It must be so hard to negotiate dating a prince – or at least dating a prince when the prince might have the authority to imprison you for displeasing him. It takes tact to refuse any man but to refuse a prince takes mega-tact.I’m thinking now of that book I read about the American woman who, more or less, joined the harem of a prince. It was compelling reading. She went of her own free will, went with her own desire, found herself coveting the prince’s affection just as much as all the other girls, her American irony and cool, notwithstanding.
And the extracting of herself from that position? Tricky. Very tricky. Saying no once you’ve said yes being an even more difficult task than simply saying no all along.
In a way, this moment is Ophelia at her bravest.
The Hamlet Project 