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Polonius in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

 

            Polonius is one of the main characters in the play Hamlet by Shakespeare; he has a big role throughout the story before and after his death. Based on the play you can argue that Polonius is a harmless, well-meaning fool or the other way around. Polonius showed how much he cares about his son Laertes when he gives all his best advice to him before he leaves to France. Such as, "Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. " However, afterwards Polonius fails to complete his own ideals. You can still argue that he is a fool, therefore he cannot complete his ideals, but everything he does is with good intentions. For example, he said to Laertes to be brief with his words, however when he talks to Claudius and Gertrude about Hamlet's madness for Ophelia he is exactly the opposite of brief, he talks too much without saying anything with meaning, to a point that Gertrude points out "more matter with less art. " .
             However, still you can argue this all due to his foolishness. Another point to Polonius being a well-meaning fool is when Hamlet accidentally murders him. Polonius thought that Hamlet was going to murder Gertrude. Therefore, he screamed for help. Although is not the best way of helping, the intentions of saving the Queen where there. His coward way of helping got him killed because Hamlet thought it was Claudius spying. The act of spying is the dark side of Polonius, since he used this technique to keep in place Laertes he supposedly care and trusted. Although you can still argue that he spied on Laertes because he wanted to make sure he was doing everything right. Is not right to spread rumors about anybody. Especially if you plan to take it to your own advantage, because at the end it will affect Laertes himself. However, it is still arguable that Polonius intentions are good. However, his method is just pathetic. Also, if you trust somebody there is no point on spying on them.


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