Significance Of Polonius Speech In Hamlet

As the men await the Ghost in Scene i, Marcellus and Barnardo are telling Horatio that they saw a ghost the night before. Horatio believes that is their imagination and has come to join the guards for the nightly watch to see if the Ghost appears again. The background information that is supplied by the speech that Claudius makes is that Fortinbras’s father had lost land to King Hamlet. Fortinbras had made numerous demands for it back because he believes that the nation is powerless and vulnerable. Also, young Fortinbras is gathering money, troops, and supplies from the subjects of the King of Norway, who is Fortinbras’s uncle. Hamlet, at the beginning of his soliloquy, is talking about committing suicide but knows he cannot since it is forbidden.
His words provide Laertes advice of how he should behave while aboard. This can relate back to Hamlet as he was robbed of such moments after his father's passing. Earlier on in Act 1, Claudius attempted to be a father figure to Hamlet. However, Hamlet’s hatred towards Claudius proved that he did not think of Claudius as a fatherly figure. Scene iii reveals mixed feelings about Hamlet from Laertes, Polonius, and Ophelia's point of view. Both Laertes and Polonius disapprove of Ophelia’s relation with Hamlet and their feelings about Hamlet are revealed, they both seem to despise Hamlet. Also, both Laertes and Polonius believe that Ophelia and Hamlet have no future together and that Hamlet is manipulating her feelings; Laertes forbids Ophelia from seeing Hamlet. Ophelia, on the other hand, enjoys the attention she gets from Hamlet, and it is evident that she has feelings for him. After talking to the Ghost, Hamlet realized that the cause of his father’s death was poisoning, and he was not stung by a snake. The Ghost revealed that his brother had poisoned him. He also exposes that he is punished in hell during the day time and forced to walk among humans during the night