FREE ESSAY ON WHAT ABOUT POLONIUS

WHAT ABOUT POLONIUS

What About Polonius?
One of the main characters in the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, is
Polonius. Polonius is the father of Laertes and Ophelia and is also the right hand man to
the king, Claudius. He is a man who is nosy and is constantly babbling about something,
yet is a loving father and a loyal servant to the state. Or is he? What exactly is the
nature of Polonius? How important was he to Shakespeare's epic play? Did he really have
to die? What about Polonius?
The audience is first introduced to Polonius when his son, Laertes, decides that he wants
to return to Paris to finish college. At first glance, through a long-winded speech,
Polonius acts as a caring father should. He gives his son advice, such as, Give every man
thine ear, but few thy voice; or Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. and
to thy own self be true. Later though, he talks about clothing and outward appearances.
In fact he goes off on this subject warning Laertes to not look gaudy and rich. He seems
more concerned about how Laertes appears to be then who he actually is. Polonius gives a
double standard for the boy to follow.
In that same act, after Laertes leaves, Polonius has another conversation with his other
child, his ill-fated daughter, Ophelia. Ophelia tells her father everything (we assume)
about her relationship with Hamlet. Polonius tears right into the poor girl with comments
such as, You speak like a green girl,... or Think yourself a baby That you have ta'en
these tenders for true pay,... making him appear like a rotten old man. Why would
Polonius not want Ophelia to get involved with a prince? Many people have debated why
Polonius ends up forbidding Ophelia from seeing Hamlet. Some say that Hamlet was too high
ranking for Ophelia and that their marriage would have seemed unlikely in Polonius's
eyes. Others say that maybe Polonius just did not like Hamlet and did not want his
daughter getting involved with him. Yet others believe that Polonius thought that Hamlet
would just use Ophelia, and he did not want to see her get hurt. Polonius did not want
Ophelia to be involved with Hamlet, or any other man for that matter, because he was
afraid that he would lose control over one of his most precious toys, his daughter. If
Ophelia became involved with someone, then all the control that Polonius had over her
would be lost. She would belong to someone new, and his toy would no longer be his to
play with as he pleased. Polonius had to know everything that was going on, in his
children's lives and in the state too. Possibly he felt a pang of jealousy thinking that
maybe his daughter would become queen if she married Hamlet and would end up in a more
prestigious position then he.
Just to prove the idea that Polonius needs to be in charge of his domain (his children
included) all one needs to do is to look at the beginning of Act II. Polonius asks
Renaldo, a close friend of his son, to go and check up on Laertes. Polonius wants to know
how Laertes is acting, if he is gambling, drinking, drabbing, and so forth. It could be
argued that he is just looking out for the welfare of his only son, but looking at
Polonius's personality, that is highly unlikely. Polonius is a politician. It is
generally known that politicians have two faces. They have their real face, and the face
that they show to the public. Claudius is an excellent example of a politician. No one in
Denmark had any clue that he was the murderer of the previous king. He kept it hidden
very well. Claudius has two faces, and so does Polonius. Polonius does not want his
statesman face to be blemished by words that his son is acting carelessly. To protect his
public image, he sends Renaldo to spy on Laertes. To sum it up, Polonius has to be in
control of his children to protect himself. That is why he gave that double standard to
Laertes in Act I. He wanted to be portrayed as a loving father concerned about his son,
but at the same time throwing in advice that would keep his image from being damaged as
well. In Ophelia's case, he had become so used to being in control, that the idea of
losing his power frightened him. He had to do something to regain his composure. He had
to get Hamlet out of the picture.
Polonius is the king's accomplice. His loyalty to the state is so overwhelming that it
comes before his children. By setting up Ophelia in Act III to try to find out the cause
for Hamlet's madness, Polonius disregards his daughter's feelings. Does he not think that
she still has feelings for Hamlet? No, he does not think at all. He is doing what he can
to please the king, to gain the king's favor. Again, Polonius, by being a politician, has
tasted the sweet rewards of power, and is no doubt hoping that he can taste more. His
line to more power is through the king, not his family. His children are, as stated
above, just toys that he can use, and use them he does. Ophelia dares not to speak
against her father, for children were to respect their elders and women were to follow
the directions of men. She was doomed. Laertes was better off because he was in Paris and
he was a young man, but he, too, was at his father's mercy. 
Ophelia and Laertes both have a tragic flaw: they love their father. The play never
mentions their mother, so it can be assumed that she is out of their lives for whatever
reason. Their father takes care of them, and in his own way does love them. It might not
be the kind of love that is common between a father to his children, usually most parents
do not use their children for their own benefit, but it is, none-the-less, love. 
Polonius has a crafty mind, constantly coming up with ways to find the answers, mostly by
the technique of spying. His little mind plots schemes that will tell the truth about
Hamlet -- is he mad, or is he not. He schemes do not always work and he ends up dead
because of his sneakiness. His death was necessary. He was part of the rottenness in
Denmark. If the play ends with a clean slate, then Polonius has to die. He is not clean.
If he were to survive the state would remain rotten, and the death of everyone else would
have been in vain. In fact, that is the reason he died first. He is second only to
Claudius in how corrupt he is. His death foreshadows the death of others who have been
tainted and is the cause of the death of his children. He had tainted both his children,
and since the state had to be cleaned, their death was essential. Ophelia became tainted
after Polonius led her into the mess with Hamlet. She dies because she goes crazy after
her lover killed her father. Laertes's taintedness and his death are both due to the fact
that Polonius was murdered. He tainted Laertes by spying on Hamlet and Gertrude which led
to his death which caused Laertes to conspire with the king to kill Hamlet. Laertes dies
trying to avenge his father's death. 
Polonius is not as simple minded as he seems. There is a whole lot more going on in the
head of the bumbling fool then appears to be. He is a control and power hungry man who
uses his children to enhance his image and to push his way through the political ladder
of Denmark. He is the one to blame for the death of himself and of his family. He is just
a rotten politicain (Aren't they all?).