Hamlet And Polonius In Hamlet

In the story The Tragedy of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, King Hamlet is silenced by his brother Claudius when he kills him by pouring poison into his ear while the King was sleeping in the garden. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” This can be represented by Martin Luther King Jr.s quote because the King and Hamlet Jr. are the good guys while Polonius and Claudius the bad. Hamlet Jr. keeps trying to tell everyone that Claudius, the new King, was the one that killed the former King Hamlet. But since Polonius has made Hamlet Jr. seem as if he was crazy no one believes him and Claudius has been going along with it to avoid being caught.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is laden with tragedy from the start, and this adversity is reflected in the title character. Being informed of his father’s murder and the appalling circumstances surrounding the crime, Hamlet is given the emotionally taxing task of avenging his death. It is clear that having to complete this grim undertaking takes its toll on Hamlet emotionally. Beginning as a seemingly contemplative and sensitive character, we observe Hamlet grow increasingly depressed and deranged as the play wears on. Hamlet is so determined to make his father proud that he allows the job on hand to completely consume him. We realize that Hamlet has a tendency to mull and ponder excessively, which causes the notorious delays of action

“To be, or not to be, that is the question,” (3.1.64). This famous line in William Shakespeare's Hamlet perfectly encapsulates Hamlet’s internal struggle throughout the play. Hamlet tells the story of the young prince of Denmark and his desire for revenge on the uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father. As is the case in many works of literature, Hamlet changes greatly throughout the play. However, because of his attempts to act insane, it can be difficult to precisely map the changes in Hamlet’s character. By carefully investigating his seven soliloquies, where he is alone and has no need to “put on an antic disposition,” one can understand and interpret how Hamlet’s character develops throughout the play.

Hamlet shows numerous symptoms and people wonder “why he’s acting so dazed and confused” (Shakespeare 135), but do not take initiative to get him treatment. Hamlet criticizes himself as a “low-life” (Shakespeare 129), a “lily-livered man…, and an uncourageous rascal” (Shakespeare 131), similar to Craig. Another parallel is that Hamlet sees “no future ahead for [himself]” (Shakespeare 179) and is fixated on “dying” (Shakespeare 139). Everyone around him just thinks he is insane; consequently, this “treatable disorder… goes unrecognized” ("Depression in Young People" 3), because the people in his life have failed decipher his symptoms of clinical depression. When Hamlet’s “depression [is] left untreated, [it] can be dangerous, even fatal” ("Morbidity" 1), which is shown to be true as he spirals into a further state of lunacy, leading to his death. Though Hamlet ‘lived’ 400 years ago, he had suicidal ideation, erratic behavior, self-hatred, anxiety, and a skewed reality just like present-day

Hamlet is often viewed as a tragedy, but the character of Hamlet is also a portrait of the human condition. It is by focusing on Hamlet's humanity that Shakespeare is able to create such a memorable character. Hamlet cannot reconcile his emotion with his reason, and as a result, becomes the perfect case study for the psychological effects of grief, anger, and indecision. This paper will analyze Hamlet's mental decline and examine how his circumstances contributed to his

In the first scene of Act II, Polonius and Ophelia discuss the meaning of Hamlet's odd behavior. Though the two characters agree his actions arise out of the torment of spurned love,

In this paper I will be analyzing and discussing how these four soliloquies reflect changes in Hamlet’s mental state; his

Throughout Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, Hamlet’s emotions, actions, and thoughts cause much trouble during the play. Hamlet encounters stages of sarcasm, inanity, suicidal tendencies/self-deprecation, and procreation/indecision which develop not only his personality but the play itself. Hamlet uses sarcasm to express his emotions, pretends to be insane (ultimately leading him to become truly insane), self-deprecates throughout the play due to family events, and procrastinates because he is indecisive. Hamlet encounters many life-altering events throughout the play such as his uncle poisoning his father and quickly remarrying Hamlet’s mother, to accidentally killing Polonius thinking it was Claudius, all the way to debating upon: his own

The letter which Ophelia gave her father contained a poem about love signed by Hamlet. Polonius furthermore explains to the queen that he had advised Ophelia to stay off the young prince as Hamlet is “a prince out of thy star” (II.ii.132); the rejection Hamlet experienced is what had caused his distress and strange behaviors according to Polonius. Gertrude believes Polonius’s theory “may be, very like” (II.ii.143), indicating approval. To furthermore confirm Polonius’s theory of Hamlet’s insanity, the two decide to spy on Hamlet by sending Ophelia to talk to him while they listen to the conversation hiding behind an arras

Hamlet’s lunacy becomes quite real at points, and he enters into a deep melancholy. King Claudius and Queen Gertrude bring Hamlet’s schoolmates Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to probe Hamlet and find the source of his sorrow. Polonious, a pompous, yet loyal, man to Claudius, suggests that Hamlet is madly in love with his daughter Ophelia. It is during this time Polonius’ famous “brevity is the soul of wit” dialogue is said, after which point he rambles for nearly 10 minutes before telling the King and Queen his hypothesis. Claudius tests this theory by spying on Hamlet and Ophelia’s interaction with Polonius, however, Hamlet appears thoroughly insane after screaming at Ophelia and telling her to “get thee to a nunnery.”

Hamlet does not mean to kill Polonius, he did not know that he was the one behind the tapestry. Hamlet thought that Claudius was the one behind the tapestry, and so when he stabbed through the tapestry he thought that he would be stabbing Claudius not polonius. He stabs through the curtain thinking that it is Claudius because of the voice that echoed his mothers. This death will result in the characters going mad, and dying. Hamlet killing Polonius is a major factor in the action of Ophelia going mad, she goes mad after the death of polonius.

Polonius’ interactions with Hamlet are often the source of misinterpretations that Polonius is a bumbling fool. In every conversation, Polonius appears oblivious to the witty and cruel remarks Hamlet makes in response to his persistent questioning. Even when explicitly called a “fishmonger,” Polonius feigns surprised ignorance and suggests that Hamlet is insane rather than sarcastic (II.ii.187). He appears to continue ignoring Hamlet’s thinly veiled insults even when Hamlet compares Ophelia to “maggots in a dead dog,” assuming that Hamlet is “still harping on [his] daughter” (II.ii.669). However, Polonius is not the “tedious old fool” that he appears to be; just as Hamlet confessed to being “not in madness,/But mad in craft,” Polonius merely feigns stupidity (II.ii.224; III.iv.204-5). By pretending to be clueless, Polonius is able to question and study Hamlet further without

I think that Polonius' death has relevance to the play because it was the first death of many deaths. I think his death starts the whole main plot of the play. After polonius' death, it causes Claudius to be scared which leads to having him decide to execute Hamlet. Having that be said, that leads to the death of Rosencratz and Guildenstern who are carrying the letter but Hamlet substitues the letter with the execution of Rosencratz and Guildenstern instead. And because of POlonius' death, that leads to Ophelia being crazy and eventually murdering herself. The death of Polonius seems to be leading to all the other major deaths that are occuring in the play so I think it is very relevant to the play.

   As a secondary character, Polonius' roles in Hamlet are ingenious in their variety and purpose. Shakespeare's masterfully crafted play contains such a multi-faceted character in a sense of economy; Polonius fulfills the roles potentially played by several insignificant characters. Polonius plays the wise old man, the fool, the substitute for the king, and the scapegoat (Oakes). Shakespeare's reasons behind the creation of such a significant secondary character are important to the play as a whole. Polonius roles add a crucial dimension to the play's development of plot, the characterization of Hamlet, and the themes Shakespeare ultimately conveys.

In the play Hamlet the character Polonius is a courtier to the king Claudius. He is the epitome of everything that Hamlet hates in the court of Denmark. Polonius’s character is at many points in the play is a comic character who contradicts himself constantly and finds incredibly long winded ways to embellish his points. Shakespeare uses the persona of Polonius, as a satirical figure and as a foil, to show what is wrong with the court of the time. Polonius is also the father of Laertes and Ophelia who are integral to the final downfall of the Danish kingdom. The tensions that arise from the death of Polonius is prevalent throughout the remainder of the play, and his passing