Nunnery or Nunnery? 

Reading Hamlet thus far, the nunnery scene (Act III Scene I) definitely ranks high among my favorite scenes in the play. I thought it was extremely well crafted and it succeeded in drawing many solid connections to other areas of the play - emphasizing overarching themes in the play as a whole. I became very interested with this scene, and researched some key words in order to gain some insight and background on what I was reading - but also because I know Shakespeare is witty enough to use several meanings of a word in a single sentence! What struck me as extremely interesting and surprising was the word "nunnery." We most commonly associate a nunnery with a house of nuns, or a convent. Further research revealed that in the Elizabethan era, the word "nunnery" was slang for a brothel, and the word "nun" could possibly mean to describe a prostitute. Not only was this the complete opposite of what I could normally connote with the word "nunnery," but it could change the whole dynamic in the exchange between Hamlet and Ophelia...So really, being the Hamlet nerd I am, there's nothing I can do but dig deeper into the text. 

Reading the text with the commonly associated meaning of the word "nunnery," I thought that when Hamlet demanded Ophelia to "Get thee to a nunnery," he was simply telling her to do that so she would be able to purify herself and escape the evils Hamlet so commonly associates with the world around him. But this new (or perhaps old) meaning of "nunnery" changed the mood and inner meaning of the scene greatly. I noticed that Hamlet first asks Ophelia whether she is "honest" and "fair." Hamlet asks Ophelia these questions concerning her goodness and beauty, and then jumps to the conclusion that she should get herself to a nunnery. He then accuses women, saying "God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another. You jig and able, and you lisp..." He also claims that women make "monsters" of men. This can be interpreted as Hamlet's rage towards his mother coming out towards Ophelia - or even the idea that Hamlet is well aware of the "whore" Ophelia has become to her father (lying to Hamlet and simply acting as bait because of her father's orders). But if we take the alternate meaning of the word "nunnery," it no longer means that Hamlet is telling Ophelia to purify herself and stay away from evil. It means that Hamlet is demanding that Ophelia does not belong in a castle, in a place of such high esteem - rather than she belongs in a brothel, a house of prostitutes. If Hamlet is truly telling her to go to a brothel, the words become all the more vulgar, accusatory, and abusive. 

I think this use of the word "nunnery" also underscores the way Ophelia is often perceived as a very one dimensional character - and simply defined by her sexuality. Her beauty and her submissive nature define her. Her father uses her as bait to allure Hamlet, and Hamlet treats her as if she is no better that a whore. Her character is defined more so by those around her than the words she utters herself, not only highlighting the man-dominated society around her but also exposing the nature of society as a whole. For these connections, I thought it was quite significant that the word "nunnery" has two meanings. Through his word choice, Shakespeare does a wonderful job of relaying multiple ideas through one singular work.