How did Ophelia betray Hamlet's trust?

Answer 1

In what they call the Nunnery Scene, in Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1, Hamlet gets angry at Ophelia. The scene is very complicated and it is difficult to find a consistent explanation of the lines.

In one theory, Hamlet becomes mad at Ophelia because he thinks she's become Claudius's courtesan. The situation is that Hamlet knows he was summoned there by Claudius. Claudius, himself, tells us that he summoned Hamlet.

Hamlet finds Ophelia there, and then she returns the gifts he gave her, so Hamlet thinks Ophelia is returning his gifts because Claudius told her to. That's how it looks to him. Hamlet thinks he was summoned there by Claudius so Ophelia could return his gifts.

Thus, Hamlet suspects that Ophelia must have gone over to Claudius. Hamlet thinks the same kind of thing has happened again that he's already seen, that being, first his mother went to Claudius and married him, then Hamlet's old friends R & G went to Claudius and started working for him, so now Hamlet thinks it's happened with Ophelia, too, when she returns his gifts, after Claudius summoned him there. And why would a lecherous old king be interested in a pretty young girl? Hamlet draws the obvious conclusion. He's gotten the tragically wrong idea that Ophelia is a prostitute.

Here is another possible interpretation of what is going on. Hamlet expects Claudius to be behind the curtains and knows he is there watching this. He bumps into Ophelia. There is a lot he'd like to say to Ophelia, but he has to be careful because he is being overheard. She is going to return love-tokens to him (she is in fact doing this because her father told her to do it) His first thought is to deny it; he doesn't want Claudius to know about Ophelia and him. Then he thinks she is behaving oddly "Are you honest?" and she gets worried. Is he on to her? Hamlet then tries to tell her to get out of his life because he is too dangerous, and retire to a convent. "Why would thou be a breeder of sinners?" Then something happens, and he asks the question, "Where is your father?" Her answer gives away the fact that she knows that Polonius is behind the arras--she knew it all the time. Here he was trying to be nice to her, and she was selling him out. He is furious and instead of telling her to get to a "nunnery" that is a convent he tells her to get to the "nunnery" that is a brothel, because she had sold herself out like a prostitute.

Ophelia certainly is Claudius's and Polonius's tool. She has engaged Hamlet in conversation knowing that the purpose of the thing is to trap him in front of the hidden witnesses. She has sold out to Claudius just like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Gertrude have. But she has done so because she is very weak, dependent and somewhat dimwitted, and she is trying to be a dutiful daughter and obey her father, without reflecting on what this might mean for Hamlet, or that it implies choosing sides in some court intrigue. When she finds that out, it will drive her mad. Hamlet is wrong about Ophelia, but he doesn't know that. She hasn't really gone over to Claudius. However, Hamlet's mistaken idea makes him very angry.

Answer 2

It started going sour when Hamlet burst into her bedroom only half-dressed. It got worse when Hamlet found out that Ophelia had been helping the king spy on him. It totally fell apart when Hamlet killed her father. That would be fatal to any relationship, I think.

Answer 3

Your mileage may vary a good deal on this question, as on most questions of interpretation in Hamlet. That's why it gets reinterpreted so many different ways.

But I'd say that the nunnery scene starts with him being neither and ends with him being both. Hamlet's trust in others was never very strong. It does not take him long to suss out Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Even at this point he says that Denmark is a prison and implies that his supposed friends are part of this durance.

But the scene with Ophelia opens with what appears to be real tenderness on Hamlet's part toward Ophelia. He does say "I did love you once". But at some point he suspects that Ophelia is complicit in the king's scheme to spy on him, which is quickly confirmed and his disappointment in her makes him very angry. His early use of the word "nunnery" suggests that he legitimately wants her to retire to a convent for her own safety. He turns the word around and uses it to accuse her of selling out to those who would harm him, of prostituting herself by allowing herself to be bait. This further blow renders Hamlet even more cynical about relationships, an attitude he takes with him when he visits his mother later on.

But Hamlet is not wholly cynical about relationships. Even after this disappointment about Ophelia, he is able to express total confidence in Horatio, a confidence which never wavers.

Answer 4

We hear all about it in Act I Scene 3. Hamlet and Ophelia have talked, they have exchanged love-tokens and he has written love letters to her (Polonius produces one later in the play), and has sworn that he loves her, using all the holy vows of heaven. However, they have not discussed this matter directly with their parents. Act I Scene 3 is the first time Ophelia talks to Polonius about it, and there is no indication that Hamlet discussed the matter with his mother (there is no way he would talk to Claudius about it!) So no matter how intimate they have become (some productions, like Ken Branagh's, make clear that they have had intercourse), there is nothing official about the relationship. This is where the problem lies, as Laertes points out, as royalty are not always allowed to marry who they want to (even nowadays--Prince Charles was married to Princess Diana against his preference).

Answer 5

It is curious that Hamlet does not appear to be much motivated by sex except that he is constantly made angry by the fact that his mother is married. Some have speculated that this is because Hamlet desires his mother sexually, and might go as far as to say that he has put this feeling into practice. If so, it does not appear in the text. Although he has written passionate, if not very good, poetry to Ophelia, he does not exhibit much interest in her. I suppose that you might say that he was unfaithful to her, not because there was another love object in his life, but because he becomes obsessed with his uncle and his murder and marriage, and neglects her as a result.

Answer 6

They are in a romantic relationship. He has "importuned her with love". It is an open question of how far their relationship has gone.

Answer 7

She betrays his trust by co-operating in her father's scheme to spy on Hamlet for the king.

Answer 8

yes hamlet love ophelia and hi mother and grandma