Polonius's Role in Hamlet

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In the hectic confusion of madness and murder that is William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is easy to underestimate the importance of less dramatic and dynamic characters. While Polonius, the father of Hamlet's love, Ophelia, does not deliver existential speeches or commit horrible atrocities against family, he certainly plays a major role in the plot development and overall flow of the play. Also, despite the fact that Shakespeare uses him mostly as a tool to move the story along, Polonius develops a unique personality throughout the play and adds to the depth of the tragedy. Most importantly, Polonius plays a pivotal role in providing comic relief, uncovering Hamlet's "madness," and establishing a dramatic turning point in the play.

If Hamlet maintained a high level of dramatic tension throughout the entire production, any audience would be exhausted after several hours. In order to prevent this, Shakespeare adds several humorous or witty moments to Hamlet to relieve the tension and allow the audience an emotional catharsis. Polonius acts the first of these scenes when he goes before the king and queen in an attempt to explain Hamlet's bizarre behavior. After claiming that "brevity is the soul of wit" (II ii 6), he proceeds to talk in puns and ramble aimlessly until the Queen orders him to get to the point. Polonius's blatant hypocrisy and foolishness is good for a laugh, and it effectively relaxes the audience so they may absorb future dramatic scenes.

Polonius also serves to show us Hamlet's new "madness." Intending to judge his madness, Polonius approaches Hamlet and strikes up a conversation. Hamlet does not recognize him, however, claiming that he knows Polonius as a fishmonger. Hamlets responses to Polonius are bizarre and sporadic, but most of them are true to an extent. Thus, Polonius states "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't" (II ii -). Polonius is a noble man, and he feels guilt for his role in making Hamlet mad. Unfortunately, he seems to be caught up in something much larger than himself, and he ends up paying the price.

Unfortunately for him, Polonius's most important contribution to this play is his death, which marks the major turning point in the plot. This event drastically changes the audience's view of Hamlet from a noble man out to avenge the death of his father to a murderer of the innocent. His nonchalant attitude about it is demonstrated when Hamlet says "Indeed, this counselor is now most still, most secret and most grave, who was in life a foolish prating knave. Come, sir, to draw toward and end with you" (III iv 6-). This paints him as a cold, disillusioned person, and causes one to lose some sympathy for him. This event also sets the gears in motion that will drive Claudius to plot against Hamlet, Ophelia to commit suicide, and Laertes to seek revenge.

Throughout his life in this play, Polonius is important in providing comic relief, uncovering Hamlet's "madness" and establishing a dramatic turning point in the play. We should be glad, in a way, that Polonius is ignorant of the part he plays in this play. Had he foreseen the consequences of his involvement in this dispute, he may well have taken Ophelia to visit Laertes in France for several months.

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