Of course she didn’t think you meant country matters, you dick!
And she especially didn’t think you meant CUNT-ry matters as some Hamlets like to play it. You’re in public, you jerk. Even if you’ve been enjoying all sorts of country matters with this woman in the privacy of your own bedrooms, you don’t talk about them in front of your parents at a damn play!
This is all assuming that this reference to country matters is a sexual metaphor. It just occurred to me that it could be country as in Denmark rather than country as opposed to city. Country matters would then be matters of state – which, as a Prince, he could certainly be interested in.
However – in context – this little possibility is pretty slim – as what could affairs of state have to do with whether or not Hamlet gets to lie in Ophelia’s lap.
In any case, I’m having trouble seeing Hamlet’s playing with Ophelia here as the harmless charm offensive it’s usually played as – at the moment – to me – it’s mostly just offensive.
The Hamlet Project 