page 91 lines 140-160
Polonius:
"I would fain prove so. But what might you think,
When I had seen this hot love on the wing
(As I perceived it, I must tell you that,
Before my daughter told me), what might you,
Or my dear Majesty your queen here, think,
If I had played the desk or table-book
Or given my heart a <winking>, mute, and dumb,
Or looked upon this love with idle sight?
What might you think? No, I went round to work,
And my young mistress thus did I bespeak:
'Lord Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star.
This must not be.' And then I prescripts gave her,
That she should lock herself from <his> resort,
Admit no messengers, receive no tokens;
Which done, she took the fruits of my advice,
And he, repelled (a short tale to make),
Fell into a sadness, then into fast,
Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness,
Thence to <a> lightness, and, by this declension,
Into the madness wherein now he raves
And all we mourn for."
Polonius is known for being a blabbering buffoon in this play. He speaks in circles to get to his point. It annoys all the other characters. This passage is somewhat different. He says less nonsense than he normally does. That let's the reader know its importance.
Polonious's fluff is necessary to identify before comprehending the important phrases. Line 5 is him just addressing the Queen. His question "what might you think?" is rhetorical and then he answers it himself. He also explains everything before he says it such as calling what he is about to say a "short tale". Lastly. he uses repetition like of the word "thence" (to emphasize his point and/or to just be his chattering self). He also uses many words to get to the point of saying Hamlet went crazy.
This passage tells the reader how he views the love between Hamlet and Ophelia. He calls it a "hot love", which conjures an image of passionate lovers. It's interesting that a father views his daughter's love that way. He tells the King and Queen that he "perceived [the love]" and "before [his] daughter told [him]". That means Hamlet and Ophelia were obviously crazy about each other. He then goes on to say he did not ignore this love, that would have been dumb. He goes "round to work", meaning he decides to fix what he believes to be a problem. He tells Ophelia that Hamlet is out of her league; he does not think highly of his daughter or family (he knows his place). His solution is to lock her away with no messages or gifts. Finally, Polonious ends saying that once he did this with Ophelia, Hamlet went crazy and that everyone is sad about it.
I like how you begin this post by prefacing how Polonious is known to be a somewhat ridiculous character. It allows the reader to understand why the passage you chose is so different for Polonious. Additionally, I like how simply you made the interpretation of this passage because of how simple a character Polonious is. I think that you could have gone deeper into analysis of this passage by looking at word choice and connecting the passage to the rest of the play more. You could definitely do a lot with this post. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you made an effort to separate the "fluff" in Polonius's speech from the key phrases that indicate his intent. I also agree with Gianna that prefacing the post with an explanation of Polonius's character worked well. I think analyzing other components of this passage, such as how this might sound if he were not speaking to the king and queen, would add an interesting touch. Nice job!
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