Ophelia: The Forgotten Character Ophelia is Polonius' daughter. According to M.M. Reese (108), her name is generally thought to be derived from the Greek word apheleia, meaning "innocence." This is certainly a good description of her outlook on life, every bit as ingenuous as her brother's. It may not, however, apply to her sexual activity: The intensity of her feeling for Hamlet suggests that something more than a flirtation has gone on between them, and as Evans Smith points out, the lewd "St. Valentine's Day" song that she sings in her madness must have been learned somewhere, though its words should not be taken as literally describing the state of their