Why is there debate surrounding the nature of Ophelia’s funeral in Act 5 of Hamlet?

There is a debate over Ophelia’s burial because it reveals
a lot about the Renaissance attitude toward a critical issue such as suicide. Her burial
“With such maimed rites,” (5.1.224) indicates that she received some burial rites. We
know later that the “churlish priest” denies her a requiem mass because her death was
doubtful. Receiving some burial rites means that Ophelia’s death is considered is a
non compos mentis, or “not of sound mind” suicide. In the
Renaissance era, mad suicides were not denied burial rites as felo de se
suicide, or “felon of himself.” A “felon of himself” suicide was denied
traditional Christian burial rites and burial of the dead body in the middle of the road
during the night. The second thing is that her “mad” suicide renders her innocent of the
sin of diabolic despair which was believed at the time caused by Satan, and which made a
person commit self-murder. The religious condemnation of suicide can be traced back to
St. Augustine’s The City of God.

The
main thing here is that Shakespeare dealt with the suicide theme artistically. He built
on suicide unforgettable dramatic scenes in this play. We must remember that Hamlet
himself contemplates suicide in the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy. From this play, we
come to know more about the Renaissance era people’s religious beliefs. Hamlet tells us
about the suicide is prohibited by the “Everlasting,” and Ophelia’s burial completes our
understanding of how the Renaissance people viewed suicide when committed by a mad
person. This is not to say that the play is a historical document. The play is a
dramatic masterpiece that reflects “real” people’s suffering and their endeavors to find
an escape of that suffering though suicide.