Midrash from
http://www.online-literature.com/forums/
showthread.php?16457-Decoding-Shakespeare —
"It's an extremely complicated scene that needs a great deal of discussion
to fully appreciate. But essentially, Hamlet is arguing 'beauty' versus 'truth.'
And notice that Hamlet bases his whole argument on how beautiful Ophelia is,
as he sees her. There's the old saying, and it's perfectly true, that beauty is in
the eye of the beholder. As Hamlet looks at Ophelia, she's the most beautiful
thing he ever saw.
So we know how Hamlet feels about Ophelia, no matter what he says. When
he says he doesn't love her, he's lying through his teeth. If he didn't love her,
she wouldn't look so beautiful to him.
The Nunnery Scene is one of the great scenes in all of literature, and it's
beastly intricate and complicated. It's Hamlet's logical argument about truth
versus beauty, and as he says it to Ophelia, he's lyin' like a dog."
— "Amleth," 03-28-2006, 08:55 PM
See also this journal on that date.