time.