Maybe it's just me, but thus far, I think Polonius has been a hoot! Ok true--he's been a condescending, self-centered, nosy hoot, but my point stands.
#1: He's quite the loquacious giver of advice. On page 21-22, he gives Laertes oodles and oodles of advice before Laertes heads off to France. I mean, he's being fatherly (I guess), but I also think he just wants to hear himself talk.
#2: Then, as we discussed in class, he precedes to give Ophelia advice about her relationship with Hamlet. At first, I thought he was just demonstrating some fatherly concern for Ophelia, worried about her getting her heart broken. I soon realized I couldn't have been further off the mark. Not only does he treat her as an idiot (yes, his very own daughter), but he's more concerned about his reputation than her well-being. He does make some solid points about young men being fickle and about Hamlet's status, but he does so for his own benefit and in a condescending manner (calling her a "green girl" (23), for example).
#3: This next instance is perhaps my favorite. Polonius sends "his man Reynaldo" to France to find a Dansker to help him spy on Laertes. Then, Reynaldo is supposed to say something to the Dansker along the lines of, "Hey, do you know Laertes? He's that Danish dude who drinks, fights, cusses, and enjoys the company of prostitutes." Ultimately, the end goal is to find out what Laertes is up to. Polonius is using a deceptive trap to uncover the truth. I guess it's just a means to an end. Do y'all think that's justifiable?
#4: Finally (so far), Polonius concocts a scheme to find out if Hamlet is lovesick for Ophelia. The gist of the plan is that he will hide while Ophelia confronts Hamlet. Then he'll find out whether Hamlet's aching heart is the source of his pain and report back to the king and queen.
As annoying as Polonius might be in real life (hypothetically), in the context of the play, he's a character whose lines I love to read. I never know what's going to come out of his mouth next or what kind of childish plot he's going to devise. As a reader, he keeps me on my toes, and I've managed to see past his arrogance and self-absorption. What about y'all?
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3 comments:
Jessie, very enternaining blog post overall, but to touch just on your third point: In short, no, I do not feel that Polonius’ actions here are justifiable. I will give it to him, though: it is definitely a clever plan. If he were getting back at an enemy or if he were truly a spy, I think I’d be able to appreciate this course of action. However, he’s sending a rat in on his son! I recognize that he’s using this scheme to uncover the truth—what his son has been up too—, but it shows Polonius’ sneaky, untrustful nature. I understand that parents constantly worry about their children, but this simply isn’t the way to display your care, Polonius! If Laertes finds out, he is going to be LIVID!! Going behind your child’s back is not the way to go. If Polonius had valid reason to suspect Laertes of being up to no good, I would MAYBE condone this scheme. He doesn’t, though. From what we know, Laertes is a fine young man, making this scheme even worse.
It's bizarre to see how timeless the "nosy helicopter-parent" archetype is, and how relevant characters like Polonius are in modern society. Reviewing all of the antics Polonius has pulled in Act 1 alone, I can totally imagine these events playing out today. For instance, this man's son is going off to college, and sends one of his buds over there to make sure his son is dedicating himself to his studying instead of drinking, smoking etc. This said bud goes around to all the college parties looking for & asking about the son, with none of the students questioning why he's there (considering he's way too old to be a student himself). The situation is so ridiculous, but parents have definitely done that kind of stuff!
Polonius is definitely my favorite character! He is very nosy (as Jessie pointed out), and he’s pretty straightforward with his children. He gives both of them advice about their lives (to Laertes about his trip to France and Ophelia about Hamlet) and expects them to listen. In my opinion, he crosses the (modern) parental lines a bit. I’m pretty sure most parents (not mine at least) don’t send servants to spy on their children when they’re off in a different city. Furthermore, Polonius’s “advice” to Ophelia is harsh and crude; he discounts Hamlet’s “honorable” (in Ophelia’s words) professions of love as fake. Polonius assumes it is a ploy to trick Ophelia into sleeping with Hamlet, and he makes no attempts to sugarcoat his opinion to his daughter or spare her feelings. However, his parenting has seemed to work, as both Laertes and Ophelia follow his somewhat strange advice.
I believe another purpose of Polonius’s character is to provide comic relief in one of Shakespeare’s most heartbreaking tragedies. If the entire play were a lineup of mournful, self-pitying Hamlet soliloquies, I don’t think it would have been as successful. Polonius reminds me of the Juliet’s Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. She makes bawdy jokes about the young lovers’ affair; her purpose is to make the lower-class audience in Shakespeare’s time period laugh. Shakespeare didn’t want his plays to have one overpowering tone throughout; the beauty of his works partially stems from the emotional roller coaster he made his audience experience.
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