Hamlet and Ophelia -- Great Books II

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Date Posted: 18:06:08 02/19/08 Tue
Author: Joel Gehrke
Subject: Hamlet and Ophelia

Hamlet tells Ophelia to go to a nunnery, which Dr. Jackson explained could mean a convent, where prayer services take place something like seven times a day, or be understood as slang for a brothel.

I think it's interesting, especially given this double-meaning, that Hamlet says "Nymph (Ophelia), in thy orisons (prayers) / be all my sins remembered."

Immediately following, he makes the word play on nunnery, which Dr. Jackson was quite a crime against her. Then, he lists his sins to her, -- he is "proud, revengeful, ambitious" (3.1.122) -- and then tells her again to go to a nunnery.

It's such a strange conflict. I think he really does want her to pray for him, and wants her to know his sins. I think he also plans on killing Claudius at this point, and that decision figures heavily into his actions here.

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