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Theme of betrayal in hamlet
Hamlet indecisiveness polonius
Essay on Hamlet and Polonius
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Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tale of betrayal and revenge, attrition and tragedy. One sees this theme throughout the interactions between each character. While the play’s main tragedy is the death of King Hamlet at the hand of his brother Claudius, the accidental death of Polonius truly initiates the demise of the others. In a tragedy, audiences often seek someone to hold responsible. Polonius is a trusted advisor, Lord Chamberlain, for the king and queen. He has one son and one daughter. His son, Laertes, is a classmate and friend of Prince Hamlet. His daughter, Ophelia, holds the prince’s heart and loves his as well. An old, foolish man whose trite and meddlesome personality cost him his life, Polonius is easily the most loathsome character …show more content…
Fretful and full of despair, she enters after having a disconcerting encounter with Hamlet. She explains to her father Hamlet’s actions and his reply, “Come, go we to the king: This must be known… being kept close, might move [more] grief to hide than hate to utter…” introduces his affiliations with the king and queen (2.1.129-131). Polonius is not comforting or compassionate; though it is clear, he has manipulated his daughter Ophelia into rejecting her love for Prince Hamlet. He is more concerned with running to the king than his daughter’s comfort or …show more content…
After sharing his opinions of the prince with the king and queen, he engages Hamlet and asks if he knows him. Hamlet acknowledges Polonius and implies he is a fishmonger. Thus, Polonius falls victim of Hamlet’s sarcasm and witty double entendres, inferring he is a pimp (Hacht, 198). This comment goes unnoticed by the lord, as he is more concerned with the recognition of his title and the idea that Hamlet’s insanity is due to his love of Ophelia.
Polonius’ trite and meddlesome behavior leads to his death. Explaining that Hamlet is heading to see the queen, Polonius expresses to the king his intentions to listen in on the queen’s scolding of Hamlet. He goes to Queen Gertrude’s room,
good-bye in his chambers, Polonius tells his son: Beware Of entrance to a quarrel, but,
Ophelia states Hamlet has been “affectionate”. Polonius warns her to be careful before she becomes looking like a fool that had been played around with. He tells her to talk to him less.
Polonius starts to question Hamlet’s sanity and soon enough, Hamlet begins to display this behavior more often and towards more people. Hamlet’s odd demeanor affects Polonius, when he later taunts Polonius by giving vague answers to his questions. For example, when Polonius asks Hamlet about what he reads, Hamlet responds saying “words, words, words” (2.2.210). Hamlet finds other ways to taunt him, such as calling him an old fishmonger, as well as indirectly insulting Ophelia by saying “your daughter may conceive, friend, look to ‘t” (2.2.202-203), meaning Ophelia, his daughter, could be pregnant. Besides Hamlet, other characters possess obvious facades. Claudius also exhibits a fake appearance towards his court and even Hamlet. Near the beginning of the play, Claudius addresses the court, saying how he marries his sister-in-law and how he feels sorrowful for “[his] dear brother’s death” (1.2.1). Claudius presents a facade when he reveals that he holds responsibility for King Hamlet’s death. Nevertheless, Claudius acts innocent and covers up his crime. Hamlet discovers Claudius’s guiltiness after watching the play; Claudius prays and asks for forgiveness for murdering his
... Polonius tells her not to get involved with him. This duties cause Hamlet to be isolated from Ophelia. Hamlet has many duties, and responsibilities. He is the highest class compared to all people, and is treated differently. When he is addressed by Polonius he is called a lord: “Do you know me, my lord?...Not I, my lord…Honest, my lord?” (2.2 171-175) Hamlet is treated different from his friends, and all people who are not royalty. This adds to Hamlets isolation because he is treated so differently. Since Hamlet is treated so special, he feels he has more responsibilities. To kill the king, including your uncle is considered to be the most ‘unholy’ of all crimes. Hamlet wants to kill the King, which goes against his duty as a prince to protect the Kingdom. Hamlets duties as a prince cause Hamlet to isolate himself because he does not believe in the Kingdom.
Troubled by royal treason, ruthless scheming, and a ghost, Denmark is on the verge of destruction. Directly following King Hamlet's death, the widowed Queen Gertrude remarried Claudius, the King's brother. Prince Hamlet sees the union of his mother and uncle as a "hasty and incestuous" act (Charles Boyce, 232). He then finds out that Claudius is responsible for his father's treacherous murder. His father's ghost asks Hamlet to avenge his death and Hamlet agrees. He plans very carefully, making sure that he doesn't kill Claudius when in he has already been forgiven for his sins. Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, the King's advisor, thinking that it was Claudius hiding behind a curtain spying on Hamlet and his mother. This drives Ophelia, Polonius' daughter and Hamlet's love interest, insane. She then drowns in a suspected suicide when she falls from a tree into a river. Laertes, Ophelia's brother, teams up with Claudius and plot revenge on the strained prince.
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.
Upon learning that Ophelia has allied herself with Polonius and Claudius, he loses his head and has an incredibly dramatic episode. He is initially honest and open with Ophelia, but his mood quickly changes when he learns they are being spied on. He questioned Ophelia’s motives by asking whether she was honest and fair. He breaks her heart upon the realization she is not on his side. He tells her that he once loved her, then their conversation spirals into nothing more than Hamlet hurling insults at his former love before storming out.
The next member of the Polonius clan to die is his daughter Ophelia. Ophelia’s death is also tragic, because of her complete innocence in the situation. You can argue that Polonius deserved his fate because of his handling with Hamlet while he was mad. But Ophelia was entirely manipulated, and used by Hamlet and the king for their own selfish reasons, and games. An example of how Ophelia is used by Hamlet is seen in Act II, scene i, when Hamlet uses her to convince his family that he is truely mad. Ophelia explains to her father, how Hamlet has scared her, causing Polonius to draw the conclusion that Hamlet has an "antic disposition"(He is quickly losing his mind).
Following the performance of “The Mousetrap”, Hamlet is summoned to his mother's chamber. Upon arguing with Gertrude over the intentions of his play, and his reasons for wanting to distress the king so openly, Hamlet kills Polonius. “How now? A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead (III.iv.27-28)! Perhaps Hamlet did not know whom he was killing. “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! / I took thee for thy better”(III.iv.38-39)! Perhaps Hamlet thought he was killing the king.
During Act One, Scene Two, Hamlet admits to being depressed over the death of his father and mother’s remarriage. The death of Polonius does not even seem to bother Hamlet the slightest bit. Soon after he commits the unforgivable act of murder against Polonius, Hamlet says, “Thou wretched rash, intruding fool, farewell. I took thee for thy good” (3.4.32-33).
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia. Hamlet ends up deceiving everyone around him, and also himself, by putting on a mask of insanity. In spite of the fact that Hamlet attempts to act morally in order to kill his uncle, he delays his revenge of his fathers’ death, harming others by his irritating actions. Despite Hamlets’ decisive character, he comes to a point where he realizes his tragic limits.
The obedient Ophelia has followed her father's injunctions and repelled Hamlets letters and denied him access to her. Polonius is certain that these rebuffs have driven Hamlet mad. His only action is to inform the king and queen, and to let them decide what the next move will be. In Polonius lengthy discussion with the king and queen he explain the situation:
One recurring theme in Shakespeare’s, Hamlet, is family and the relationships or bonds within those families. It would seem as though all characters in Hamlet have negative relationships with their kin, however, one family actually shares a strong bond, though it is hard to detect as it is camouflaged by an unfavourable appearance. This deceivingly strong bond can be found between Polonius and his two children, Laertes and Ophelia. Though there is some tension between Polonius and his children, there are a few interactions between him and his children that reveal that, despite seeming only like a ruthless politician, he does possess characteristics which allow him to be considered an adequate father.
Due to surprising himself with his own reaction at the sight of the play, Claudius is now desperate to be rid of Hamlet and after Polonius is murdered he has the perfect excuse to send his nephew away. The King plots to have Hamlet
He is essentially telling Ophelia how she should be behaving and reacting to her own situations. This is portraying her as a woman who cannot think for herself and is dependant on Polonius. In addition, Polonius’ death is the trigger to Ophelia’s insanity, because she depended upon him a great deal. When Ophelia is told by Polonius to never contact Hamlet again, she obeys Polonius, but Hamlet acts crazy in reaction to her denial. Ophelia says, “No, my good lord; but, as you did command, / I did repel his letters and denied / His actions to me.” (2.1.109-111) By doing everything Polonius tell her to do, she makes matters for herself worse. Ophelia cannot stand up for her...