Polonius Is Folish

Polonius: A Fool in Shakespeares Hamlet
Hamlet is the most popular of Shakespeares plays for theater audiences and
readers. It has been acted live in countries throughout the world and has been translated
into every language. Polonius is one of the major characters in Hamlet, his role in the play
is of great interest to scholars. Parts of Hamlet present Polonius as a fool, whose love of
his own voice leads to his constant babbling.

Scholars have been analyzing the character of
Polonius for centuries, and his role in Hamlet will continue to be analyzed for centuries to
come. Scholars believe that Shakespeare created Polonius as a fool because of his foolish
dialogue throughout the play.
Polonius granted Laertes permission to go back to school in France. While saying
good-bye in his chambers, Polonius tells his son: Beware Of entrance to a quarrel, but,
being in, Beart that th opposed may beware of thee. Give every man they ear, but few
thy voice. Take each mans censure, but reserve they judgment.

Costly thy habit as thy
purse can buy, But not expressed in fancy (rich, not gaudy) For the apparel oft proclaims
the man, And they in France of the best rank and station (Are) of a most select and
generous chief in that. Neither a borrower or a lender (be,) For (loan) oft loses both itself
and friend, And borrowing (dulls the) edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine own self
be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.(1. 3.

71-87) The advice that Polonius gives to Laertes is simple and sounds foolish being
told to a person of Laertes age. Martin Orkin comments on the nature of Polonius
speech: 2 Shakespeares first audience would recognize in Polonius predilection for such
commonplace expressions of worldly wisdom a mind that runs along conventional tracks,
sticking only to what is practically useful in terms of worldly self-advancement (Orkin
179). Polonius gives Laertes simple advice, to keep his thoughts to himself and to never
lend or borrow money. While this advice is simple, when looked at in full context his
advice to his son is all about self-advancement.

Polonius will go to all extremes to protect
his reputation. Grebanier states on the foolishness of Polonius speech: Such guidance
will do for those who wish to make the world their prey, but it is dignified by no humanity.Who can live humanly without ever borrowing or lending? Is one to turn his back on his
best friend in an hour of need? (Grebanier 285). Scholars believe that the advice Polonius
gives to his son is simple, an when looked at in full context, is foolish and selfish. After
Laertes returns to Paris, Polonius send his servant Reynaldo to Paris to spy on Laertes and
question his acquaintances. Polonius says to Reynaldo: At closes in the consequence-ay,
marry- He closes thus: I know the gentleman.

I saw him yesterday, or th other day
(Or then, or then, with such or such), and as you say, There was he gaming, there
(oertook) ins rouse, There falling out at tennis, or perchance I saw him enter such a
house of sale- Videlicet, a brothel- or so forth. See you now Your bait of falsehood take
this carp of truth; And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, With windlasses and with
assays of bias, By indirections find directions out. (2. 1. 61-75) 3 By spying on Laertes,
Polonius is showing the audience and the reader, that he does now trust him.

After giving
Laertes a speech on how to behave, Polonius still feels that he has to spy on his son. Joan
Hartwig comments on Polonius plan to spy on his son: A machiavellian schemer who
takes his plotting to absurd proportions, Polonius pursues indirection for its own sake.His efforts to discover Laertes reputation in Paris assume that Laertes will not follow his
earlier advice; thus, the later words become a comic reduction of his previous sermon to
his son (Hartwig 218). Another reason for Polonius foolishness is that Polonius is
convinced, and tries convincing others, that the reason for Hamlets madness is his love
for Ophelia.

He tells Ophelia: Come, go with me. I will go seek the king. This is the very
ecstasy love, Whose violent property fordoes itself And leads the will to desperate
undertakings As oft as any passions under heaven That does afflict out natures. I am sorry.

What, have you given him any hard words of late? (2. 1. 113-119) After hearing of
Hamlets madness, he immediately reaches a conclusion and believes, throughout the play,
that he is correct. He does not consider other possibilities and foolishly jumps to the
conclusion that Hamlet is mad for Ophelias love. R.

S. White believes that Polonius
should have considered other options for Hamlets madness: But when saying that it is
simply Ophelias rejection that has made Hamlet mad, he is ignorant of the predisposed
mental state of the young man caused by his mothers remarriage, the recent encounter
with the ghost and the whole repressive machinery of Denmarks social 4 and political
life (White 67). Polonius foolishly believes that he knows what underlies Hamlets
madness, while Hamlet, and the audience, knows that he is wrong. Polonius continues to
demonstrate his foolishness by babbling and losing his train of argumentation when
speaking to the King and Queen. Polonius is convinced that Hamlet is mad in love for
Ophelia and says: My liege, and madam, to expostulate What majesty should be, what
duty is, Why day is day, night night, and time is time Were nothing but to waste night,
day, and time.

Therefore, (since) brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and
outward flourishes, I will be brief. Your noble son is mad. Mad call I it, for, to define
true madness, What is t but to be nothing else but mad? But let that go. (2. 2.

93-102) He
says that he will be brief, but continues to babble. The Queen responds to his statement by
saying More matter with less art (2. 2. 103). The Queen acknowledges Polonius
constant babbling and wants him to get quickly to the point. Grebanier comments on the
character of Polonius: Nothing is left of is ability and shrewdness but a few tags, a few
catch-phrases, to which, even when they do express some grains of truth, he pays scant
heed in his own demeanor.

It is he, for example, who utters the celebrated: brevity is the
soul of wit (2. 2. 90) -a profound truth; but no character in Shakespeare is so long
winded as Polonius (Grebanier 283). Polonius continues to complicate a simple statement
and is viewed as a babbling fool by scholars. Throughout the play, Hamlet continues to
insult Polonius and make him look foolish to the audience.

Hamlet tells Polonius: You
are a fishmonger (2. 2. 190). 5 According to Leo Kirschbaum: A fishmonger is a barrel,
one who employs a prostitute for his business. Hamlet is obliquely telling the old councilor
that he is using his own daughter for evil ends (Kirschbaum 86). After Hamlet insults
Polonius and Ophelia, Polonius still refuses to give up this theory that Hamlet is madly in
love.

Martin Dodsworth comments on the reaction of Polonius after Hamlet insults him:
Polonius accepts the bad treatment meeted out to him as that of a man who is out of his
mind: How say you by that? Still harping on my daughter. He is far gone (Dodsworth
100). The Shakespearean audience viewed Hamlet as the protagonist of the play, and
some scholars believe that Polonius served as his perfect foil. Bert States comments,
Polonius is not only the perfect foil for Hamlets wit (since irony is the mortal enemy of
the order prone mind), but a shadow of Hamlet as well. Indeed, Polonius literally shadows
Hamlet, or tails him and in shadowing him falls into a thematic parody of his own habits
(States 116). Thus, Polonius role in the play as Hamlets foil, would be the role of the
fool.

The last time Polonius appears in Hamlet is wen he hides behind a curtain in
Gertrudes room, to hear Hamlets conversation with his mother. Hamlet frightens
Gertrude and she cries for help. Immediately after, Polonius foolishly echoes her cry and is
stabbed by Hamlet, thinking it is Claudius. Hamlet, realizing he has killed Polonius says:
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell. I took thee for my better.

(3. 4. 38-39)
Elizabeth Oakes comments on this scene, Although Polonius is not in motley, Hamlet
calls him a fool often enough, although nowhere more significantly than in the closet scene
6 after the murder (Oakes 106). Hamlet ruthlessly calls Polonius a fool, and his opinion,
as the plays protagonist, would greatly influence an Elizabethan audiences view of
Polonius.

When Gertrude tells Claudius of Polonius death, Claudius responds by saying:
O heavy deed! It had been so with us, had we been there. (4. 1. 13-14) Claudius knows
that Polonius has been killed in his place. Oakes comments on Polonius role a the plays
fool: He is suited for this role because of his incarnation of the fool, the one traditionally
chosen as a substitute for the king in ritual (Oakes 106).

Scholars view Polonius as a
character mocked throughout the play and the nature of his death, as the Kings substitute,
lead scholars to view him as a fool. In conclusion, Shakespeare created Polonius as a very
unique and complex character. Scholars argue and will continue to argue over the reasons
for Polonius foolishness. Throughout the play Polonius tends to act foolish thinking that
he knows the reason for Hamlets madness, while the audience knows that he is wrong.

Shakespeare created Polonius as a controversial character and only he will ever know why
Polonius was created so foolish.
Bibliography
Works Cited Grebanier, Bernard. The Heart of Hamlet. New York: Thomas Y. Cromwell
Co, 1960.

Hartwig, Joan. Parodic Polonius. Texas Studies in Literature and Language:
vol. 13, 1971. Kirschbaum, Leo.

Character and Characterization in Shakespeare. Detroit:
Wayne State UP, 1962. Oakes, Elizabeth. Polonius, the Man behind the Arras: A Jungian
Study.

New Essays on Hamlet. New York: AMS Press, 1994. Orkin, Martin. Hamlet
and the Security of the South African State.

Critical Essays on Shakespeares Hamlet.New York: G.K. Hall and Co, 1995.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet,
Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square Press published by Pocket Books,
1992. States, Bert O. Hamlet and the Concept of Character.

Baltimore: John Hopkins UP,
1992.
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