Natasha Trethewey\u2019s \u201cBellocq\u2019s Ophelia\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019 caretaker. The letter, titled \u2018Countess P\u2014\u2018s Advice fro New Girls,\u2019 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 \u201csee yourself through his eyes\u201d and to \u201clet his gaze animate you [\u2026] think of yourself as molten glass\u201d (Trethewey 11).\u00a0 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\u2019 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: \u201cmy skin gooseflesh, \/ the Braille text of my future\u201d (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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201caware of [spring\u2019s] coming \/ as I\u2019ve never been [\u2026] Now, I feel what trees must\u2014 \/ budding, green sheaths splitting\u2014skin \/ that no longer fits\u201d (33). For the first time, she realizes the seasons changing and transforms with the trees of spring.\u00a0 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 \u2018new\u2019 skin that symbolizes her new self. She learns \u201c how \/ to wear skin like a garment, seamless\u201d (42). Ophelia\u2019s 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 \u201cshe\u2019s no longer listening; she\u2019s forgotten \/ he\u2019s there\u201d (47). Ophelia does not even pay attention to the men. Ophelia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cBellocq\u2019s Ophelia\u201d shows the story of a young prostitute living a life of sorrow and eventually growing into a self-thinking woman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Natasha Trethewey\u2019s \u201cBellocq\u2019s Ophelia\u201d 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<\/p>\n