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Post by toomuchchanmin on Feb 7, 2016 11:05:47 GMT
I think we all like to make fun of stupidity, so you see many times stupid characters on many stories. In Hamlet, I think Polonius is the one.
Polonius is really slow-witted. He thinks Hamlet is mad because of the love of his daugther. Claudius on the other hand realizes quickly its not love that Hamlet is having issues with when he hears the "to be or not to be" monologue. However Polonius still insists it's love. Then when Hamlet is acting crazy in front of him, Hamlet makes fun of him a lot but he never realizes it and never catches on. Also the many advice he gives to his son and daughter are mostly ridiculous, because most of is hypocritical or makes no sense. Like he tells his children to be honest, but he doesn't trust anyone....
Do you get a similar vibe from Polonius?
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Post by Jonathan on Feb 7, 2016 12:09:47 GMT
I first thought Polonius very loyal and giving smart advices to his son. In my opinion, I believe the advices were pretty useful in real life. However, his actions just contradicts what he says. As you said Chanmin, he never believes anyone. He is slow in getting anything that anyone says. Polonius is just a stupid old brat that makes everyone laugh at him in the play.
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Post by Jooyoung on Feb 7, 2016 12:19:02 GMT
Although I do think he is adamant, sticking to his belief that it is love that made Hamlet go mad regardless of what others say, I do not think he is an idiot. Like Jonathan mentioned, he gives Laertes some good advises that can be applied in modern day also, for example, his advise not to borrow from or lend money to a friend. Another thing about Polonius is that is overprotective of his children. He sends a spy to spy on Laertes and meddles with her daughter love to a great extent.
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Post by ETypeRegymon on Feb 7, 2016 13:22:47 GMT
Telling people to be honest while being doubtful of others isn't hypocritical. Him telling his kids to be honest is what he ideally wants, where everyone can be trusted. Being doubtful means he knows most adults (or just other people in general) do lie or hide the truth, so he's being smart and realistic when he does that. So honesty=ideals and doubt=reality. He can't control other people to make them tell the truth, so giving advice to his kids is the best he can do.
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Post by juliaj on Feb 7, 2016 13:29:55 GMT
I think polonius is very stubborn which might be why we think hes dumb. Throughout the play, he's always very strong with his opinions to a fault. For example, he gives long speeches advising his son before his sons leaves on a trip that was, to be honest, a little repetitive and left not as much room for Laertes to do anything but agree. Also, he's very convinced that Hamlet is going crazy because of Ophelia when we know that's not the case and Claudius suspects differently. Lastly, he keeps telling Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet despite knowing how she loves him.
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kevv
Junior Member
Posts: 64 
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Post by kevv on Feb 7, 2016 14:20:26 GMT
Now that I think about it, I also think that polonius is stupid but not only him, but his stupidity spreads to his son and daughter. Polonius is just like those careful fathers who always give advices and tell their sons or daughters what to do and not to do. Because of this, Ophelia became stupid and took her own life and Laertes just became stupid and tries to kill Hamlet later on in the play. Unfortunately..Polonius doesnt die right? I hope he does..along with Claudius!!!
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Post by graceyichen on Feb 10, 2016 2:31:28 GMT
I think Polonius is smart, because up until now, I still have no clear idea of what he's doing. The perceptions we have of him reflect just how smart he is at presenting himself in certain ways to certain people to reach his goal. I think he's playing every one as a chess piece, taking advantage of their desires, because out of all the characters in the story, every's goal is obvious except for Polonius.
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Post by jonah21 on Feb 13, 2016 12:29:52 GMT
I feel the same way how Julia does. To me, Polonius is just stubborn (and probably arrogant). He wants to believe that he is correct even when others go against his ideas. Maybe he just wants to try and protect Ophelia. After all, parents care for their children. Polonius may believe he's right because he thinks that's the way how he's able to keep Ophelia safe. Instead of stupidity, I believe Polonius is somewhat smart, but of course, stubborn as well.
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Post by lucia on Feb 13, 2016 17:43:21 GMT
Polonius may be elderly and slightly psychotic, I think there's a part of him that can be deceptive and smart. He seems to be politically adept since he is the chief counselor to Claudius. However,he seems to be giving his daughter, Ophelia, and son, Laertes, terrible pieces of advice. He's very doubtful and cynical as he tries to spy on pretty much everyone. But, to me, Polonius is a very devoted father. I think it was something relatively normal back then in the Elizabethan Era.
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sunnyp
Junior Member
Posts: 92 
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Post by sunnyp on Feb 13, 2016 17:54:16 GMT
I know what you're saying. I also felt like he was the "dumb character" that is in every TV series. He is dumb but he is stubborn to his dumb ideas. I can also make personal real life connection to some people I know. However, the advices he gave to Ophelia were so real. They were real advices from a person experienced in life. Therefore, I can't conclude that he is dumb but I can say that I can make connection to his character to many real life people.
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Post by mayurika98 on Feb 14, 2016 1:48:43 GMT
Polonius forms strong opinions at times and it is hard for Claudius to argue with them. Also when Polonius suggests something, Claudius doesn't hesitate to go with that suggestion because most of his ideas work out well. As for the eavesdropping incident I'm not sure whether or not Hamlet was aware they were there so they might have been mislead. It is interesting that it is quite obvious to us that Hamlet is just messing around but maybe that is what Polonius wants. It is just a sad coincidence that Polonius was behind the curtain when Gertrude and Hamlet were talking. And that Hamlet killed Polonius thinking that it was Claudius.
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Post by Tharu on Feb 14, 2016 2:10:52 GMT
Honestly, there were reasons to think that Hamlet is mad because of his love. It confirms how Hamlet came to Ophelia's bedroom and the way he acted. So this is a reasonable reason to think polonius that Hamlet is mad because of his daughter. What is dumb is that, he strongly believes in it, even without finding more information about it, he strongly believes in it and he even bet his life and occupation on that.
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Post by jin794 on Feb 14, 2016 8:11:39 GMT
At first, I thought Polonius was intelligent. In Act 1 scene 3, Polonius gives a long speech about his advise toward his son, Laertes. He gives Laertres list of instructions about how to behave before sending him away. He said to keep away your thoughts and treat people with familiarity but no excessively. However his stubbornness made him look stupid. Polonius was too sure about Hamlet's madness due to Ophelia.
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Post by christopher on Feb 14, 2016 12:25:08 GMT
Polonius is pretty manipulative and proud, yet he does have some funny moments. In act 2 scene 1, there was a moment where he suddenly forgets what he was about to speak to Reynaldo. The advices that he gives to Laertes were pretty 'legit' but I think he didn't follow his own advice for himself. And he indeed never caught on to the jokes that Hamlet was making towards him. He looks stupid, but he is just an old dude who is hypocritical and stubborn.
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Post by Jessica (Yeeun) Kim on Feb 14, 2016 13:11:11 GMT
Claudius and Polonius are both ambitious men. However, the difference between Polonius and Claudius that Claudius is very wicked because he killed his brother in order to become a king and he was the first character who realized Hamlet would revenge him by acting crazy in front of him. In my opinion, Hamlet is not wise character because if I were him, I would revenge Polonius after I became a king.
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