''Get thee to a nunnery'' also contains some not very flattering innuendo. The term 'nunnery' was slang for a brothel ('abbess' was used to refer to the madam in charge of the establishment). This passage follows hard upon Ophelia's rejection of Hamlet, and can be seen to link her to his earlier comment about his mother; ''Frailty, thy name is woman.''
- Just a few lines previously, Hamlet says:
-
Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness: this was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love thee once.
This and the rest of the scene not only indicate that he believes her to be untruthful and unfaithful, but reveals it as part of the greater disillusionment which contributes to his depression and instability. It also equates beauty with a whore in the usage of ''bawd.''