SARAH:  Early in his conversation with Polonius, Hamlet makes several rather rude sexual references to Ophelia. First, he calls Polonius a "fishmonger," which might have been understood to mean a pimp; then he compares Ophelia to carrion, meaning sexually available flesh; and finally he suggests that if she comes near him, she might end up conceiving, that is, getting pregnant.  It’s clear enough why Hamlet might be unhappy with Polonius, Ralph — but is Hamlet also angry with Ophelia?

RALPH:  It certainly looks that way.  The critic A. C. Bradley argues that Hamlet must have had suspicions about Ophelia even earlier, when he paid that unannounced visit to her bedroom, the visit which Ophelia tells us about in Act II, scene 1. According to Bradley, Hamlet only pretended to be crazed with love for her.  The real reason for his visit was to convince Polonius, and through him Claudius, that he’s gone mad from love.  But Hamlet would have only been willing to use Ophelia in this way, and potentially emotionally hurt her, if he had already had doubts about her sincerity.

SARAH:  John Dover Wilson, another of our early 20th century experts on Hamlet, was convinced he had uncovered the reason for Hamlet’s attitude toward Ophelia. Just prior to Hamlet’s entrance in this scene, Polonius and Claudius were plotting to sound out Hamlet’s real feelings by arranging an unaccompanied meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia, where they will be listening behind a curtain.

RALPH:  Wilson thought that Hamlet must have overheard this bit of dialogue between Polonius and Claudius, and that would explain why Hamlet is so critical of Polonius in their conversation.

SARAH:  Wilson was so convinced that Shakespeare must have intended Hamlet to overhear this scheming, that in the edition of Shakespeare’s plays that he edited, he actually moved Hamlet’s entrance up earlier than when it occurs in the authoritative editions of the play.

RALPH:  In the 17th and 18th centuries, Hamlet’s use of obscene puns, in this scene as well as elsewhere in the play, came under sharp criticism. One 18th century critic wrote that Shakespeare “deserved whipping for low and indecent ribaldry.”

SARAH:  And the French philosopher Voltaire described this play as “a vulgar and barbarous drama, which would not be tolerated by the vilest population of France,” though he admitted that there were some “sublime passages worthy of the greatest genius.”

RALPH:  In fact, for many early readers, Hamlet’s language and his cruelty towards Ophelia made him seem unworthy of being considered a real hero. It wasn’t until the Romantic movement of the early 19th century that he trulybecame a hero — the Romantics were much more sympathetic to his sensitive, suffering character, and more forgiving of his shocking language.