Donovan Dicks

English 12 H 4A
19 November, 2015
Driven To Madness
Love and madness are often intertwined throughout nature and the world. There are few
things that cause more grief than a love gone wrong. Heartbreak can have devastating effects on
the mind and body, and can come from the loss of a loved one, a failed romance, or numerous
other causes. Ophelia has suffered immense loss in the form of her fathers death as well as
Hamlets betrayal and exile, and she clearly displays her mental unhinging. Sylvia Plaths poem
Never Try to Trick Me with a Kiss clearly illustrates Ophelias behavior through the motif
death and the overarching theme of madness.
The tile of Plaths poem is self-explanatory. Never Try to Trick Me with a Kiss
discusses the ploys and deceit of a man who leads a woman on. The poem alludes to madness
multiple times. Never try to trick me with a kiss / pretending that the birds are here to stay
confronts the deceit of the player while also acknowledging their guise (lines 1-2). A man leading
someone on would create the illusion of love and a sense of permanence, or in other words, he
would pretend that the birds are here to stay. His victim, if caught under this rouse, would find
themselves in a world of madness. A false reality has been built for and around them, and
becomes their truth. Hamlet has done something very similar to Ophelia, suggesting to her that
he loves her and desires to be with her. Whether or not this was his actual intention is of no
consequence, as he later goes back on his word and the rouse collapses. In such circumstances, it
is often said such men are heartless, as a stone can masquerade where no heart is (line 4). Plath
suggests that these men who lead on have no heart and instead a stone. In other words, they are
cold and without empathy; they can be cruel even though they may seem genuine. A victim such

as Ophelia can find themselves seeing this stone for a heart and finding genuine affection where
there is none. Upon further analysis, one can see that virgins rise where lustful Venus lay; then
the liar is truly exposed (line 5). For as virgins do not arise from lust, love does not spawn from
stone. Hamlet has truly become cold-hearted, and his deception assists in Ophelias descent into
madness.
Alas, Hamlets rouse was never to last. As he clarifies his feelings in a most vicious
manner, his entire construct falls apart. Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of
sinners, Hamlet says to Ophelia (3.1.131). Here Hamlet attacks Ophelia and women in general
for being breeders of sinners, and suggests she seclude herself from society and remain pure.
This blatant rejection and insult, coupled with a few of his other statements, are in complete
contrary to Hamlets prior disposition towards Ophelia. As such, his words are both shocking and
revealing, and ultimately topple the illusion Ophelia was living under. Plath writes that sooner
or later something goes amiss, and that time is now for Ophelia (line 16). The illusion crumbles,
the singing birds pack up and fly away, and Ophelia is left alone and crushed (line 17). The
heartbreak from this experience is devastating.
Plaths poem clearly illustrates the ploys of mean that women should avoid, but Ophelia
falls into every trap. The illusions men create to deceive women can drive some to madness, as
Hamlet did Ophelia. Her heartache coupled with the death of her father truly sent her to a place
of no return, and ultimately led to her death.