Ophelia new King of Denmark and also Hamlet's uncle and stepfather, about the situation. Polonius later suggests to Claudius that they hide behind an arras to overhear Hamlet speaking to Ophelia, when Hamlet thinks the conversation is private. Since Polonius is now sure that Hamlet is lovesick for Ophelia, he thinks Hamlet will express his love for her. Claudius agrees to try the eavesdropping plan later. The plan leads to what is commonly called the "Nunnery Scene", from its use of the term "nunnery" which would generally refer to a convent, but at the time was also popular slang for a
Ophelia complex Ophelia complex Ophelia complex is the term used by Gaston Bachelard to refer to the links between femininity, liquids, and drowning which he saw as symbolised in the fate of Shakespeare's Ophelia. Bachelard traced in Romanticism a nexus of ideas linking the dissolution of the self - male or female - with immersion in the feminine element of water, as symbolised by Ophelia's drowning. Federico García Lorca explored the image of water and a despairing sexuality, epitomised in the Ophelia complex, throughout his writings. A later, and unconnected use of the terms Ophelia complex/Ophelia syndrome was introduced by Mary Pipher