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"woe is me"
Context and Language Videos
Act 3,
Scene 1
Lines 151-162

A discussion of Ophelia's feelings as she witnesses Hamlet's madness in Act 3, Scene 1 of myShakespeare's Hamlet.

myShakespeare | Hamlet 3.1 “woe is me”

Ophelia

Oh, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! 
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword;
Th' expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mold of form,
Th' observed of all observers — quite, quite down!    
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched
That sucked the honey of his music vows,
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason
Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh,
That unmatched form and feature of blown youth
Blasted with ecstasy. Oh, woe is me
T’have seen what I have seen, see what I see!    
[Exit Ophelia, Enter Claudius and Polonius.]
Video Transcript: 

SARAH: Now Ophelia turns finally to herself, revealing her own sorrow at having to witness all of this, and in particular because she had been fortunate to receive Hamlet's love — his music vows — in the past.

RALPH: Ophelia's language emphasizes once again the strangeness, or alienation, of Hamlet's situation — he is out of place, his reason has been confused like bells that chime harshly and at the wrong time - and finally, that his handsome, youthful appearance has been "blasted with ecstasy" — he's been thrown outside himself.

SARAH: And she ends with yet more irony — while Polonius and Claudius are trying so hard to see into Hamlet's motivations, to perceive what is causing his madness, and without much success — Ophelia is overcome with sorrow at what she sees. What each character sees in Hamlet depends a great deal on what they're looking for.