by A Jarman

Created on: September 27, 2008

I Want Some Thoughts of My Own!

If some guy named Polonius came up to me and said, "Annabel, I want you to think of yourself as a baby and this is how and what you will think from now on," I would probably grunt in disgust and tell him to go jump off a cliff. This expectation of total submission of mind and thoughts may seem absurd, but it is exactly what was demanded of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet. And as she did not know what to think, she obeyed. I would never just think someone else's thoughts, just because they wanted me toor would I? In my education, I usually accept and memorize the facts that my teachers relay to me without delving deeper into the knowledge. Is this not reducing me to lower levels by simply being spoon-fed information? Am I not like a child, totally dependant on others for my thoughts? Thomas G. Plummer, explores his idea of the "Ophelia Syndrome" in the following lines:

"In this scene Shakespeare has given us the essence of what I call the 'Ophelia Syndrome.' It requires two players, a Polonius and an Ophelia. It is condensed into these two lines: '"I do not know, my lord, what I should think,"' and, '"I'll teach you. Think yourself a baby."' Ophelia does not know what to think, and Polonius, reducing her to the stature of a baby, presumes to tell her." (51).

In my education, I very often play the role of Ophelia, and my professors become Polonius. I do not trust myself enough to think for myself, and neither to my teachers. They are left to hand off information in the guise of knowledge to me in hopes of somehow shaping my education for me. I study, and try to learn the materials, texts, and lectures I am given without delving deeper into myself and gaining true insights on how all this really matters to me and the rest of the world.

I am coming to understand that my education could be worth so much more if I strive to trust my own thoughts. I can do this by taking the ideas my teachers give me, expand upon them, and make them betterfor me. This is the only way for me to truly experience life-changing insight. I want to experience this "growing up" of thinking, and be rid of the childish dependence I have on other's thoughts.

Works Cited

Plummer, Thomas G. Diagnosing and Treating the Ophelia Syndrome: The Brief
Penguin Handbook A Custom Edition for Brigham Young UniversityIdaho. Ed. Lester
Faigley.et.al. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2004. 567-577.

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