Natasha Trethewey’s “Bellocq’s Ophelia” is a collection of poems that tell the story of a prostitute trying to escape her exposed life in hopes of gaining control of herself. Ophelia describes her life through a series of letters she has written to tell her loved ones of her journey as a prostitute. As the novella progresses, Ophelia slowly emerges from the oppression and blossoms into a woman in control of herself.
At the beginning of the novella, the repressive life of a prostitute wears on Ophelia. She reveals the letter written by Countess P, the girls’ caretaker. The letter, titled ‘Countess P—‘s Advice fro New Girls,’ gives guidance to new prostitutes and helpful direction to ways they can safely live. Countess P describes the proper way to interact with a customer. She tells the girls to “see yourself through his eyes” and to “let his gaze animate you […] think of yourself as molten glass” (Trethewey 11). The women are clearly inferior to men and are simply puppets to their masters. Their customers control them, and they also have to mold themselves into what their clients desire. The emotional disconnect within the women also adds to their meek personas. They cannot personally see who they really are, but rather, they look through other peoples’ eyes to see who they should become. Ophelia does not feel comfortable in her skin. She lies down in a bath, staring at her muffled reflection. She grows colder the longer she sits and begins to get the chills: “my skin gooseflesh, / the Braille text of my future” (18). The bumps on her skin foreshadow her future as a prostitute. The pokes look like Braille reading across her arm. Braille, a method of reading and writing for the blind, serves as a metaphor to foretell the carless, insignificant, and submissive life Ophelia will live if she continues to live as a prostitute.
Ophelia decides, however, to stop her compliant life and live for herself. As winter turns to spring, a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, Ophelia also encounters changes of her own. Ophelia hopes to start fresh and live with purpose and ambition. Ophelia reveals she is finally “aware of [spring’s] coming / as I’ve never been […] Now, I feel what trees must— / budding, green sheaths splitting—skin / that no longer fits” (33). For the first time, she realizes the seasons changing and transforms with the trees of spring. Ophelia outgrows her old, useless skin and begins to blossom into a new woman. The potent capabilities of self-power drastically alter Ophelia. She now wears ‘new’ skin that symbolizes her new self. She learns “ how / to wear skin like a garment, seamless” (42). Ophelia’s skin, revealing who she is, no longer droops in the sorrows of a timid girl; it now shows power and structure that corrects her life and leads her into control of her fate. She wears her skin, proud of its shape. By the end of the novella, Ophelia has completely transformed. She takes control of her destiny and focuses on living a meaningful life. As the story concludes “she’s no longer listening; she’s forgotten / he’s there” (47). Ophelia does not even pay attention to the men. Ophelia’s disregarding of men contradicts the initial advice of Countess P, to listen to what the clients desire. She slowly grows into her own person and learns the ways of an independent, committed life.
“Bellocq’s Ophelia” shows the story of a young prostitute living a life of sorrow and eventually growing into a self-thinking woman.
Ophelia was an interesting character who did indeed seem timid in the beginning. She was naive to how the real world functioned so, she listened to what others told her she had to do. Like you stated, she does eventually grasp a hold of her life and begins to make decisions based on her perspectives and not anyone else’s.
I find it interesting, Leo, that you’re referring to this as a novella when it’s a book of poems. Why do you think you’re doing that? Is this what you would expect to do after reading a volume of poetry?
And I think you’re right to trace the evolution of Ophelia as you have done. But there are some places where your reading is a bit off. For example, when she is sitting in the bathtub is not when she is already working in the brothel but when she is first discovering her maturing body as a young girl. And I’m not sure that Countess P— has written a letter here. On the whole, however, you’ve done good work in paying attention to small details across the poems.