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Juxtaposition In Hamlet's Madness

1366 Words6 Pages

Hamlet’s “madness” inspires speculation amongst King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and their loyal companions, and they hypothesize that he is the unhinged, shattered product of Ophelia’s seemingly unrequited love and rejection. To confirm such suspicions, Hamlet is set up and drawn into a conversation with Ophelia, with Claudius and Polonius observing, hoping to catch the cause of his newly planted insanity. Though it appears that Hamlet is far ahead of their scheme and develops a tactic of his own, to protect his beloved Ophelia and to mislead his superiors, towards a conclusion that’ll relieve their distrust, allowing him to plot with ease. Under first impression, Hamlet may appear arrogant and vile towards Ophelia, bellowing at her to “get thee to a nunnery” and slandering her femininity, “God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another”, but there are expressions of affection and prayers in his language (3.1.121, 3.1.142-43). …show more content…

Nymphs are typically imagined as ethereal, beautiful goddesses of the woods and are associated with care and motherly affection, aiding those in need in various myths and medieval folklore. If he had wished to condemn her as he had done by the end of the scene, he would’ve initiated his terror then, suggesting he had a different conversation in mind than the one that had played out. Not only that but he pleads her to remember his sins, “in thy orisons be all my sins remembered”, hinting that he desires to part from her, not out of hate or of disgust, but to protect her, to cast her far away from his stony path of revenge (3.1.90-91). This aspiration is fully exploited in the BBC adaptation, but one must be quick to catch onto

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