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Polonius's Intentions In Hamlet

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To be true to oneself and one's actions requires strength and determination. Realistically, being true to oneself and one’s actions is uncommon. One tends to hide oneself for as long as possible until the other person discovers the hidden secret. The concept of hiding oneself relates to a game of hide and seek; a person hides (their own self) for as long as they can, until the seeker finds what is being hidden. Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, perfectly illustrates the game of hide and seek as Polonius, Claudius and Hamlet hide their true intentions/motives of their actions throughout the play. At the end of the play their true intentions/motives show, and the game ends. Polonius is the father figure; a man who is dedicated to his children, Ophelia and Laertes. Throughout the play, …show more content…

In result, his motives become corrupt and hidden. The game of hide and seek starts with Laertes, as Polonius seeks the truth of whether Laertes preserves the family’s honour as he studies in Paris. Polonius sends Reynaldo, his servant, to spy on Laertes and says “You shall do marvellous wisely good Reynaldo/ Before you visit him, to make inquiry of his behaviour” (II.I.1-4). Polonius advises Reynaldo to invent rumours about Laertes and his actions to see if they confirm his actual behaviour. Reynaldo’s friendliness and curiosity towards Laertes’s life disguises Polonius’ real motive regarding his son. Polonius’ nature of devious actions continues as he advises Ophelia to discontinue her relationship with Hamlet by saying “Tender yourself more dearly; Or - not to/ Crack the wind of the poor phrase, running it thus - you’ll tender me a fool” (I.III.107-9). Polonius

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When having a conversation with Ophelia, Polonius says, “I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth/ Have you so slander any moment leisure/ As to give words or talk with the lord Hamlet./ Look to’t, I chanrge you. Come your ways.” (I.III.138-141). This quote shows how Polonius is manipulating Ophelia into not ever talking to Hamlet ever again.

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Polonius fuels Hamlet’s paranoia by pitting his friends against him through deception to make them garner information on Hamlet’s woes in his

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By verbally harassing Ophelia and estranging himself from her, Hamlet provides the apparent image of losing his prior care without a great amount of consideration. Additionally, Hamlet further displays his anger for his father’s death through this display. By dissolving his relationship with Ophelia, Hamlet furthers his image of insanity to further illustrate himself as incapable within Claudius’s eyes while still communicating distaste for his loss of his father. With Hamlet’s intentionally swift change of heart for Ophelia, Hamlet’s procedure warrants a certain level of sanity. Regardless of the sudden nature, Hamlet’s continual barring from Ophelia possesses procedure which causes further doubt of Hamlet’s mental instability from the audience of the

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In the play “Hamlet”, the young, introspective, prince of Denmark, Hamlet seeks revenge for the murder of his father, King Hamlet. Through Hamlet’s journey to find justice, his inquired madness and indecision dwindle the other characters along with himself. Polonius has an effect on many characters throughout this play and is often found invading the privacy of the other characters. Humans share the same inner desire to meddle that Polonius does, so naturally, many can relate with the psychology of Polonius. “Hamlet” reveals the

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Reading scene three of Act I, I begin to understand how the other characters feel about Hamlet. Through Ophelia’s and her father Polonius’s conversation I learn that not everyone thinks Hamlet is as wholesome as others do. Polonius insists that “Tend’ring it thus you’ll tender me a fool (Line 109 Page 23).” I wasn't entirely sure why Polonius disliked Hamlet until he went on to say, “Do not believe his vows for they are brokers, not of that dye, which their investments show, but mere implorators of unholy suits, breathing like sanctified of pious bonds (Lines 127-130 Page 23).” I then began to question what Hamlet did for the councillor of the king to say such harsh things about him.

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(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.

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In Act III, scene i of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, readers will come upon Ophelia’s soliloquy. After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have failed to find a reason as to why Hamlet is acting in a peculiar and mad way, Claudius is persuaded by Polonius that the reason for Hamlet’s madness is the broken romance between Hamlet and Ophelia. To prove this, Claudius and Polonius plan to spy on Ophelia’s meeting with Hamlet. During their conversation, Hamlet denies ever having loved her and curses her. Ophelia is left fretting over his sanity.

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He is Hamlet’s love interest’s brother who implicates Hamlet’s success through conflict. Hamlet sparks the rivalry between the two families by killing some of the family members. By executing Laertes father and Polonius, this causes Polonius’ son, Laertes, to seek vengeance for his father. Consequently, Hamlet’s family goes against him and his love, Ophelia, kills herself. This demonstrates that family ties, even if not blood related, have serious impacts on Hamlet’s life which causes misery to overwhelm his life; this misery prohibits his success.

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However, his foolishness does not take away the virtues in Polonius actions. In fact, it compounds the tragedy in his story. Hamlet on the other hand is the main antagonist of the story and causes all of the calamities. These two characters with their respective families are criticisms to the fundamental flaw with how royal families function.

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He was not the best father actually kind of cruel. He is all too willing to offer up Ophelia to spy on Hamlet, just to get in good with the King. To which cause her to be exposed to Hamlets abuse. He convinces Reynaldo to start rumors about Laertes just to have him come back to Polonius and report what Laertes confides into him. He used many around him just to get what he wanted.

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Laertes is the son of Polonius, who is mistakenly murdered by Hamlet. Laertes goes away to school in France, only to be told that his father was murdered and there was no ceremony. Subsequently, that fueled Laertes’ core issue, the fear of betrayal. He feared that Claudius killed his father because Polonius was close to Claudius; he is the King’s advisor. Laertes’ quest for redemption is to kill Hamlet.

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Ophelia responds to Polonius’ requests without resistance. For example, Ophelia easily gives away Hamlet’s love letters that. This shows her lack of appreciation towards Hamlet’s trust and love be being easily manipulated. In addition, Polonius’ corruption flaw Ophelia’s innocence when she agrees to let her father eavesdrop in on her conversation with Hamlet. Likewise, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern allow themselves to get manipulated by blindly following the crown.

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1854 Words | 8 Pages

Deception is an action driven with the motive to employ one purpose which can be to mislead another individual in order to gain knowledge, to get revenge, or to reveal a plan unknown to the public eye and keeping it that way for the dutiful well-being of the Kingdom of Denmark. In the tragedy Hamlet by William Shakespeare, deception develops into the character trait that initiates the actions, heartbreak, and revenge driving this play. This attribute held by Hamlet is the leading cause of this same flaw development in Ophelia, King Claudius, and many others in an attempt to reinforce the theme. This theme is one of heroism, but the deceptive notion each action reveals challenges the perception the reader has on each of the main characters. In order to be able to fully analyze the part Hamlet’s deception plays in driving the plot and storyline of this tragedy, one must understand that a foil character juxtaposes each character to illuminate their shortcomings.

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/Set your entreatments at a higher rate/Than a command to parley" (Act I, Scene III, 120 - 123).When looking at Polonius ' interactions with his daughter he is depicted to be a very conservative father who advises Ophelia not to engage in immoral acts with a silly boy and to keep her chastity safe. He goes on to tell her that she must obey her father and that it is important for a women to stay 'pure '; but when we look at Polonius ' interactions with his son Laertes he says, "Give thy thoughts no tongue,/ Nor any unproportioned thought his act./ Be thou familiar but by no means vulgar./ Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,/ Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel,/ But do not dull thy palm with entertainment/ Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.

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932 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, knowing that Gertrude and Ophelia are dependent and obedient towards their male authorities, they are a little more than pawns for the scheming men in their lives. For example, when Polonius discovers Hamlet 's craziness from Ophelia, Polonius says, " Come, go with me: I will go seek the king / That is the very ecstasy of love / Whose violent property fordoes itself / And leads the will to desperate undertaking / As oft as any passion under heaven / That does afflict our natures"(2.I.101-106).

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