You Must Be Cruel To Be Kind Analysis

You Must be Cruel to be Kind

Is it possible that in order to be kind you must first be honest? Sometimes the only way to reach a person who is going down the wrong path is to make them see themselves as others see them. In the tragic play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Hamlet, does exactly that. The paradox “I must be cruel only to be kind” (line 176, act 3 scene 4) correlates to many stages of the plot. It first occurs when Hamlet is talking to Polonius. He is trying to protect Ophelia from him. When that doesn’t work he speaks directly with Ophelia and then naturally when the time comes he is protective of his mother, especially since his father instructed him to give her one last chance. Through quotes that could be defined as brutally honest, Hamlet is giving a chance to people he cares about to take a step out of the mistakes they have made and into a moment realization.

The quote is introduced to Gertrude when Hamlet tells her “You go not till I set you up a glass

He tells Polonius “you are a fishmonger” (line 174, act 2 scene 2), Hamlet 's use of the double entendre is there to show the readers that Hamlet is aware of how Polonius has been using Ophelia against him in order to find out information about Hamlet. The term “fishmonger” has two meanings; the literal meaning is someone of a low class who sells fish. This would come as an insult to Polonius as it is basically saying that he is of no use to the king or anyone anymore. However, in the Elizabethan times, it meant someone who was a procurer. In this case, Polonius is using Ophelia to set up Hamlet and secretly listen to their conversation. This is an important quote as he is trying to express to Polonius that Hamlet knows what he is doing with Ophelia and that he should be a better father to Ophelia. Yet as the readers know Polonius ignores this which eventually leads him to his own