t his anger to Opheliabecause even though many critics "in their sy! mpathy with Opheliathey have forgotten that it is not Hamlet who has 'repelled' her, butshe him" (Wilson 159). It is possible that Wilson does not see thepotential harm to Ophelia should she disobey her authority figures(i.e. her father and her king). Furthermore, Ophelia cannot know "thatHamlet's attitude toward her reflects his disillusionment in his mother. . . to her, Hamlet's inconstancy can only mean deceitfulness ormadness" (Lidz 158). She is undeniably caught in a trap that has beenlayed, in part, but her lover whom she does love and idealize. Hershock is genuine when Hamlet demands "get thee to a nunnery" (line120). The connotations of the dual meaning of "nunnery" is enough inand of itself to make her run estranged from her once sweet prince, andit is the beginning or her sanity's unraveling as well. Hamlet'smelancholy permits him the flexibility of character to conveymanic-depressive actions while Ophelia's is much more overwhelming andpainful. "Shakespeare is ambiguous about the reality of Hamlet'sinsanity and depicts him as on the border, fluctuating between sanityand madness" (Lidz 156). Hamlet mourns for his father, but it is thebitterness and ill-will that he harbors towards his mother for herhasty marriage to his uncle that is his most reoccurring occupation.His thoughts of Ophelia are secondary at best. When it happens thatHamlet accidentally slays Polonius, he does not appear to be thinkingof the potential effect of his actions on Ophelia. Hamlet has sealedher fate, and along with the "vacillations in [his] attitude andbehavior toward her could not but be extremely unsettling to the veryyoung woman who idolized [him]" she does not have much in the way thatis positive for her (Lidz 157). Throughout the entire murder scene inAct 3, Scene! 4, Hamlet does not remark about the damage he has doneto Ophelia. His emotional upswing is devoted e...
