Hamlet confronts Ophelia, denying his former love for her and spiraling into a bitter tirade against marriage and womanhood. Ophelia watches in despair as the man she loved appears to descend into madness.
HAMLET: Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest; but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me.
OPHELIA: O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown! The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword
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More from Hamlet
Act III, Scene 1 — The Nunnery Scene
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Hamlet confronts Ophelia, oscillating between cruel rejection and existential despair. He denies his former love for her and commands her to enter a convent to avoid the corruption of the world.
Act III, Scene 1 — To be, or not to be
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Hamlet berates himself for his perceived inaction and lack of passion compared to a professional actor's performance. He struggles with his own cowardice before devising a plan to use a theatrical performance to trap King Claudius and confirm his guilt.
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