Laetres

Question 1

What does Laertes say in an attempt to warn Ophelia to be cautious if hamlet in act 1 scene 3

Answer 1

Says hamlets declarations of love are “sweet, not lasting” “the perfume … of a minute, / No more”
“His will is not his own” > he cannot choose who he marries because of his courtly position

Question 2

How does Ophelia respond to laertes’s advice suggesting his hypocrisy + Paris context

Answer 2

“Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven … and recks not his own rede” > he’s instructing her on how to resist hamlets temptation while he goes off to Paris for sexual freedoms ( he’s a “boastful libertine” ) > theme of gender roles
> 1600s Paris known for its tolerance of sexual liberation