Why might Ophelia be denied a Christian burial?
There was a possibility that Ophelia committed suicide. Since suicide is a mortal sin, Ophelia could not be buried in consecrated ground if she had killed herself. But if she had “accidentally” fallen into the brook and “accidentally” drowned, then she would be entitled to a Christian burial. This is the theory that is promoted by those who love her in the play. 21. Why does Laertes forgive Hamlet? At the end of the play, Laertes realizes that Claudius is the true evil. When Claudius lets Gertrude drink the wine and die, it begins to dawn on Laertes that Claudius might not be the kind of man or the kind of king that Laertes had thought he was. He forgives Hamlet for Polonius’ killing because he wants Hamlet to forgive him. 22. Why does Hamlet remind us of ourselves? Hamlet reminds us of ourselves because we too are sometimes indecisive. We, like Hamlet, have lots of good things going for us. Hamlet is a prince of Denmark. We often let opportunities pass us. We sometimes make decisions
