ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -He goes on to insult Ophelia and tells her to go to a nunnery. He tells her that this will be the best place for her and, by being a nun, Ophelia won’t have children and produce wicked men like his uncle. All through the scene Claudius and Polonius, Ophelia’s father, are hiding and watching what happens.

Detailed explanation-2: -Hamlet is cruel to Ophelia because he has transferred his anger at Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius onto Ophelia. In fact, Hamlet’s words suggest that he transfers his rage and disgust for his mother onto all women. He says to Ophelia, “God has given you one face and you make yourselves another.

Detailed explanation-3: -Ophelia is used by two men in the play – her father and Hamlet – as a pawn for them to enact their deceptions. Polonius uses Ophelia to try to determine what the cause of Hamlet’s madness is (although Polonius, arrogantly, already assumes he knows that Hamlet is ‘mad for [her] love’).

Detailed explanation-4: -Hamlet compares himself to the Player: while the Player weeps for a person he never knew, Hamlet has so far done nothing to avenge his own murdered father. This contrast creates a whole new layer of doubt for Hamlet. Can his feelings about his father be real if they are not making him act?