Since the dawn of time, man has struggled fiercely over the internal conflict within himself between doing what is right for oneself as opposed to doing what is right for society in general. It is what I refer to as the good vs. evil complex. The play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare somewhere between 1599 and 1603, presents a plethora of characters that are faced with the challenge of not allowing self-interest to reign supreme.
One character in particular that is a parody of divergent personalities is Polonius. Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia, and also acts as council to the king. One can see within him the conflict of self-interest vs. being the loyal father and servant. (I.iii.55-59). One can see both acts of altruism and episodes of scheming and attempts to capitalize on a situation.
Initially, there is an instance in the play where Polonius gives advice to his son Laertes. As Laertes boards the ship to go to France for school, Polonius to says to him, “Give every man thy ear but few thy voice”. (I.iii.68). He then further expands his advice with the following quote:
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
(I.iii.78-80)
It is here that one sees the care and concern of a loving father, providing advice to aid in his son being successful in his studies. Another instance where Polonius’ good nature is shown occurs when his daughter Ophelia comes to him frantic that Hamlet, the man she loves, is going crazy. In this scene, Polonius demonstrates concern for his daughter as it was he who forbade Ophelia to see or talk to Hamlet...
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...he’s going to his mother’s closet Behind the arras I’ll convey myself to hear the process(III.iii.27-29).
Queen Gertrude infuriates Prince Hamlet and fears that Prince Hamlet may kill her. She states:
“A will come straight. Look you lay home to him. Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, And that Your Grace hath screened and stood between
Much heat and him. I’ll silence me even here. Pray you. Be round with him.”
(III.iv.1-5)
She then proceeds to say, ”What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me? Help, ho!”(III.iv.23-24) Polonius hears Queen Gertrude’s distress. He calls out for help, “What ho! Help” Hamlet stab him as he is hidden behind the curtain, As he lay dying, he replies, “Oh, I am slain!”(II.iv.).
Hamlet however, continues his rude remarks by say what lies between maids laps is “nothing” (III.ii.128). In this case the word nothing does not mean what is usually does and instead has a double meaning for a vagina. With his vulgar language and his profane comments Hamlet takes out his anger on someone with less power than he has, praying in the weak in order to make himself feel better. Another character who weathers Hamlet’s coarse commentary is his mother, Gertrude, whom he disrespects the most using her as a punching bag in order to vent out his own anger. After the play has taken place and the king leaves in the middle of it, clearly troubled by Hamlet’s scene resembling his father’s death, Gertrude calls her son to come to her bedchamber. There, Hamlet says to his mother in response to her questioning him, “Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue” (III.iiii.15). Gertrude is the only character in the play to call Hamlet out on his nasty remarks because she is one of the only characters who Hamlet’s has a personal relationship with. Even his schoolboy friends whom he has known for years he
Shakespeare is a master of words, in that he is able to make a reader really think about what he is actually trying to say both as a whole (i.e. the entire play) and in the individual poetic dynamics of the play (i.e. metaphors, diction). He does so brilliantly in one of his most famous plays, Hamlet. The play itself is filled with complex internal dynamics, while at the same time the characters in Hamlet have several complex internal dynamics themselves as well. Throughout the play we are constantly on the edge of our seat, waiting and anticipating what or where Shakespeare is going to take us next. What struck me throughout the play was the relationship between Polonius and his daughter Ophelia. Through Hamlet, and thus through Polonius and Ophelia’s relationship and diction, Shakespeare is able to express to us the flawed ways in which relationship between father and daughter can be and consequently are acted out upon.
The bond between father and daughter is something that some consider sacred. Polonious uses this bond with Ophelia to please Claudius and Gertrude in finding our what is wrong with Hamlet. The King and Queen were very upset at Hamlet's seeming insanity. They tell Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that finding out what is wrong with Hamlet would be "the supply and profit of [their] hope (P.34)." They are obviously disenchanted at his behavior, and Polonious knows this, and tries to use his daughter to prove his theory. When Ophelia came and described to him her meeting with Hamlet in Act I, Polonious immediately took her to the King. Polonious, acting on his duty to "both [his] God and to [his] gracious king (P. 34)" took Ophelia to Claudius to see if he could be any help in trying to find out what is wrong with Hamlet. He quickly tells the king that he will ".loose [his] daughter to [Hamlet] (p. 38)" and concocts an elaborate plan t...
The main plot of Shakespeare's Hamlet centers around Prince Hamlet's desire to repay King Claudius for his evil deeds. Around this central action revolve the stories concerning the minor characters of Polonius and Ophelia. Though they do not motivate Hamlet's actions towards the King, these characters act as forces upon Hamlet himself, trying to spur him to do things he does not want to do. Both Polonius and Ophelia try, unsuccessfully, to manipulate Hamlet into a place of inferiority.
The older gent in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, namely Polonius, is no type character. Rather he is quite rounded and complex. This essay will explore his character.
When Polonius decides that he wants to know what his son is up to in Paris, he hires Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. His suggestion is that Reynaldo should say he has “some distant knowledge of him, as thus: ‘I know his father and his friends, and, in part, him’” (2.1.14-16). Polonius wants Reynaldo to lie about his friendship with Laertes in order to gain information on him. When Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius instead of Claudius, his mother tells Claudius that Hamlet “whips out his rapier, cries, ‘A rat, a rat!’” before stabbing Polonius behind a curtain (4.1.11). Gertrude swears to her husband that Hamlet had no intention of killing any human. While she is lying to Claudius, she is attempting to protect her son from harsh
The way that Polonius acts as a good father towards Ophelia is mostly how he doesn’t want her to get hurt by Hamlet. Ophelia tells Polonius all about what Hamlet has said and given her. She tells her father that Hamlet gives her presents and tells her nice things out of affection.
After Hamlet talks to the ghost of his father, he finds out that Claudius killed him to gain the throne of Denmark. Hamlet has to get revenge by killing Claudius. To do this, he must act insane to draw away suspicion from himself. Hamlet says to Hortaio "How strange or odd some’er I bear myslef as I perchanse hereafter shall think meet to put an antic dispostion on,"(I;v;170-172), this indicates that from this moment Hamlet will act insane. He believes this way he will be able to kill the king and get away with it. Polonius becomes aware of Hamlet’s madness and wants to uncover the reason behind it. He says "Mad let us grant him then, and now remains, that we find out the cause of this defect, for this effect defective comes by cause."(II;ii;100-103). Claudius and Polonius spy on Hamlet and Ophelia as they talk. After hearing their conversation Claudius says "And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose will be some danger; which for to prevent, I have in quick determination thus set it down: he shall with speed to England"(III;i;163-166). This means that Claudius is starting to believe Hamlet is dangerous and wants to send him to England. From this point Claudius is very suspicious of Hamlet, he suspects that Hamlet is plotting against him, he says, "Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.
Polonius seems like a happy old father who loves his kids and I think that would be a good shallow outline for him but I think he is more. He is wise and has come to understand and be content with life but is still scared for his children. He is defiantly loyal and
Polonius takes this opportunity to spy on Hamlet and informs Gertrude that he will hide behind a tapestry and eavesdrop on their conversation. During their conversation Hamlet forces his mother in front of a mirror as to literally reflect on herself and the betrayal she’s caused him to feel. He tells her that he wants to reveal the figurative inmost part of her, but she takes this literally and thinks that he means he is going to murder her. She cries out for help which causes Polonius to cry out as well. Hamlet, thinking that the voice of the man who had just cried out for help belonged to his uncle, stabs Polonius through the curtain and kills him. Gertrude laments the murder of Polonius calling it a bloody deed and Hamlet retorts, “A bloody deed! Almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king and marry with his brother” (Shakespeare 1862). In this scene, Hamlet reaps revenge on Gertrude by emotionally torturing her so she may feel the utmost guilt for betraying her son and husband. Then, Hamlet’s unremorseful character is revealed in his ability to murder Polonius when he thought it was Claudius he had heard behind the curtain. Hamlet then justifies his murdering Polonius by equating it to Gertrude’s sin of marrying the man, her brother in law, who killed her
character Polonius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet fits the description of one who tries to deceive others
Claudius, the shrewd politician is the most obvious example of a man who manipulates words to enhance his own power, possessing a professional grasp of the language. Using this he can oppress people and assert his authority, as we see him doing when delivering a polished speech to the council. He cleverly justifies the ill-viewed situation of his marriage to Gertrude, reminding them that their `better wisdoms' have `freely gone with this affair all along'. In this way he can brush past this sensitive matter, expect no interludes and proceed to other issues. It is interesting to note the changes and flexibility of his language. Addressing the crowd he initially adopts a personal tone on the matter of the past kings death, with creative oxymoron's like `wisest sorrow' and `defeated joy', knowing he speaks of a matter dear to all of them. He pays his own respect, in public, to the sensitive subject that should force the whole kingdom to `be contracted in one brow of woe'. Yet, once he has drawn the crowd to him, sympathised with them and become `one' of them in mourning, he then quickly proceeds to other matters in a far more formal tone. His clever use of language is once again shown, in his interrogation of Polonius's son. Laertes reveals that his `thoughts and wishes bend again toward France' and asks the Kings leave. Claudius does grant him the leave, but ...
Polonius is over-eager and tries to give unwanted advice, during the play he is tactless and often rude. For instance, Polonius is a comic relief during his conversation with Gertrude and Claudius regarding Hamlet’s madness. Polonius rambling through his conversation contrasts with Gertrude’s seriousness of wanting to find out the reason to Hamlet’s madness. As Polonius begins to deliver to the king and queen the results of his investigation, he makes this statement, “My liege, and madam, to expostulate/ What majesty should be, what duty is,/ What day is day, night is night, and time is time,/ Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time;/ Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,/ And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,/ I will be brief. Your noble son is mad. . . .”(IIii,86-92) . Polonius’ speech is windy and nonsensical he wastes ti...
Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia. His contribution to the ideology of sexism and incest is not as direct as the other characters but it is just as significant. His daughter, Ophelia, is deeply in love with the title character, Hamlet. Polonius constantly observes the suspicious relationship between Ophelia and Hamlet. He tries to intervene between his daughter’s relationships with Hamlet. Since her love for Hamlet is so strong, Ophelia becomes disobedient and rebellious to her father just so that she could make a way to fulfill the needs of Hamlet. Polonius tries to help Ophelia understand that she is basically “bait” to Hamlet and she must avoid falling for his word but she refuses to listen. Along with Polonius, his son Laertes is also attempting to protect Ophelia from Hamlet.
Old Hamlet is killed by his brother Claudius. Only two months after her husband’s death a vulnerable Gertrude marries her husband’s brother Claudius. Gertrude’s weakness opens the door for Claudius to take the throne as the king of Denmark. Hamlet is outraged by this, he loses respect for his mother as he feels that she has rejected him and has taken no time to mourn her own husband’s death. One night old Hamlets ghost appears to prince Hamlet and tells him how he was poisoned by his own brother. Up until this point the kingdom of Denmark believed that old Hamlet had died of natural causes. As it was custom, prince Hamlet sought to avenge his father’s death. This leads Hamlet, the main character into a state of internal conflict as he agonises over what action and when to take it as to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s play presents the reader with various forms of conflict which plague his characters. He explores these conflicts through the use of soliloquies, recurring motifs, structure and mirror plotting.