SARAH: Hamlet is getting out of control here, Ralph. He's offering her curses as wedding presents in case she does ever marry, and then he cynically recommends that she marry a fool, because then he won't know it when she cheats on him. Ophelia must be horrified!

RALPH: True enough, Sarah. When Hamlet says that wise men know that their wives will turn them into monsters, he's referring to a cuckold, a man whose wife is cheating on him. A cuckold was traditionally depicted as having horns growing out of his forehead, as if he were a monster.

SARAH: And I should add one note about Hamlet's language — you'll notice that he is using the more intimate form of address here, "thou" and "thy" — but then, when he begins this business about how women cheat on their husbands, he switches to "you" — this helps us understand that Hamlet is referring to all women now, and not Ophelia.

RALPH: You're right, Sarah, he's almost delirious here. It's not clear if he's talking to Ophelia at all any more. Hamlet continues to use the "you" form of address in these lines, so it's as if Ophelia has completely disappeared, and he's now having this confrontation with the whole female sex.

SARAH: Of course, there's another possibility — Hamlet is using the more formal "you" form, not as a plural, but as the correct form of address to his mother. He's no longer talking to Ophelia, it's his mother that he's thinking of!

RALPH: Yikes. That does seem to be a possibility here. But Sarah, it's clear that whether he's seeing Ophelia in front of him, or he's seeing the image of his mother instead, his harsh criticisms do seem to extend to all women.

SARAH: It could be all women, Ralph, but it could also be that Hamlet is targeting courtesans, that is, women of loose morality, or even prostitutes.

RALPH: Either way, his words can't be taken nicely by Ophelia here!

SARAH: That's true. Besides wearing makeup, which Hamlet seems to see as blasphemous towards God, he also criticizes these unnamed women — for jigging and ambling — prancing around, lisping — speaking in an affected manner, and nicknaming God's creatures —using pretentious words —; and then trying to excuse this sinful behavior through ignorance.

RALPH: That's a long list of complaints... and it's just hard to see how any of them have the slightest thing to do with Ophelia.