Get thee to a nunnery is a short but perplexing phrase. The Nunnery Scene (3.1) in Shakespeare’s Hamlet encompasses the spirit of the play as a whole. The themes and struggles that are revealed in Hamlet’s monitored conversation with Ophelia lay the foundation for the climax of Hamlet’s struggles. Although Hamlet’s attitude toward Ophelia in the Nunnery Scene is cruel, Hamlet’s cruelty is better understood as despair instead of hatred because of how deeply Hamlet cares for Ophelia and how seriously he takes his mission of revenge.

It is important to consider Hamlet’s motivations leading up to his interaction with Ophelia in the Nunnery Scene. In Act 1 Scene 5 Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father who reveals that king Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, killed his father. Claudius killed his own brother to take his crown and to marry his wife, Hamlet’s mother. The ghost of king Hamlet commands his son to seek revenge on his behalf because his soul is caught and cannot pass on to the next world until the evil done against him is corrected (1.5.10-25). Later on, approaching the Nunnery Scene, in Act 3, Hamlet gives his famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy which sheds light on Hamlets moral struggle in this scene. In the soliloquy Hamlet famously says, “To be or not to be that is the question” (3.1.55). Hamlet is asking whether it is better to live or to die. He is struggling between the dual realities of life’s suffering and death’s uncertainty. He concludes his speech as Ophelia enters the room saying; “Thus conscience does make cowards” (1.3.82). Hamlet’s conscience paralyzes him from actually making decisions. Hamlet’s anger––fueled by his uncle’s murder of his father, his mother’s marriage to his uncle, and his own inability to act––contributes to his attitude in the Nunnery Scene.

Soon after his soliloquy, Hamlet commands Ophelia, “Get thee to a nunnery!” (3.1.119). Hamlet repeats “nunnery” as an imperative to Ophelia five times in this scene in lines 119, 126, 134, 135, and 145. The note in the third edition of the Norton Shakespeare specifies that in Elizabethan slang “nunnery” could also mean “brothel” (Greenblatt 1803 n.119). Though “brothel” is a semantic possibility, I believe that Hamlet means “nunnery” literally as in an actual convent of nuns. G. R. Hibbard’s note on line 122 clarifies this position when he writes, “Hamlet means precisely what he says here. Only by entering a nunnery can Ophelia ensure that she will not become a breeder of sinners” (243). Hibbard argues that the context surrounding Hamlet’s proclamation suggests that he is speaking literally. The first time Hamlet issues this command, his complete statement is, “Get thee to a nunnery. Why, wouldst thou be a / breeder of sinners?” (Hamlet 3.1.122-23). His language here suggests that his wish for Ophelia is chastity so that she will not become defiled. Hamlet’s suggestion is self-deprecating because he supposes that the only outcome of his union with Ophelia would bring more sin into an already sin-filled world. A nunnery is a place devoted to holiness. Hamlet’s wish for Ophelia is that she devotes herself to holiness rather than aiding in the creation of sin. To him, a nunnery is the only place where such devotion is possible. If Hamlet were to mean brothel when he says “nunnery”, it would be inconsistent with his words in lines 120-127 that reveal Hamlet’s struggle with his own sinfulness. Encouraging Ophelia to get to a brothel would be encouraging her to sin, while suggesting she go to a nunnery detours her from destructive behavior.

Hamlet’s apparent cruelty towards Ophelia is belied by the evidence of his genuine love for her. Hamlet greets Ophelia with affection saying, “The fair Ophelia!” (3.1.88). However, lines 110-117 he claims not to love her. It appears that Hamlet is lying when he claims to not love Ophelia because of his response to her death in Act five in which Hamlet claims to love Ophelia more than her own brother loves her (5.1.259). Hamlet has surrendered himself completely to the task of revenge, yet he still seeks to protect Ophelia’s lifeless body in this scene. Maynard Mack claims that “get thee to a nunnery” is a cry of pain caused by Hamlet’s uncertainty. Mack writes, “If Ophelia is what she seems, which I think she is, this dirty-minded world of murder, incest, lust, adultery, is no place for her” (87). Mack further comments on the chastity of Ophelia writing; “Ophelia, innocent, yet in her innocence still serving to “skin and film the ulcerous place” (93). Mack highlights the fact that Ophelia is helping the very people Hamlet considers wicked by spying on him. By comparing Ophelia to skin and film, Mack argues that she is covering up the evil intentions of Claudius and Polonius by spying on Hamlet. Because of Ophelia’s betrayal, her character is blackened in Hamlet’s eyes. Yet, Hamlet loves Ophelia and hopes that maybe in a nunnery she could save herself from further corruption.

An alternative perspective on the Nunnery Scene comes from scholar Théodore Lidz. Lidz reads Hamlet’s “nunnery speech” beginning in line 119 as a “misogynistic curse” towards Ophelia (68). But Hamlet is not a chauvinist; he is a man reckoning with a new reality. Hamlet’s actions in the Nunnery Scene are motivated by a deep internal struggle, not a desire to degrade women. Hamlet is intentionally harsh in order to convince Claudius of his madness. Ophelia then is caught in the middle of a conflict that she has no business being a part of. I acknowledge that Ophelia’s involvement in Claudius’ schemes angers Hamlet and that some of his insults toward Ophelia were meant sincerely. Yet the interaction is insufficiently described if Hamlet’s motives are reduced to a misogynistic outburst. Moreover, when Ophelia enters the room, Hamlet asks a nymph to let his sins be remembered in their prayers (3.1.88-89). It is as if Hamlet is preemptively asking for forgiveness for the sins he is about to commit while speaking to Ophelia, like Hamlet is aware that he will be attacking someone he loves. A true misogynist does not ask for forgiveness before he acts like a misogynist. Clearly Hamlet’s attitude has a different motive.

Additionally, reading Hamlet’s repeated “nunnery” as brothel creates a one-dimensional character. It is a reading that treats Hamlet as a scorned lover trying to insult rather than a rich intellect torn between virtue and a dark duty. Hamlet is a man in conflict with his world and with himself. R. A. Foakes suggests, “[Hamlet’s] attack on Ophelia springs from an inquisition into himself” (Foakes 34). Foakes’ reading is plausible because Hamlet frequently admonishes himself throughout his interaction with Ophelia calling himself, “proud, revengeful, ambitious, / with more offenses at my beck than I have thoughts to put / them in” (Hamlet 3.1.122-24). Lidz, who is more critical of Hamlet’s intentions in this scene than I, acknowledges Hamlet’s self-reflection. Lidz writes, “[Hamlet] is soon carried away into a tirade against Ophelia, against all women, against himself, and against all mankind” (67). Hamlet, though speaking to Ophelia, speaks more generally. But there is no evidence to suggest that Ophelia is aware of Hamlet’s general anger and she therefore misunderstands him. Because Ophelia cannot understand Hamlet’s anger, she becomes an obstacle that Hamlet must work around. Ophelia has become a pawn for the king who is the rightful target of Hamlet’s anger and distrust. In a nunnery Ophelia can be protected from the evil world that Hamlet sees around them.

My reading of the Nunnery Scene is contingent upon a robust acknowledgement that Hamlet’s madness is purely a performance. When Hamlet tells Horatio that he will “put an antic disposition on” he reveals he is going to act insane to help conceal his plot to murder the king (Hamlet 1.5.178-180). I agree with Chesterton; “If Hamlet was really mad, there does not seem much point in his pretending to be mad” (68). Chesterton wittily adds: “The whole point of Hamlet is that he is really saner than anybody else in the play…. Being outside the world, he sees all around it…. But after all, Hamlet pretended to be mad in order to deceive fools. We cannot complain if he has succeeded” (69). In Chesterton’s own cheeky way, he points out how clever Hamlet is. Hamlet knows exactly what he is doing when he decides to fake insanity. Hamlet’s pretending impacts how the nunnery scene is understood because it proves that Hamlet is purposefully manipulating the situation to convince Ophelia—and others listening—that he is truly crazy. Hamlet must convince everyone of his madness so he can conceal his plans. Hamlet tries to test if Claudius is truly guilty of killing his father, so he pretends to be mad to observe Claudius for evidence of guilt. This seems like a strange way to prove that someone is guilty, but if Hamlet is presumed mad then he will not have to explain his schemes because his family and friends will write him off as crazy. By faking madness, Hamlet puts himself outside of the world he knew so that he can better observe it as it really is: an evil place.

Another important point that Chesterton makes regarding Hamlet is that Hamlet is consumed by a duty he cannot fulfill. Chesterton comments on Hamlet’s character writing, “[Hamlet] was a man to whom duty had come in a very dreadful and repulsive form, and to a man not fitted for that form of duty” (49). The duty that Chesterton refers to is the mandate given to Hamlet by the ghost of his father to seek revenge against Claudius for his crimes against King Hamlet (Hamlet 1.5.25). Hamlet is not fit for such a dreadful duty because he lives aggressively in his own intellect as displayed in the “to be or not to be” soliloquy. His hesitancy to act comes from a deep moral disturbance within him that shows itself in his conduct in the nunnery scene. Hamlet indeed faces more than just a deceptive Ophelia in this scene. He is also reckoning with himself and what he must do.

The Nunnery scene is fascinating on another level because of strange dynamics playing out in the conversation. Throughout the conversation, Hamlet oscillates between truth and exaggeration. He tells the truth in a clothed manner, careful to appear as mad as possible. Ophelia also hides her intentions, trying carefully to conceal that she is spying on Hamlet while knowing he is cleverer than she is. Both parties conceal their true intentions making for a strange conversation. At different moments, Ophelia and Hamlet are talking to each other, at other moments to themselves. Hamlet frequently expresses sentiments to Ophelia that are clearly directed at Polonius and Claudius, whom he believes are listening. For example, Hamlet asks Ophelia “where’s your father?” (Hamlet 3.1.127), suggesting that he knows her father is somewhere behind the scenes. Hamlet then declares, seemingly to Ophelia, that “we will have no more marriage” (3.1.143). This declaration is targeted at Claudius who has disgraced the institution of marriage via his union with Gertrude. When speaking towards Polonius and the king, Hamlet protects himself from revealing his plot for revenge too soon. At other times Hamlet’s cruelty toward Ophelia seems more aptly directed at his mother. For example, as Hamlet and Ophelia’s conversation in Act 3 Scene 1 ends, Hamlet proclaims, “if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well/ enough what monsters you make of them” (Hamlet 3.1.134-135). The “you” Hamlet is referring to is women in general. However, Hamlet directs this blow at his mother who has been married. Ophelia has never been married and at this point in the play has abandoned all hope of a union with Hamlet. Because Hamlet’s insults are pointed at people outside of the room that he and Ophelia are speaking in, Hamlet’s cruelty is not meant for Ophelia. Ophelia, acting as a pawn for those Hamlet is more frustrated with, is caught in the crossfires of Hamlet’s insults.

Another element to consider when reading the Nunnery Scene is Hamlet’s understanding of the purpose of human existence described in Act 3 Scene 1. Lines 122-123 reveal Hamlet’s complex relationship to the moral dilemmas unfolding around him. Hamlet sees no just man around him; he even admits that he himself is “indifferent honest” and has done things that “it [would be] better [if his] mother had never borne [him]” (3.1.123-125). Hamlet expresses his understanding of the human condition when he says:

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,

The pangs of disprized love, the law’s delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might quietus make. (3.1.71-76)

In this part of Hamlet’s fourth soliloquy, Hamlet gives a list of the calamities that he sees in Denmark. His conclusion is that it might be better to take one’s own life rather than to suffer these injustices. So, when Hamlet asks Ophelia, “wouldst thou be a / breeder of sinners” he is suggesting that life is meaningless and full of injustices and that Ophelia should not want to give birth to someone who would suffer and cause more injustice in the world.

While Hamlet has a unique struggle with conscience, Ophelia’s lack of struggle with her own integrity explains some of Hamlet’s frustration towards her. Ophelia’s own father is an immoral force in the play. It is clear that Hamlet finds Ophelia’s father to be a posturing quack and calls him a “fishmonger” to denigrate him (2.2.172). Yet Ophelia continues to be a dutiful daughter even as her father’s morality corrupts her. When Ophelia follows her father’s commands to spy on Hamlet in Act 3 Scene 1, her own character is tainted. Before Ophelia meets Hamlet in Act Three, Polonius instructs her to:

Read on this book

That show of such an exercise may color

your lowliness. We are oft to blame in this:

Tis too much proved that with devotion’s visage

and pious action we do sugar o’er

The devil himself.  (3.1.43-48)

Polonius tells his daughter that she can pretend to be virtuous or honest by reading this prayer book to conceal that she is spying on Hamlet. This wicked advice is underscored by the king’s admission that what Polonius says is true. Claudius admits, “How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience. / The harlot’s cheek, beautied with plast’ring art, / Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it” (49-51). Claudius makes this statement in an aside where Polonius cannot hear. Claudius compares lying to a prostitute who covers herself with makeup to appear different than what she really is, suggesting that Claudius himself is not as innocent as he seems. Polonius, on the other hand, desires respect from the king and is content believing that things are as they appear. When Ophelia agrees to spy on Hamlet, she is acting as an extension of the corruption that her father and king Claudius embody. Hamlet’s wish for her to go to a nunnery makes sense in this context because if Ophelia is in a nunnery, then she is safe from the corrupting influence of her father.

When Ophelia comes to Hamlet as a spy, Hamlet is let down by Ophelia. Taraknatha Sen points out that “There is Ophelia, and naturally Hamlet would expect much from her. But even she (without knowing it: she is too simple to know) fails him. Hence Hamlet’s bitterness against Ophelia” (149). Hamlet’s proclamation “get thee to a nunnery” reflects his high expectation for Ophelia as well as his bitterness towards what he sees as her obvious betrayal of him. I agree with Sen’s observation that Ophelia fails Hamlet without knowing what she is doing; however, her simplicity is better identified as an ignorance of reality. Hamlet comes by his bitterness honestly. He is reckoning with his impending action against the king, his anger at his mother, and his disappointment in Ophelia.

In a play with as many moving pieces as Hamlet, small details can be overlooked or unexamined. However, even a scene as short as the Nunnery Scene has ramifications on how the rest of the play is understood. Misunderstanding Hamlet’s intentions in the Nunnery Scene leads to misunderstanding the complexities of Hamlet’s character. The world of Hamlet is realized in the Nunnery Scene because it helps the audience understand the strange new landscape that Hamlet inhabits. This new place of deception, misdirection, and hidden intentions should be recognized so that the play can be seen rightly as a whole. Hamlet is a referendum on the human soul because it exposes the corruption of humanity and the difficulty of a flawed character who is desperately trying to do what is right and fails. Hamlet’s character should receive sympathy, not chastisement because of his humanity. Hamlet is a deeply human play and misunderstanding this about the play leads to a misunderstand of humanity and ourselves.

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Works Cited

Chesterton, G. K. The Soul of Wit: G. K. Chesterton on William Shakespeare. Editor Dale Ahlquist. Dover Publications, 2012.

Foekes, R. A. “The Art of Cruelty: Hamlet and Vindice.” Aspects of Hamlet. Editor Kenneth Muir and Stanley Wells. Cambridge University Press, 1979, pp. 28-48.

Lidz, Théodore. Hamlet’s Enemy: Madness and Myth in Hamlet. Basic Books, 1975.

Mack, Maynard. “The World of Hamlet” Discussions of Hamlet. Edited by J. C. Levenson. D. C. Heath and Company, 1960, pp. 84-95.

Sen, Taraknath. “Hamlet’s Treatment of Ophelia in the Nunnery Scene.” The Modern Language Review, vol. 35, no. 2, 1940, pp. 145–52. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3717323.

Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet” The Norton Shakespeare. Third edition, W. W. Norton & Company, 2016, pp. 1,751-1,853.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Editor G. R. Hibbard. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Wilson, John Dover. What Happens in Hamlet. Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Wilson Knight, G. “The Embassy of Death” Discussions of Hamlet. Editor J. C. Levenson. D. C. Heath and Company, 1960, pp. 51-67.

The featured image is “A Nun” (1878), by Ragnhild Beichmann, and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.