These circumstances classify Ophelia and Cordelia as not only innocent victims, but stock characters as well. The parallels continue as they both have very few lines in which they show courage, but instead, for the most part, are being told what to do. Cordelia demonstrates courage when she speaks the truth to her father, statingI love your majesty according to my bond, no more nor less? (King Lear. Act 1. Sc 1. Ln. 94-95), but this merely results in her banishment and eventual hanging. Ophelia, on the other hand, lacks a single scene in which she shows courage. She is merely a puppet to her father and her brother, vowingI shall obey, My lord? (Hamlet. Act 1. Sc 3. ln.136). This lack of conviction results in her death as well. Both women have committed no crime, but end up in the same place - dead. The only argument is, which of the deaths were more tragic - a maddened girl in love who is controlled by her family, or an honest girl who could not speak a lie? Whether it be the death of a strong woman or the death of a pathetic little girl, both occurrences are tragic in their own respects and result in the creation of the innocent victim. Shakespeare has created many other characters who fit this sketch of innocent victims, such as Desdemona from Othello, and Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. .
Shakespeare tends to make these innocent victims female, a phenomenon which may be attributable to the role women played in Elizabethan times, as it is said that in ShakespeareWhen women are present they often are hardly characters at all? (Andrews. Vol 1 Pg.121.), mirroring the concept of women at that time. This is not to say that woman stock characters are not important to the development of themes in Shakespeare. In fact, Ophelia, like many other female characters in Shakespeare, creates many themes in Hamlet, as she is a girl who becomes mad due to her situation and surroundings. Madness in itself is a prominent theme in many Shakespearean plays such as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth.