General meaning and meaning of the scene: Ophelia was driven mad by the death of her father Polonius and how Hamlet betrayed her love with his own wave of madness which was just an act . In her madness, Ophelia talks about her father, his death, and the "tricks of the world" (terrible things that happen to people). Ophelia's madness was also the fact that she was used by her father to spy on Hamlet to see if he was really mad and then by Hamlet when he claimed that he no longer loved her and had not sent her any letters (memories). Ophelia's speech and her song fragments are nonsensical. Her song was about the death of her father "He's gone, he's gone" (4.5.220), and about a girl who is tricked into losing her virginity with a false promise of love and the possibility of marriage. “To be your Valentine, then he got up, put on his clothes and cheated the bedroom door” (4.5.56-58) Characterization: Helena Bonham, who played Ophelia in Zeffirelli's version, looked crazy and amplified the act of a crazy person. She played the wonderful Ophelia, her hair was really wild, crazy and the makeup used made her face look like it was sunken in to create a "sick" perspective. Kate Winslet had a tender, bonded look that would simply make anyone feel sad and sorry for her. The Branagh vs. Zeffirell version of “Ophelia's Madness” looked brilliant, offering audiences a possible happy ending thanks to the lighting and time the director took to get to the point of no return. So an apparently mad person should be calm in a situation considered mad is no better than Helen approaching Queen Gertrude played by Glen Close who was absolutely petrified when Helen said "Where is the fair Majesty of Denmark?" (4.5.26...... middle of paper ...... I captured the best version of “The Madness of Ophelia” due to the lighting effects when Helena was hysterical, the screen was usually darker while the Branagh's version was always bright (seemingly white throughout the film). Having a darker, more brooding feel led me to believe that she was truly mad and not just someone we should feel sorry for. Ophelia's madness is expressed physically again when Carter hands out flowers to members of the court, Zeffirelli chooses to have Ophelia hand out real flowers. Carter's Ophelia has a madness that is a real and tangible shocking reaction to a truth that she can't quite handle more someone else's work and no one can escape (blaming everyone and if Hamlet was then maybe he would have given him all the flowers instead of passing them around) when Winslet holds out her imaginary bouquet.