Hamlet: Broken Man or Bully?

Shakespeare’s Hamlet portrays many examples of men being in a position of power over the female characters. The themes of surveillance, subterfuge, and bullying shines through in many scenes. Act 3, Scene 1 exemplifies the disparities in the gender construct. When Hamlet tells Ophelia “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (Shakespeare 59) he proves that he is no longer feigning madness, he has actually gone insane. This quote not only describes his disdain and lack of respect for women, he projects this onto Ophelia.

Being  a young girl Ophelia is innocent in many ways. Having this insult hurled at her is damaging. Even if Hamlet claims he is only acting insane, this insult shows a glimmer into his true psyche. This quote shows where Hamlet’s values and priorities are, and obviously they are not on Ophelia. In these two lines he breaks any kind of relationship that the two once had. Ophelia now has to bear the burden of his anger and insulting remarks alone, this is a big responsibility for a young girl to handle.

This passage uncovers Hamlet’s anger towards Ophelia. After weeks of thwarting all of his romantic advancements and sending back his letters, Hamlet seems to snap in this moment. Insisting Ophelia admit herself into a convent, or in this context, a nunnery could refer to a brothel. This harsh recommendation shows how his feelings about Ophelia have altered. Such a statement infers that Hamlet has gone mad, however it is unclear whether he is feigning insanity or actually upset. He follows this comment by questioning her, why would she want to bring more sinners into this world?

While it seems at first that Hamlet is only referring to Ophelia in his questioning of, why would you want to bring more sinners into the world, it is clear this question runs deeper. Hamlet’s outburst at Ophelia's mirrors the anger he has for his mother. Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius a month after his father’s death was the ultimate pain to Hamlet. Ophelia and Gertrude are the only two female characters in the play, and Hamlet is scorned by both of them. So while this insult is directed at Ophelia, the underlying theme is that Hamlet feels all women do is breed sinners, since they are the ultimate sinners themselves. By forming this jab into a question Hamlet is able to sting Ophelia with his words. Even though Ophelia is not the main part of the problem, she unfortunately bares the full brunt of the attack. This is why it is unclear if Hamlet is faking insanity at this point, or if he has actually gone mad. His scathing words are beyond hurtful, it is hard to imagine any sane person saying this to someone they once loved.

Other than the harsh meaning behind “get thee to a nunnery, why wouldst thou want to be a breeder of sinners?” this line is also ironic. Even though Hamlet is urging Ophelia to go to a nunnery which could either be a convent or a brothel, she would not be “breeding sinners”. If Hamlet was referring to a convent she would not be having children. However if she went to a brothel and became a prostitute the likelihood of her becoming pregnant would increase. Therefore, if this is what Hamlet intended, Ophelia in fact would be breeding sinners. The fault in Hamlet’s insult lies in the delivery. At this point it seems that Hamlet has gone so mad that he is unaware what he is trying to say.

The tone in which Hamlet delivers this line also reveals a possessive quality in Hamlet. If he is intending Ophelia go to a nunnery she will be closing herself off from society. Meaning that if Hamlet cannot marry her, nobody can. Yet another reason that Hamlet’s sanity is called into question. By calling Ophelia’s purity into question he raises the stakes of the conversation. This high stakes insult and taunting question truly shows that he has gone insane. It is unfortunate that Ophelia has to bear the brunt of this, as she once loved him too.

However, even though Hamlet makes this sinister comment, he could still be pretending to be insane. The nature of the “get thee to a nunnery” quote is so vile that it is hard to imagine him saying it to a young lady. If Hamlet thought he was being watched, the grounds under which he delivered the line becomes completely different. Instead of trying to hurt and insult, Hamlet could merely being putting on a performance for the people he perceives to be watching him. If Hamlet thinks that his goals can be achieved by appearing insane to the entire kingdom, he will do whatever he thinks will be enough. Even if it means insulting someone as innocent as Ophelia who does not deserve it. Instead of this scene showing how insane Hamlet is, it could be showing the great lengths he will go to in order to get what he wants. Perhaps his “insanity” lies in the insane methods he uses to achieve this. The stakes are equally as high for Hamlet as they are for Ophelia, they both have something to prove, to the kingdom and to each other.

Stricken by the pain and hurt his mother’s quick remarriage, and his father’s death have caused Hamlet to go into a state of insanity. His pain reaches an apex when he insults Ophelia’s virtue and character in two short sentences. Implying his opinion of women is forever sullied by the outside forces in his life. This passage shows how deep and psychological Hamlet’s hurt is. He will never be able to love Ophelia the way he may want to because of the damage his circumstances has caused him. By insulting Ophelia’s most guarded virtue Hamlet proves that he cannot handle the situation at hand and ultimately cracks under the pressure.

Thesis: When Hamlet tells Ophelia “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?” (Shakespeare 59) he proves that he is no longer feigning madness, he has actually gone insane. This quote not only describes his disdain and lack of respect for women, he projects this onto Ophelia.

Counterargument: Hamlet has not gone mad, he is still acting mad for the sake of his plan to avenge his father’s death.

Genre: Play.

Purpose: To show how Hamlet’s lack of mental stability is harmful to Ophelia.

Audience: The 225 discourse community.

This paper helped me achieve the critical analysis outcome, it forced me to deeply focus and analyze only one quote in Hamlet without contextualization.

This essay helped me achieve my critical thinking goals because it forced me out of my traditional literary practice. My practice is based in a deep contextualization of the entire text, I tend to look at the whole picture, not just one quote. It was hard to just focus on one aspect of the text, but it deepen my understanding of Hamlet and Ophelia’s complex relationship.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, and Robert S. Miola. Hamlet: Text of the Play, the Actors' Gallery, Contexts, Criticism, Afterlives, Resources. W.W. Norton & Co, 2011.