CLAUDIUS      Pretty Ophelia –

OPHELIA        Indeed, without an oath I’ll make an end on’t.

[Sings.]

        By Gis and by Saint Charity,

        Alack and fie for shame,

        Young men will do’t if they come to’t:

        By Cock they are to blame.

        Quoth she, ‘Before you tumbled me

        You promised me to wed.’

He answers:

        ‘So would I ha’ done by yonder sun

        An thou hadst not come to my bed.’     (4.5.56-66)

Pretty Ophelia: it can land particularly badly if she’s dirty, dishevelled; is it Claudius trying once again to coerce, flatter, comfort a woman, the only way he knows how? She’s not really listening, and there’s more: although Ophelia’s aware that she’s saying scandalous things, things that should remain unspoken, and so indeed, without an oath—minding my language—I’ll make an end on’t. Almost done! Just one more song to go! By Gis and by Saint Charity (she occludes the name of Jesus; swears by a virtue rather than a saint) and then alack and fie for shame, a mealy-mouthed, mimsy set of reproaches, as if quoting mild reproofs of minor faults rather than grave transgressions. Tut tut! But then she lets rip: young men will do’t if they come to’t; they can’t help it, they’ll take every opportunity to DO IT, by Cock they are to blame—with an obscene, uncompromising secondary meaning overcoming, as it were, the decorous refusal to swear by God. And a sad, familiar conclusion, with two voices (as was common in ballads): quoth she, ‘before you tumbled me you promised me to wed’. You said we’d get married! That’s the only reason I agreed to—DO IT. (You said you loved me. You did.) He answers: ‘So would I ha’ done by yonder sun an thou hadst not come to my bed’. Oh I would have married you if you hadn’t, but seeing as you did… The implication seems to be, you were too easy. I didn’t need to marry you, and now I won’t. If this is Hamlet she’s talking about, it’s grim, and sad, and enraging.