Who Is Polonius Loving Father Or Indifferent Politician
Polonius : Loving Father or Indifferent Politician?
In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” what we constantly see is tragedy occurring in every corner, whether it is caused directly or indirectly by Hamlet. Nevertheless, I feel like one of the most overlooked tragedies in this play is the fact that one of the fatherly characters, Polonius, seems to position something else above his family- his job in politics. We can see this in a couple of instances in the play, for example: when he is “advising” Laertes on his behavior when going back to France, when he takes control over Ophelia’s life and decisions and basically sacrifices her to assure his job side by side with Claudius , and due to these actions he shows he is more concerned for his position in Denmark and keeping it, rather than the welfare of his children, and at the end this makes him the victim of his own schemes. …show more content…
“And these few precepts in thy memory see thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, nor any unproportioned thought his act. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel,”(Act I, Scene III). All these recommendations that Polonius offers Laertes seem like what a dedicated father would say to their children, yet they are all clichés, that is to say, these guidance words Polonius gave him do not seem to be heartfelt, yet these are principles Polonius would like Laertes to follow. Everything he said, therefore, seems to be aimed, not at Laertes own welfare, but rather to avoid any of Laertes possible bad behavior in France to reflect back on him and affect his political position in Denmark as the kings counsellor. So here, he is worried about his son, but his political reasons are stronger than his
In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” what we constantly see is tragedy occurring in every corner, whether it is caused directly or indirectly by Hamlet. Nevertheless, I feel like one of the most overlooked tragedies in this play is the fact that one of the fatherly characters, Polonius, seems to position something else above his family- his job in politics. We can see this in a couple of instances in the play, for example: when he is “advising” Laertes on his behavior when going back to France, when he takes control over Ophelia’s life and decisions and basically sacrifices her to assure his job side by side with Claudius , and due to these actions he shows he is more concerned for his position in Denmark and keeping it, rather than the welfare of his children, and at the end this makes him the victim of his own schemes. …show more content…
“And these few precepts in thy memory see thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, nor any unproportioned thought his act. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel,”(Act I, Scene III). All these recommendations that Polonius offers Laertes seem like what a dedicated father would say to their children, yet they are all clichés, that is to say, these guidance words Polonius gave him do not seem to be heartfelt, yet these are principles Polonius would like Laertes to follow. Everything he said, therefore, seems to be aimed, not at Laertes own welfare, but rather to avoid any of Laertes possible bad behavior in France to reflect back on him and affect his political position in Denmark as the kings counsellor. So here, he is worried about his son, but his political reasons are stronger than his