Ophelia is the subject of many artists and writers, particularly, William Shakespeare's "Hamlet." In the play, Ophelia is teenager whose life is turned upside down when she falls in love with an older man (Hamlet). Ophelia, who was once "daddy's little girl," is now left to reject the one she loves because her father does not approve of the relationship. As a result, Hamlet kills Ophelia's father by stabbing him, and poor Ophelia goes mad. Why does she go crazy? Imagine that you are a young girl in love forced to choose between pleasing your father or your true love, and in the end you lose both. Her world torn apart, Ophelia commits suicide by drowning herself in the river.
There are many different interpretations of Ophelia's character. Some see her as a purely innocent girl who dies because the ones she loves are gone. Others view her as a highly intelligent but slightly confused girl who is actually stronger than Hamlet because she does what he can only speak of (suicide).
So how can we possibly be the daughters of such tragedy? Ophelia does what so many adolescent girls do: she tries to please everybody, she takes care of everyone, she listens and takes to heart everything that everybody says to her and about her, whether it's good or bad. She does not listen to herself though, she does not take care of herself, and as a result she loses everything good in her life, and more importantly, she loses her dignity.
Dr. Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia, recognizes the voices of adolescent girls who cannot or will not speak for themselves. In her pages, I found her talking about me. Read her book. In it you will find yourself, your sisters, your best friends.
Why is it that young girls are so caught up in pleasing everybody else? Why do we covet the bodies of girls on teen magazines? Why does the world tell us that it's ok to hate ourselves, just as long as everybody else is pleased with us?
When I first thought about this project I had no idea where to start. I joined the online bandwagon and discovered that Sara Shandler, a teen also inspired by Reviving Ophelia had collected stories and poems from girls across the country. In her book Ophelia Speaks, young girls find out that they are not alone in going through some of life's most difficult problems. So Shandler stole my idea! Not quite. She only believes in the same mission I do, the same mission that thousands do. Thank you Dr. Pipher and thank you Sara for being such great inspiration and encouragement.
My hope is that this project will reach as many girls as possible because every young girl deserves to have her story told. I hope that this finished product will aide, inspire, and encourage our future women. You are not alone, you are never alone, you just have to reach out.