Essay

The Light and Dark of Polonius: A Twisted Journey Into the Unknown

In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, there is a constant battle between reality and appearance that gives rise to the display of Polonius’s true character towards the audience. The theme of uncertainty highlights the drastically different speech pattern of Polonius as he changes character when he is in private with equals and public with superiors. Indeed, Polonius, a pompous yet foolish man displays his stupidity in private, yet possesses a certain SEEMING virtuous persona in public. It is through his conniving repetitious words, predominance of speech, complex syntax and detailed language that distinguishes his true character from his seeming self.

In private, Polonius shows his world of dominancy and foolishness towards his children in long-winded and monotonous speeches. In a wordy and repetitious tangent Polonius gives his infamous advice to his son Laertes:

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;

Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy           

judgment.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy.

Not only is too much advice bad advice, Polonius’s words do not matter. Indeed, he may seem to trust Laertes, but it is all a facade, as Polonius will soon deceitfully spy on Laertes for the honor of King Claudius. Polonius’s sneaky character seems to show the audience that appearance can indeed be deceiving and there is much more that meets the eye. Polonius predominance of speech can display a profound need to control his family- that gives rise to how badly Polonius wants to be seen in public. Yet, wouldn’t he need to be hiding something unfavorable to try so hard? What is he masking that cannot be shown? To be sure, it is this suspicious and dominant character that displays the illegitimacy of appearance and reality and how so easily it can be morphed. 

OUTLINE:

P1: PRIVATE : POLONIUS'S EQUALS - Ophelia, Laertes, Ron

P2: PUBLIC : POLONIOUS'S SUPERIORS- King, Queen, Royalty

P3: SYNTAX, REPETITION, PATTERNS, THEMES, MEANINGS, AND LANGUAGES