HamNun+Rachel+Yoo+(BLOCK+D)

__Nunnery Scene__ by Rachel Yoo



In my version of the nunnery scene, Hamlet knows from the beginning of the scene that Polonius and Claudius are watching him. That is why he says he has stopped loving Ophelius, and that she shouldn't have believed his words in the first place. He says these harsh words to Ophelia just because he knows he is being watched. For what purpose would he have lied about loving Ophelia in his letter: “To the celestial, and my soul’s idiot… I have not art to reckon my groans. But that I love thee best, O most best, believe it. Adieu” (2.2.209)? Is he not contradicting himself when he tells Ophelia to “believe” his love, and then not long after, tells her that she should not have believed his words of affection? Also, we know that he is aware of being watched by the king and queen because he has already met with Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, and he saw through them immediately. This is seen on page 217 when Hamlet says, “You were sent for, and there is a kind of confession in your looks… I know the good King and Queen have sent for you…” Then on page 218, he goes on to give a speech about how men and women do not ‘delight’ him. Reading these lines, it is pretty clear that he is aware that he is being watched.

We also see that Hamlet is not falling for Ophelia’s act because he asks her “Ha, ha? Are you honest?” Then he takes the conversation to the extreme by forcing her to go to the nunnery: “You jig, you amble, and you lisp… I say we will have no more marriages… To a nunnery, go” (3.1. 150). This proves to Claudius, Polonius, Gertrude, and Ophelia that his ‘insanity’ is not caused by love for Ophelia, but rather something else. This unpleasant truth, I presume, is intended to make Ophelia shocked and insecure. It is almost like Hamlet is trying to toy with the minds of Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, and Ophelia. To get his revenge, he must give up his love (for she is too obedient and well-connected to the King and Polonius) and make everyone (except his most trusted friends like Horatio) believe his insanity. This way, they have no grasp of what Hamlet will do next, what he is thinking, what he is feeling. They do not expect Hamlet will seek revenge, and that is when Hamlet plans to strike. Just as Hamlet predicts, Ophelia is in shock as she exclaims after he exits that Hamlet is here “o’erthrown,” meaning he has changed for the worse (3.1.151). Then Claudius and Polonius follow behind and (as Hamlet plans) they do not grasp what is going on with Hamlet. Moreover, they have contrasting ideas of what causes Hamlet’s grief. While Claudius predicts Hamlet's action “was not like madness,” Polonius sticks to the idea that “the origin and commencement of this grief sprung from neglected love" (3.1.165,178-9). Readers can be pretty certain that Hamlet has been watchful, wary, carefully planning, and thinking in advance, since the day his father’s ghost talked to him because we can confirm that Hamlet was sane and shrewd all along by looking at act 3 scene 2 when Hamlet tells Horatio that he must get back to acting mad, and previously we see how much Hamlet punishes himself in the last scenes of act 2 (of his soliloquies) about not having taken revenge.