Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on Polonius in Hamlet
Polonius in hamlet character analysis essays
Polonius as a foil to hamlet
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on Polonius in Hamlet
Polonius in hamlet character analysis essays
Polonius as a foil to hamlet
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the Elizabethan life, this act by Hamlet who is supposed to become the new king as he is next in line since his father had been murdered, would pass over and no one would believe that he did it without any physical proof of him doing it. It could just be sign of jealousy from king Claudius and would backfire on him if he were to try and presume legal action for the death of Polonius. The motivation of King Claudius is to try and get Hamlet sent away so he can cover up the fact that he had murdered his own brother so he could marry his wife. The motivation of Hamlet is to get revenge on King Claudius for his father, but if he was sent away then thee would be no one to get revenge on him for his sins. I think Shakespeare portrayed King
Tragically, this arrogance leads to unintended consequences when he unintentionally kills Polonius, hidden behind a curtain. As Hamlet makes a pass through the arras and kills Polonius, he says, "How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!" (3.4. 27-28). Hamlet shows no remorse for this act, justifying it as necessary to avenge his father's death.
In William Shakespeare’s, “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”, a young prince named Hamlet is depressed and misguided. His father, the King has died and his mother Gertrude has already remarried his uncle Claudius. Hamlet is absolutely torn until his father’s ghost visits the castle and entreats Hamlet to avenge his death and kill his uncle King Claudius. Hamlet begins to test Claudius with plays and when Claudius finds out, all he has by his side is his councilor Polonius. Polonius tries to entrap Hamlet in every way possible, even by using his daughter Ophelia.
Polonius fuels Hamlet’s paranoia by pitting his friends against him through deception to make them garner information on Hamlet’s woes in his
This shows how instinctive he is because he doesn't even check to see who it is behind the curtain. Resulting in him stabbing Polonius rashly. Even though this murder was more of an accident Hamlet did not show any real type of sympathy towards the situation. Hamlet owned up to what had happened with little to no shame. All his anger and hostility came rushing out and he couldn't control himself.
Hamlet does not believe that he is actually insane when he really is. He truly believes that his insanity is an act to gather evidence against Claudius. This insanity leads him to take Polonious’s life which he justifies by saying that Polonius was dishonestly spying. This self-deception leads Hamlet to believe that he is self-righteous and better than his uncle however he is hypocritical in this way as he leaves Ophelia and Laertes without a father in the same way that Claudius did to Hamlet. Hamlets obsession with proving Claudius guilty and killing him in the name of justice eventually leads to Hamlets own murder.
(3.1.43-49) Polonius orders Ophelia to distract Hamlet even though he knows the emotional distress it will cause her. He is the reason Ophelia breaks ties with Hamlet, yet he is willing to throw her at him for his own gain. Polonius cannot rationalize that spying on Hamlet is less important than his daughter’s mental stability. His utter selfishness makes him incapable of making rational decisions that are beneficial to both himself, and his children. Polonius gives good advice that he does not take himself, showing his bad decision making.
His plan does not prove his theory, but he is determined to find the reason behind Hamlet's madness. That is why, later in the play, Polonius decides to spy on a conversation between Hamlet and Gertrude, which proves to be fatal. As the conversation goes on, Gertrude feels threatened by her son and she cries out for help. This leads to Polonius crying out in fear, and since Hamlet suspects the cry to belong to the hated Claudius, he stabs Polonius from behind the curtain. Polonius’s deceit cost him his life, and it was just another way that Shakespeare illustrated the harm that comes with
Throughout the play, he was constantly worried of being watched. Some are determined that, even in his soliloquies, he overreacted because he felt like someone was listening to him at all times. In Act 3, scene 4, lines 25-30 Hamlet kills Polonius without thinking, simply because he was hiding behind the rapier and listening to the conversation. Hamlet feared that he was going to be attacked or discovered, so he acted out of impulse rather than accessing the situation; his impulse resulted in the death of a person. Paranoia is a terrible trait to have in a ruler.
As he descends into madness, his perceptions become distorted and his ability to accurately report events is compromised. Even the people around Hamlet's start to worry for him because of his declining mental state. When Hamlet mistakes Polonius for a fish seller, Polonius states, “Now, what does he mean by that? Still harping on my daughter. But he didn’t recognize me at first.
Therefore for Hamlet to deceive Polonius, he had to reverse his own reputation and nature. If Hamlet had not feigned his own madness, King Claudius would surely have noticed that he had some knowledge of his murder. Hamlet used madness as a mask to protect him from Claudius’ fury, despite knowing the real cause of his father’s
In particular, his desire to be by himself is evident when Polonius tries to converse with him while he is trying to read. When Polonius asks Hamlet how he is doing, he sarcastically replies, “Well, God-a-mercy,” and when Polonius asks Hamlet if he knows who he is, he answers, “Excellent well; you are a fishmonger” (2.2.170,172). Hamlet did not want to attract any attention when he was walking by, so he did not appreciate being interrupted from his reading. Therefore, he resorts to sarcasm and compares Polonius to a pimp when he cannot escape the attention. This is considered a negative symptom of schizophrenia because his lack of interest in socializing is not solely a form of introversion; Hamlet’s harsh behaviour is an attempt to hurt Polonius into leaving him alone instead of being reserved like an introvert (aipc.net.au).
Speaking with Gertrude, Claudius discovers that Hamlet killed Polonius who was hiding behind a tapestry thinking he was a rat. A mission that Claudius gives to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern a mission to find Hamlet, be gentle with him, and to find Polonius’ body to give him a proper state funeral and bring it to a chapel. Claudius tells Gertrude that the matter will be handled delicately. After finding Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern demand the whereabouts of Polonius’ dead body. Hamlet is offended that the son of the king of England, must answer the king’s servants.
Polonius is willing to spy on pretty much anyone so that he can knows more details about those close to him. He spies on his son Laertes and is willing to slander him without giving it a second thought when he tells Reynaldo, “to make inquiry of his behaviour” (II.i.3-4). Polonius wants Reynaldo to both spy on Laertes and to hurt his image, so that he can learn about his son’s character. Claudius betrays Gertrude by not telling her about the poisoned cup soon enough. He does not want her to drink the poison but she doesn’t know about it until it is too late, “Gertrude, do not drink.
The killing is now over and the king and rosecraftsz want hamlet out. The king calls on gertrude to get Hamlet to have a meeting with him and he wants to discuss how they are going to get rid of the body without anybody noticing, but this is going to be very difficult. Gertrude explained to the king what had happened, but she doesn 't know if she should believe that Hamlet has lost everything and actually has gone insane.- INSANITY x Rosencrantz and guildenstern become suspicious and finally ask the king where polonis has been, so out of nothing the king has to basically lie to their face and say, however the king tells them some riddles. He doesn 't like to share information.- APPEARANCE/REALITY x The guards are demanded to take Hamlet in and question where he has put the body of Polonius.