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Scene Study prepares you to perform key scenes for your theater class or audition. We've got all the information you need for a great performance.
Excerpt from Act 3, Scene 1 Dialogue: Hamlet, Ophelia
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Understanding the Given Circumstances
- Prince Hamlet and Ophelia have been romantically involved, spending hours together and exchanging love tokens.
- Hamlet is dealing with the murder of his father by his uncle, the incestuous marriage of his mother to that uncle, and orders from the ghost of his dead father. Hamlet decides to feign madness while planning to avenge his father and save Denmark from the newly crowned king.
- Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, has warned her that, even if Hamlet loves her now, the prince will choose a bride of his own station, so she shouldn’t lose her virginity in a moment of passion that has no future.
- Polonius, Ophelia’s father, agrees that Hamlet is just looking for sexual favors and has forbidden Ophelia to speak with Hamlet anymore.
- Hamlet has started to act strangely, and Polonius decides Hamlet’s madness is due to unrequited love. He and Claudius have asked Ophelia to meet Hamlet while they secretly observe his actions.
- When this dialogue begins, Hamlet is concluding his “To be or not to be” soliloquy, considering suicide as a way out of his troubles. Claudius and Polonius hide, listening. Ophelia enters the hall, interrupting Hamlet’s thoughts.
Blocking and Movement
In theater, blocking is the process of planning the actors’ physical movements and positions. Be sure to show respect and establish trust when working with scene partners. As you prepare to block this scene, ask yourself the following questions:
- What feelings do Hamlet and Ophelia have toward each other at the moment? How might blocking and gestures initially convey their feelings to the audience?
- Is Hamlet surprised to see Ophelia, or has this been a meeting place? Does he view her appearance as an interruption, a salvation, or something else?
- Where are Polonius and Claudius hiding? Does Ophelia know this from the beginning, or does she discover it during the scene? How does this change her attitude and movement?
- Hamlet repeats the word well three times. Is this tossed off or used as three separate emotions or realizations? If the latter, does movement or an expression by Ophelia trigger them? Does Hamlet become suspicious, hurt, irritated, or something else?
- Does Hamlet hear or notice someone hiding? If so, when? How does that affect his mood and treatment of Ophelia?
- Nunnery can mean a convent where single women are safe. In Elizabethan times, it can also mean a brothel. How can these two definitions convey different line readings, movements, and emotions?
Character Relationships
Family secrets and demands shatter the love between Hamlet and Ophelia, ultimately destroying them in the process. Prior to the beginning of the play, Hamlet and Ophelia spend a great deal of private time together, exchanging love “tenders” and sharing intimate conversations. Suddenly, circumstances change, and they must keep secrets from each other. Hamlet does not tell Ophelia that his uncle murdered his father and had an adulterous affair with his mother. Nor will he reveal his conversation with the ghost and his plans for revenge. Ophelia will not admit what her brother and father truly think about Hamlet’s love. Likewise, she cannot confess her part in her father’s conspiracy with Claudius.
Feeling betrayed at every level, Hamlet feigns madness and carries his burden alone as the Prince of Denmark. Abandoned by her brother and manipulated by her father, Ophelia sees no options as a woman other than to obey her father. Without these restrictions, perhaps the lovers would have found comfort and understanding with each other. Perhaps together they would have made other plans. Instead, duty, isolation, misunderstanding, and overwhelming emotions lead them inevitably to madness and death.
When approaching this scene for performance, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do Hamlet and Ophelia really love each other? How long has the relationship been going on? Is it sexual or merely romantic?
- Is there a point when Hamlet or Ophelia wants to confide in the other? What stops them?
- How does their intimate knowledge of each other provide ammunition to hurt one another? Do they regret this?
Full Act 3, Scene 1 Dialogue: Hamlet, Ophelia
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