SPEECH+ACT+III

"Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?"(act III, scene 1, p127, line 122-123)

One of the first times we see Hamlet use speech to convey a deeper meaning is when he is taking out his anger on Ophelia. here he is pulling out a double edged sword on her; "Get thee to a nunnery" has a double meaning. The first thought that is usually associated with the word "nunnery" are girls who have decided to devote themselves to God and not take up any sinful action and have also pledged not to marry. Here he is basicially telling her that she is beyond help and that she might as well give herself to the church so she won't "be a breeder of sinners." Another way to look at his phrasing is to look at another meaning for the word "nunnery." Nunnery can also mean a house of prostitutes. By this he means that she has lost her honor and is now dirty and practicially worthless. If you look at the word under this meaning the second sentence has a different but relevent meaning. He is now asking her why she would even think about giving away her honor so quickly. Why would she want to be like those who breed so many fatherless children who are likely to steal and live on the streets. This is another way that he says to her that she is beyond help "Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines" (act III, scene 2, p133, line1-4)

Here Hamlet is setting the stage for the speech that will change the course of the play. This speech causes Claudius to be found out, and lets Hamlet discover that the ghost was not evil. This gave Hamlet a new surge of passion as well as a motive; it causes Claudius to try to repent of his deeds and sets the stage for Hamlet's talk with his mother. Hamlet: " I will speak daggers to her, but use none" (act III, scene 2, p161, line399) queen: "These words like daggers enter in my ears. No more, sweet Hamlet!" (act III, scene 4, p177, line 98-99)

This again shows the power of speech, that he could hurt his mother to the point that she is crying out for mercy from his words. They are compared to daggers because of the painful impact they have on his mother; she chooses to listen to hamlets advice once she realized what she had done. Without Hamlet's saying these things to her, she may never have realized her fault in the overall picture. It makes her decide to act differently around Claudius, which will affect the way Claudius views what is happening.

Done by :Lindsey Holty

Isaiah Bergstrom sorry to clash with your cool formating Lindsey, but I'm clueless with this stuff...

“He Does confess he feels himself distracted, / But from what cause he will by no means speak.” (act III, scene 3, line 5-6, page 119) Here, Rosencrantz comments on the things Hamlet leaves unsaid, and how he hides information. It’s sort of a sub-motiff, because Hamlet does this A LOT. He talks circles around everyone, so that even when he gives information, it’s misunderstood. He does this with Claudius (“I am too much in the sun”) and Polonius (see act two seen two) and several others. In this particular case, Rosencrantz references Hamlet’s attempts to confuse Claudius with an insanity that may or may not be feigned. Clearly, this works, because Claudius is //constantly// working about the source of Hamlet’s “turbulent and dangerous Lunacy.” It shows how much power can be held by words unsaid. “Let his queen-mother all alone entreat him / To show his grief.” (Act III, scene 1, line 186-187, page 131) Count on ol’ Polonius to find a new angle. This line implies that Hamlet might be willing to say more to his Mother than to Claudius, and indeed, when the described conversation takes place, though not quite as is planned here, Hamlet does reveal a great deal. How one communicates reveals a lot about the relationship between two people. The fact that Hamlet is willing to divulge so much to his mother while he speaks riddles to everyone else means he is closer to her, a fact also demonstrated by his constant focus on her, as noted in class. He feels some measure of trust in her, even though he feels betrayed. What’s more, because Polonius picks up on this closeness, we see that it is an open and obvious connection. Expanding on this, we can use the information Hamlet gives to other characters to determine how he views them. His answers to Claudius are inconclusive and have a bitter tone (see first act especially) because his distrusts and dislikes him, and Hamlet’s discussions with Polonius, such as the one in act two, are laden with sarcasm, and answers ment to fly over his head. Hamlet sees Polonius as an old bumbling fool. “I have nothing with this answer, Hamlet. These / words are not mine.” (Act III, scene 2, line 98-99, page 139) Once again, Claudius is confused. The modern equivalent to his words would be “What the H&%% are you talking about?” This line serves to show the King’s mounting frustration at being in over his head. It reflects Hamlet's mode of comunication. His ideas are not conveyed to other characters because he persistantly talks over thier heads. Hamlet is set above others in this way, which enhances the tradgety of his decline and death. This line is also an indicator of Hamlet's condecending attitude toward Claudius, as is discused above.