Explanation of the Ophelia Allusion[]
Goonight Bill. Goonight Lou. Goonight May. Goonight.
Ta ta. Goonight. Goonight.
Good night ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night good night.
These few last lines of the poem alludes to a fictional character in "Hamlet" called Ophelia. She was mad and bewildered after her dad's death, commited by her lover Hamlet. Ophelia's dad - Polonius told her that she should not love Hamlet but she insisted. Before the night Hamlet kills Polonius, he even sits with Ophelia that evening as he makes sexually suggestive remarks and tells her that "A woman's love is brief". Everynight, Oph
Ophelia in Hamlet
elia sings songs about death and maidens losing virginity while she gives flowers to girls. To end her songs, she always announces, "Goodnight, Goodnight, Goodnight". She also gives one flower to herself and only that one kind of flower named, Rue "... there's rue for you, and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o'Sundays; O, you must wear your rue with a difference". The flower rue is a symbolic meaning of regret which fits the circustance very well.
Note: "Ta ta" is just a nursery rhyme for good night.
Connecting back to the poem[]
Ophelia was giving flowers to these girls as a warning to not act and decide like her, or they'll end up very miserable. Though knowing that her friend is going to steal her husband, Lil still invites the narrator out for gammon. This action can be considered as a warnning back to the narrator. In the poem, the narrator seems very anticipated with having sex and children with Lil's husband, so Lil is trying to send this message, "Be Careful. You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Wrinkled skin and lose teeth at 31, five kids to take care of and yet your husband still needs more..."
The Rue Flower in Hamlet suggests that Ophelia is very regretful for what she had done, losing virginity to a man like that. In this part of the poem, Lil is not just regreting her virginity, her time given up for her husband, but also her youth and the youth and sacrifiction of women in the same situation as hers. The author may also want to signify that all men, like Hamlet thinks "A woman's love is brief". Love here isn't affection, but rather just plain sex. And of course, a woman cannot have sex with a man for the rest of his life with no emotional feelings, she'll just be a robot producing pleasure for the man and bearing his babies.