Hamlet Close Reading

   Hamlet and Ophelia are in argument that gets critical after Ophelia puts an end to her relationship with Hamlet. Ophelia rejected Hamlet in multiple ways, one way was giving back things that he had given her such as letters he had written her expressing his feelings in depth. Hamlet, is not accepting it at all, he is hurt and very upset by what Ophelia is saying. They begin to go at. 

   As a matter of fact, you can see how upset Hamlet is in the beginning of his little speech when Hamlet says, "Go thee (to) a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?" Nunnery means a convent, a convent is a community where priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns gather and live together. All of the same sex. But also it could be used in a different manner, used to refer to brawdy house, brawdy house is a place or community where men can visit prostitutes.   He is basically referring that Ophelia is a prostitute, the love of his life of being a sinful and wrong woman. She should not birth any children, because if she does then there will be more people like her which are sinners in the world.

   Looking a little further down, Hamlet is speaking about himself, he says he himself is an "indifferent honest." It sounds like he flipping his words around when he is finished his thought, "but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me." Hamlet is far from innocent or a person you could look up to a saint in the play he switches up his feelings. 

    One example is Act 1 Scene 5, when his two friends Horatio and Marcellus run back and inform him that they have seen and spoken to the ghost of his father. One night Hamlet stands watch with Horatio and Marcellus, and sees the ghost, which is his father. The ghost takes Hamlet away, to talk to him. He says that he was murdered by Claudius which is his brother, the new king. His father tries to convince Hamlet into murdering the new king of Denmark, step dad Claudius. 

"Murder?

Murder most foul and most unnatural murder.

But this most foul, strange, and unnatural." ( Lines 32-34)

"O, my prophetic soul! My uncle!

Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast." ( Lines 48-49)

The ghost Hamlet's fathers ghost is speaking about his brother, like an animal.

"So, uncle, there are you. Now to my word.

It is "adieu, adieu, remember me.

I have sworn't." (Lines 117-119)

The ending words are Hamlet saying goodbye goodbye, remember me. 

   Hamlet goes on throughout the disagreement with Ophelia in a different way. When he says to Ophelia "I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offenses at my back than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them space, or time to act them in." It sounds like Hamlet is speaking to Ophelia like he is in higher power. Like he is above her. He is saying that everyone messes up, and its normal. But somethings just cant be forgiven.

    As he continues in the talk with Ophelia he has a sudden change in character, "What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven? While Hamlet is saying this line, it sounds rather frustrated, like something is bothering him. Does it have to do with his father? The ghost? "We are arrant knaves (all;) believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery. Where's your father?," are Hamlet's last few words said to Ophelia during the argument. Telling her to go and look back at her sins and see what she has done. 

   Hamlet is just one of Shakespeare's great works of art. Shakespeare uses his writings and plays to real life. The way it is written is what makes it so well known and read around the world. All throughout Hamlet, Shakespeare uses a language that sets off the tone of the play.