Question: When Hamlet speaks of “this machine” in his letter to Ophelia, he is referring to:
Answer: When Hamlet speaks of “this machine” in his letter to Ophelia, he is referring to his body.
Explanation: Hamlet wrote a letter to Ophelia to express his deep and honest love towards her. He vowed to love her as long as he lived and he signed the letter with, ‘’Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst/ this machine is to him, hamlet.’’ We can understand that the ‘’machine’’ that he mentions is his body because he even writes his name after this, making reference to ''machine'' as himself.