Ophelia what the other characters interpret as grief for her father. She talks in riddles and rhymes, and sings some "mad" and bawdy songs about death and a maiden losing her virginity. She exits after bidding everyone a "good night". The last time Ophelia appears in the play is after Laertes comes to the castle to challenge Claudius over the death of his father, Polonius. Ophelia sings more songs and hands out flowers, citing their symbolic meanings, although interpretations of the meanings differ. The only herb that Shakespeare gives Ophelia herself is rue; "...there's rue for you, and here's some for
The River Ophelia are “successful” only at a surface level. Some scholars have called "The River Ophelia" a feminist text. "The River Ophelia" received a divisive response from Australian critics. It was reviewed in various prominent Australian newspapers, such as "The Sydney Morning Herald", "The Age" and "The Australian". Some praised it for its sardonic and satirical approach to the lives of privileged young white university students and yuppies in Sydney's upper-class suburbs, while others dismissed it as being too obscene, violent and sexually explicit. Critic Don Anderson called the novel a "marriage between Helen Garner and the Marquis de Sade". Some critics