Final answer:
Ophelia sends a message by giving flowers to other characters. This action is symbolic and represents themes of gender and madness, contributing to her lasting significance in literary and cultural studies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before her death, Ophelia sends a message to the other characters in the play by giving them flowers. This act is an important part of her portrayal in Shakespeare's Hamlet, which has drawn significant attention over the centuries. Ophelia is often depicted in white, symbolizing innocence, and her distribution of flowers can be seen as a symbolic deflowering.
This moment is integral to the themes of gender and madness in the play, especially as Ophelia's demise contrasts sharply with the intellectualized madness of Hamlet. Her tragic figure has become a rich subject for artists, feminists, and scholars, capturing the imagination with representations that ponder her agency within the restrictive gender roles of her time.