Question for anyone familiar with Hamlet?

Question

I have a question for anyone who is familiar with Hamlet, in scene 3 Act 1 where Polonius and Claudius are hiding and eavesdropping on Hamlet and Ophelia ( the famous "to be or not to be"...and "get thee to a nunnery" Act).....do any of you think that Hamlet knew at any time that they were there hiding and that some of what he said was an act....or do you think he meant the whole thing? I keep reading it over and over again trying to evaluate it.

Answer 1

When I read the play in 12th grade I thought that Hamlet's telling Ophelia to go to a nunnery was because he actually cared for her and felt she was an innocent in a den of liars and schemers. Whether he truely believed she should become a nun or not was beside the point, I felt he wanted her to get out of there before she became like virtually everyone else. So he was trying to be cruel in an effort to save her. Unfortunately his actions actually cost her life.

Answer 2

It's hard to tell exactly what Hamlet was thinking. If you ever get to watch the 4-hour Branagh movie version, I think he did a very good job with that scene - actually, the whole thing was brilliant. In that version, Hamlet randomly stood right in front of where Polonius and Claudius were hiding for "To be or not to be," and "randomly" guessed where they were at the end of the "nunnery" bit.