Hamlet And Polonius Essays - Characters In Hamlet, Fiction

Hamlet And Polonius What About Polonius? One of the main characters in the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is Polonius. Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia and is also the right hand man to the king, Claudius. He is a man who is nosy and is constantly babbling about something, yet is a loving father and a loyal servant to the state. Or is he? What exactly is the nature of Polonius? How important was he to Shakespeare's epic play? Did he really have to die? What about Polonius? The audience is first introduced to Polonius when his son, Laertes, decides that he wants to return to Paris to finish college. At first glance, through a long-winded speech, Polonius acts as a caring father should. He gives his son advice, such as, "Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice;" or "Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment." and "to thy own self be true." Later though, he talks about clothing and outward appearances. In fact he goes off on this subject warning Laertes to not look gaudy and rich. He seems more concerned about how Laertes appears to be then who he actually is. Polonius gives a double standard for the boy to follow. In that same act, after Laertes leaves, Polonius has another conversation with his other child, his ill-fated daughter, Ophelia. Ophelia tells her father everything (we assume) about her relationship with Hamlet. Polonius tears right into the poor girl with comments such as, "You speak like a green girl,..." or "Think yourself a baby That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,..." making him appear like a rotten old man. Why would Polonius not want Ophelia to get involved with a prince? Many people have debated why Polonius ends up forbidding Ophelia from seeing Hamlet. Some say that Hamlet was too high ranking for Ophelia and that their marriage would have seemed unlikely in Polonius's eyes. Others say that maybe Polonius just did not like Hamlet and did not want his daughter getting involved with him. Yet others believe that Polonius thought that Hamlet would just use Ophelia, and he did not want to see her get hurt. Polonius did not want Ophelia to be involved with Hamlet, or any other man for that matter, because he was afraid that he would lose control over one of his most precious toys, his daughter. If Ophelia became involved with someone, then all the control that Polonius had over her would be lost. She would belong to someone new, and his toy would no longer be his to play with as he pleased. Polonius had to know everything that was going on, in his children's lives and in the state too. Possibly he felt a pang of jealousy thinking that maybe his daughter would become queen if she married Hamlet and would end up in a more prestigious position then he. Just to prove the idea that Polonius needs to be in charge of his domain (his children included) all one needs to do is to look at the beginning of Act II. Polonius asks Renaldo, a close friend of his son, to go and check up on Laertes. Polonius wants to know how Laertes is acting, if he is gambling, drinking, drabbing, and so forth. It could be argued that he is just looking out for the welfare of his only son, but looking at Polonius's personality, that is highly unlikely. Polonius is a politician. It is generally known that politicians have two faces. They have their real face, and the face that they show to the public. Claudius is an excellent example of a politician. No one in Denmark had any clue that he was the murderer of the previous king. He kept it hidden very well. Claudius has two faces, and so does Polonius. Polonius does not want his statesman face to be blemished by words that his son is acting carelessly. To protect his public image, he sends Renaldo to spy on Laertes. To sum it up, Polonius has to be in control of his children to protect himself. That is why he gave that double standard to Laertes in Act I. He wanted to be portrayed as a loving father concerned about his son, but at the same time throwing in advice that would keep his image from being damaged as well. In Ophelia's case, he had become so used to being in control, that the idea of losing his power frightened