If you were to stage Hamlet in a modern setting, how would you deal with Ophelia? Would you let the audience see what truly made her mad? Surely today’s jaded audience wouldn’t believe it was being dumped by the prince (who even her father warned her away from), whether she was pregnant or not. Many scholars have argued that the reason she went mad was because she was pregnant by him, or even that she merely slept with him.

So, what was her poison? Alcohol? Cocaine? Crystal meth? Ketamine? LSD? Or was she bipolar, perhaps?

What would bring on Ophelianess?