My Book Review > HAMLET, by William Shakespeare (extract from KELLCEY, by Kacey Kells)

Extract from 'KELLCEY', by Kacey Kells: "I felt naturally close to Ophelia: we had so much in common that I even got caught up in the character. Indeed, I was in a certain way like her: she was sincerely and madly in love with Hamlet, like I once was with Ben, and her whole world crumbled down all of a sudden. Hamlet wreaked havoc in her life: he first left her bewildered and heartbroken when he inexplicably and cruelly rejected her (going as far as stating that she should go ‘to a nunnery’ for she should not ‘be a breeder of sinners’!). And in return, the lovely maiden with her beautiful soul prayed for him (and for her): “O, help him, sweet heavens”. “O, heavenly powers, restore him”. Later, in a moment of madness, Hamlet killed Polonius, Ophelia’s father! Innocent victim of both the folly of mankind and her lover’s betrayal, she was left devastated by this terrifying combination of events and lapsed into insanity". "I had every reason to feel close to Ophelia! And thanks to this, I was better able to understand and feel her most intimate emotions. But if I cried with-for-and-through her, I also sincerely and deeply admired her. Unlike me, indeed, she had been brave enough to commit suicide. In a certain way she was a heroine, a shining example that, sadly, I have been until now unable to follow… She was my sister, but she had been way more courageous that I could ever be. I was just a pale shadow compared to her, a dubious and trivial reflection". "– We often hear about ‘the courage to keep living’; this is what everybody said: Mom, my closest relatives, Jean, the people at the Rape Crisis Centre… Even ‘Sybill’ once told me that it is braver to cope with life and its challenges than trying to ‘escape’ them. But?... What about ‘the courage to commit suicide’? What about ‘the cowardice to keep living’? And even if it is not question of courage, is it a sin to leave the path when it leads to darkness and insanity? Is it so bad to dream of beauty, of purity, and to draw to the conclusion once you realize that you dreamed of things that never were and will never be? Is it a sin to choose to get your ideas off the ground? Isn’t there some sort of greatness? Why is it that suicide is mostly committed by younger people? Isn’t it because the latter are more courageous, pure, and authentic than elderly people who, as for them, are spoiled and corrupted with age? Well, there is in any case some unquestionable beauty, here, and this is probably why committing suicide is so intrinsically romantic. Don’t get me wrong; I do not want to be an apologist of suicide! However, I do think that, yes, there is something beautiful and powerful here. – Indeed, when life only seems to be an endless gloomy tunnel between nonentity and nought, it is not necessarily insane (I believe!) to admire those who have been able and capable to stop in the middle of the route. No, it is not! -". KELLCEY, by Kacey Kells, p. 310-311 ISBN 978-1-84897-895-9