Polonius's Advice To His Father

677 Words3 Pages

Hamlet
Act I and II
2. This advice is very sensible because Hamlet needs to move on from the death of his father and step up to his new role as King of Denmark. Hamlet will not heed this advice, because he is stubborn and is very confused at the moment. Hamlet has tunnel vision, which does not allow him to focus on his present predicament.
3. As chief counselor to the king, Polonius works closely with the people of the court, so he knows how corrupt they can be. By giving advice to Laertes and Ophelia, Polonius is making an attempt to introduce his children to the dangers of fraternizing with those people of the court. Polonius just doesn’t want Ophelia and Laertes to over step their boundaries as non royalty. Also Polonius does not want …show more content…

Hamlet was unconcerned about his homeland, Denmark. He was more concentrated on school and other things away from home. At this time in the play, Hamlet has the potential to become a tragic hero because he could overcome his complicated and sad family dynamic and become a powerful king. Similar to Oedipus, Hamlet has a very entangled family and will not be able to escape his fate. The news of his father’s death and mother’s rage sends Hamlet into somewhat daze, because he does not make any immediate decisions. Polonius thinks that Hamlet is angry, but he could just be sad and confused. There is no “method in ‘t”. The use of soliloquies characterizes Hamlet by making his most internal thoughts open to the …show more content…

Ophelia is not connected to the crimes Hamlet wants to avenge. Hamlet is brutal to Ophelia because he thinks that she is helping his enemies like Claudius and Polonius (even though Polonius is her father). Hamlet is becoming somewhat paranoid about everyone at this time. Ophelia goes mad because Hamlet was cruel to her, not reciprocating her love, and also because her father, Polonius, is now dead. This connects to earlier when Polonius was warning Ophelia and Claudius of entertaining the members of the court. Ophelia did not heed his advice, and as a result has gone mad.
8. Yes, Hamlet does think Gertrude is just as responsible as Claudius because she is continuing to live with Claudius and cover up his sin of killing Old Hamlet. He is disgusted with her because he believes that she is too old to be lustful and should not have married so quickly after her previous husband’s death. However, Hamlet will not take action against his mother, Gertrude, because the ghost of his father advised him not