RALPH: After Hamlet storms offstage, Ophelia remains, and she give us a soliloquy of her own - but of course, the subject of her monologue is still Hamlet.

SARAH: Ophelia is making a "before and after" comparison of Hamlet — and we might see it as a kind of parallel to Hamlet's own "before and after" comparisons in earlier soliloquys — particularly his analysis in his first monologue, of his parents' relationship, compared to his mother's new marriage to Claudius.

RALPH: Ophelia lists all of Hamlet's good qualities — a courtier's tongue — courtiers should speak well — a scholar's eye, and a soldier's sword.

SARAH: She continues by saying that he was the hope for all Denmark, as a future great leader, and that he was also quite handsome.

RALPH: Her final compliment is a funny one — she says that he was the observed of all observers, meaning that everyone had their eye on him. There's some heavy irony in this, because of course everyone at court is really watching Hamlet right now, trying to figure out what he's up to — and remember that Polonius and Claudius are eavesdropping nearby!

SARAH: But of course, she ends this list of his good qualities by saying that they've all fallen down, all of them are ruined by Hamlet's current frenzied state.

RALPH: One more painful irony here — Hamlet's final words to Ophelia were a brutal list of everything he hates about women, few if any of which have anything to do with Ophelia personally. And she responds with a list of her own, but her list is of all Hamlet's good qualities, at least all the qualities he used to have. It's a pretty classy response.