SCENE III. A room in Polonius' house.
While we had a brief introduction to Polonius, Claudius’ chief adviser, and his son Laertes in the previous scene, we are about to meet his daughter Ophelia and learn a great deal about the dynamics of the House of Polonius, the latter’s relationship with his children, and a suggestion of the importance to come of the play’s second subplot, which, as we shall see, revolves around Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia.
Enter LAERTES and OPHELIA
LAERTES
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell:
And, sister, as the winds give benefit
And convoy is assistant, do not sleep,
But let me hear from you.
OPHELIA
Do you doubt that?
LAERTES
For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour,
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,
A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more.
OPHELIA
No more but so?
The close relationship that exists between brother and sister is evident here, and like any ‘big brother,’ Laertes is concerned about the well-being of Ophelia in her relationship with Hamlet, warning her about the way ‘young guys’ are. In today’s parlance, he is essentially saying that the Prince is driven by his hormones.
LAERTES
Think it no more;
For nature, crescent, does not grow alone
In thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes,
The inward service of the mind and soul
Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now,
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
The virtue of his will: but you must fear,
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own;
For he himself is subject to his birth:
He may not, as unvalued persons do,
Carve for himself; for on his choice depends
The safety and health of this whole state;
And therefore must his choice be circumscribed
Unto the voice and yielding of that body
Whereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves you,
It fits your wisdom so far to believe it
As he in his particular act and place
May give his saying deed; which is no further
Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal.
Appearing to give Hamlet the benefit of a doubt about the purity of his motives, Laertes nonetheless advises his sister to remember that in things marital, he really is not a ‘free-agent,’ that his choice of marriage partner will be greatly influenced by what is best for the country. One cannot help but draw a parallel here to the modern British monarchy and all of the unhappiness and tragedy that ensued because Prince Charles had to marry Diana, deemed most appropriate to be the consort of a future king, and not the love of his life, Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,
If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
To his unmaster'd importunity.
Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister,
And keep you in the rear of your affection,
Out of the shot and danger of desire.
Laertes warns Ophelia that it is her reputation that will suffer, not his, should she succumb to Hamlet’s overtures. That the double standard has a long history is evident here.
The chariest maid is prodigal enough,
If she unmask her beauty to the moon:
Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes:
The canker galls the infants of the spring,
Too oft before their buttons be disclosed,
And in the morn and liquid dew of youth
Contagious blastments are most imminent.
Be wary then; best safety lies in fear:
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.
Even the most innocent can be defamed, and nature shows, through the metaphor of the canker, that the youngest and most promising can be destroyed before they reach maturity.
OPHELIA
I shall the effect of this good lesson keep,
As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;
Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.
It sounds here as if Ophelia knows her brother rather well, warning him to follow his own advice about modesty and not be a hypocrite. Her comments also reflect a keen awareness of a double standard that survives even to this day.
LAERTES
O, fear me not.
I stay too long: but here my father comes.
It sounds as if Laertes is not interested in being dawn into a discussion about his own behaviour, as he suddenly decides it is time to leave.
Enter POLONIUS
A double blessing is a double grace,
Occasion smiles upon a second leave.
What follows is another famous speech in the play, Polonius’ advice to his son as he is about to return to university. While it contains much wise counsel, there is, as we shall see, a bit of a problem with it:
LORD POLONIUS
Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with thee!
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;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!
I have long thought that it is a mistake when directors and actors interpret Polonius as a buffoon. While it will become evident that he is long-winded and filled with a sense of his own importance, and likely well-past his prime as a dispenser of counsel to royalty, the above advice contains real wisdom, but it is wisdom undercut by an unenviable and small-minded philosophy.
Let’s start by breaking down what he says to his son:
Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Simply put, Polonius is telling Laertes to think before he speaks, and to think carefully before he acts; in other words, don’t be impulsive. Who could really argue with that?
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
By this, he probably means to be sociable with people, but not to debase himself by giving away too many personal details. In other words, be somewhat aloof and not too common.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade.
Again, this sounds like solid advice. Polonius is telling Laertes to recognize who his true friends are, people who have proven themselves, and treasure them. He warns him, however, to be cautious and suspicious about new people who enter his life; they will not necessarily be of the same caliber as his tried and true associates.
Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Cautioning him about becoming involved in arguments or fights, Polonius is telling his son that if he does get pulled into a dispute, manage it in such a way that the other person fears/respects him.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
In other words, listen to what others have to say, but don’t say too much yourself. As well, accept each person’s opinion or view, but don’t offer your own.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station how he appears.
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Telling Laertes to dress as well as he can afford to, Polonius warns him to not appear gaudy or loud, lest he be judged as unworthy of serious consideration. In other words, dress tastefully, showing a knowledge of good fashion.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
Probably one of the most well-known of Shakespearian passages, Polonius is warning his son to neither lend nor borrow money. By lending money to a friend, the chances are you will lose both the money and the friend. (Personal experience will verify the wisdom of this counsel.) He also advises Laertes to live within his means instead of borrowing to finance an extravagant lifestyle.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!
I’ve always viewed this last passage as a bit of a non-sequitur; Polonius has just issued a series of precepts by which to live his life, and yet now he is telling his son to be true to himself, that is, to follow his own heart and instincts, as the measure of how to live his life. Sounds good, but it does seem to contradict everything that came before.
Like so much else in the play, there is much more to the above guidelines issued by Polonius than meets the eye. As mentioned earlier, taken individually, each piece is indisputably sound, even wise, and worthy of serious consideration. However, it is in the aggregate, when we consider the underlying theme of the advice, that we find something not so wise and not so savory.
First off, we have to consider to whom Polonius is giving this advice. His son is a young man, probably twenty or so. Youth, as we all know, is a time for experimentation and discovery, surely keys to forging an identity separate from that of our parents and finding our place in the world. Yet if we identify the unifying theme of the advice Laertes is being given, it is this: DON’T TAKE CHANCES! LIVE LIFE CAUTIOUSLY!
I used to tell my students that if they didn’t want to face the possibility of being run down by a Mack truck or having their hearts broken or any number of the other unpleasant contingencies with which we can be confronted in life, they should simply opt to live in their parents’ basement. After all, if they went to university, they might meet up with some questionable people who could lead them astray; they might encounter new ideas that distress them, alter their perspectives, etc. They quickly saw through the folly of such advice, realizing that if they did not take any chances in life, they would never grow as individuals, that they would remain essentially as they were then in terms of outlook and understanding of the world, the people in it, and themselves.
Ultimately, I don’t think it probably matters too much whether Polonius’ advice is prompted by love and concern for Laertes, or fear that somehow he will embarrass him by his behaviour. What does matter is that the advice to stagnate is something no parent should inflict upon his/her child.
LAERTES
Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
LORD POLONIUS
The time invites you; go; your servants tend.
LAERTES
Farewell, Ophelia; and remember well
What I have said to you.
OPHELIA
'Tis in my memory lock'd,
And you yourself shall keep the key of it.
LAERTES
Farewell.
Exit
While what follows could simply be dismissed as a product of the times, when a daughter was completely subservient to her father, we cannot and should not divorce our modern sensibilities from evaluating the relationship between Polonius and Ophelia. To do so would be to overlook some important qualities of character that emerge about both of them.
LORD POLONIUS
What is't, Ophelia, be hath said to you?
OPHELIA
So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet.
LORD POLONIUS
Marry, well bethought:
'Tis told me, he hath very oft of late
Given private time to you; and you yourself
Have of your audience been most free and bounteous:
If it be so, as so 'tis put on me,
And that in way of caution, I must tell you,
You do not understand yourself so clearly
As it behoves my daughter and your honour.
What is between you? give me up the truth.
Polonius’ opening statement serves a couple of purposes. One, it reinforces the idea established by Laertes that Hamlet and Ophelia have a romantic relationship; two, it raises the question of whether or not Polonius’ intelligence about that relationship was obtained just by chance, as he implies, or by more underhanded means, as later developments suggest. As well, his demanding to know the nature of the relationship suggests, at best, an indifference to his daughter’s feelings in the matter. Also, a certain suspiciousness about her veracity is perhaps indicated by his demand that she “give [him] up the truth” (italics mine.)
OPHELIA
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders
Of his affection to me.
LORD POLONIUS
Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl,
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?
OPHELIA
I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
The contrast between cynicism and innocence is clearly reflected in the above exchange. In terms that eerily echo Laertes’ sentiments, Polonius callously dismisses Ophelia’s trust by calling her “a green girl” who perceives not the danger posed by Hamlet. While it would be easy to assume that Polonius’ words are a reflection of his concern for his daughter’s well-being, the ensuing dialogue suggests otherwise:
LORD POLONIUS
Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly;
Or--not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus--you'll tender me a fool.
And there we have it. Polonius is afraid that indiscreet behaviour on the part of his daughter will make him look bad. He now sees it as his job to disabuse her of the notion that Hamlet could be acting honourably, with good intentions:
OPHELIA
My lord, he hath importuned me with love
In honourable fashion.
LORD POLONIUS
Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to.
OPHELIA
And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord,
With almost all the holy vows of heaven.
LORD POLONIUS
Ay, springes to catch woodcocks.
Despite Ophelia’s defense of the Prince, her father dismisses the latter’s words with a cynical metaphor, saying that Hamlet’s apparent earnestness is merely a ply to catch Ophelia, a silly bird.
I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire.
Drawing upon his own experiences when he was young, Polonius appears to be judging Hamlet by his own base standards, again echoing what his son had earlier said to Ophelia.
From this time
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, that he is young
And with a larger tether may he walk
Than may be given you: in few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
The better to beguile. This is for all:
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth,
Have you so slander any moment leisure,
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.
Look to't, I charge you: come your ways.
OPHELIA
I shall obey, my lord.
Exeunt
After further disparaging Hamlet’s motives regarding Ophelia, Polonius tells her to stop seeing him immediately. Helpless to disobey her father, she acquiesces.
Thus ends Scene 3, whose developments will have far-reaching consequences as the play progresses. Besides allowing us to peer behind the very proper public personas of Laertes and Polonius and thus explore the beginnings of one of the play’s themes (the disparity between appearances and reality), the scene introduces us to the play’s second subplot, sometimes called the Romantic Subplot. Like the Fortinbras subplot, it will support and ultimately merge with the play’s main plot, whose direction will be clear by the end of Act One.
Next, we move back to the development of the main plot which, by now, the audience realizes revolves around the ghost and his purpose for visiting Elsinore.
While we had a brief introduction to Polonius, Claudius’ chief adviser, and his son Laertes in the previous scene, we are about to meet his daughter Ophelia and learn a great deal about the dynamics of the House of Polonius, the latter’s relationship with his children, and a suggestion of the importance to come of the play’s second subplot, which, as we shall see, revolves around Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia.
Enter LAERTES and OPHELIA
LAERTES
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell:
And, sister, as the winds give benefit
And convoy is assistant, do not sleep,
But let me hear from you.
OPHELIA
Do you doubt that?
LAERTES
For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour,
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,
A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more.
OPHELIA
No more but so?
The close relationship that exists between brother and sister is evident here, and like any ‘big brother,’ Laertes is concerned about the well-being of Ophelia in her relationship with Hamlet, warning her about the way ‘young guys’ are. In today’s parlance, he is essentially saying that the Prince is driven by his hormones.
LAERTES
Think it no more;
For nature, crescent, does not grow alone
In thews and bulk, but, as this temple waxes,
The inward service of the mind and soul
Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now,
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
The virtue of his will: but you must fear,
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own;
For he himself is subject to his birth:
He may not, as unvalued persons do,
Carve for himself; for on his choice depends
The safety and health of this whole state;
And therefore must his choice be circumscribed
Unto the voice and yielding of that body
Whereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves you,
It fits your wisdom so far to believe it
As he in his particular act and place
May give his saying deed; which is no further
Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal.
Appearing to give Hamlet the benefit of a doubt about the purity of his motives, Laertes nonetheless advises his sister to remember that in things marital, he really is not a ‘free-agent,’ that his choice of marriage partner will be greatly influenced by what is best for the country. One cannot help but draw a parallel here to the modern British monarchy and all of the unhappiness and tragedy that ensued because Prince Charles had to marry Diana, deemed most appropriate to be the consort of a future king, and not the love of his life, Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,
If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
To his unmaster'd importunity.
Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister,
And keep you in the rear of your affection,
Out of the shot and danger of desire.
Laertes warns Ophelia that it is her reputation that will suffer, not his, should she succumb to Hamlet’s overtures. That the double standard has a long history is evident here.
The chariest maid is prodigal enough,
If she unmask her beauty to the moon:
Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes:
The canker galls the infants of the spring,
Too oft before their buttons be disclosed,
And in the morn and liquid dew of youth
Contagious blastments are most imminent.
Be wary then; best safety lies in fear:
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.
Even the most innocent can be defamed, and nature shows, through the metaphor of the canker, that the youngest and most promising can be destroyed before they reach maturity.
OPHELIA
I shall the effect of this good lesson keep,
As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;
Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.
It sounds here as if Ophelia knows her brother rather well, warning him to follow his own advice about modesty and not be a hypocrite. Her comments also reflect a keen awareness of a double standard that survives even to this day.
LAERTES
O, fear me not.
I stay too long: but here my father comes.
It sounds as if Laertes is not interested in being dawn into a discussion about his own behaviour, as he suddenly decides it is time to leave.
Enter POLONIUS
A double blessing is a double grace,
Occasion smiles upon a second leave.
What follows is another famous speech in the play, Polonius’ advice to his son as he is about to return to university. While it contains much wise counsel, there is, as we shall see, a bit of a problem with it:
LORD POLONIUS
Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with thee!
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;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!
I have long thought that it is a mistake when directors and actors interpret Polonius as a buffoon. While it will become evident that he is long-winded and filled with a sense of his own importance, and likely well-past his prime as a dispenser of counsel to royalty, the above advice contains real wisdom, but it is wisdom undercut by an unenviable and small-minded philosophy.
Let’s start by breaking down what he says to his son:
Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Simply put, Polonius is telling Laertes to think before he speaks, and to think carefully before he acts; in other words, don’t be impulsive. Who could really argue with that?
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
By this, he probably means to be sociable with people, but not to debase himself by giving away too many personal details. In other words, be somewhat aloof and not too common.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade.
Again, this sounds like solid advice. Polonius is telling Laertes to recognize who his true friends are, people who have proven themselves, and treasure them. He warns him, however, to be cautious and suspicious about new people who enter his life; they will not necessarily be of the same caliber as his tried and true associates.
Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Cautioning him about becoming involved in arguments or fights, Polonius is telling his son that if he does get pulled into a dispute, manage it in such a way that the other person fears/respects him.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
In other words, listen to what others have to say, but don’t say too much yourself. As well, accept each person’s opinion or view, but don’t offer your own.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station how he appears.
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Telling Laertes to dress as well as he can afford to, Polonius warns him to not appear gaudy or loud, lest he be judged as unworthy of serious consideration. In other words, dress tastefully, showing a knowledge of good fashion.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
Probably one of the most well-known of Shakespearian passages, Polonius is warning his son to neither lend nor borrow money. By lending money to a friend, the chances are you will lose both the money and the friend. (Personal experience will verify the wisdom of this counsel.) He also advises Laertes to live within his means instead of borrowing to finance an extravagant lifestyle.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!
I’ve always viewed this last passage as a bit of a non-sequitur; Polonius has just issued a series of precepts by which to live his life, and yet now he is telling his son to be true to himself, that is, to follow his own heart and instincts, as the measure of how to live his life. Sounds good, but it does seem to contradict everything that came before.
Like so much else in the play, there is much more to the above guidelines issued by Polonius than meets the eye. As mentioned earlier, taken individually, each piece is indisputably sound, even wise, and worthy of serious consideration. However, it is in the aggregate, when we consider the underlying theme of the advice, that we find something not so wise and not so savory.
First off, we have to consider to whom Polonius is giving this advice. His son is a young man, probably twenty or so. Youth, as we all know, is a time for experimentation and discovery, surely keys to forging an identity separate from that of our parents and finding our place in the world. Yet if we identify the unifying theme of the advice Laertes is being given, it is this: DON’T TAKE CHANCES! LIVE LIFE CAUTIOUSLY!
I used to tell my students that if they didn’t want to face the possibility of being run down by a Mack truck or having their hearts broken or any number of the other unpleasant contingencies with which we can be confronted in life, they should simply opt to live in their parents’ basement. After all, if they went to university, they might meet up with some questionable people who could lead them astray; they might encounter new ideas that distress them, alter their perspectives, etc. They quickly saw through the folly of such advice, realizing that if they did not take any chances in life, they would never grow as individuals, that they would remain essentially as they were then in terms of outlook and understanding of the world, the people in it, and themselves.
Ultimately, I don’t think it probably matters too much whether Polonius’ advice is prompted by love and concern for Laertes, or fear that somehow he will embarrass him by his behaviour. What does matter is that the advice to stagnate is something no parent should inflict upon his/her child.
LAERTES
Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
LORD POLONIUS
The time invites you; go; your servants tend.
LAERTES
Farewell, Ophelia; and remember well
What I have said to you.
OPHELIA
'Tis in my memory lock'd,
And you yourself shall keep the key of it.
LAERTES
Farewell.
Exit
While what follows could simply be dismissed as a product of the times, when a daughter was completely subservient to her father, we cannot and should not divorce our modern sensibilities from evaluating the relationship between Polonius and Ophelia. To do so would be to overlook some important qualities of character that emerge about both of them.
LORD POLONIUS
What is't, Ophelia, be hath said to you?
OPHELIA
So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet.
LORD POLONIUS
Marry, well bethought:
'Tis told me, he hath very oft of late
Given private time to you; and you yourself
Have of your audience been most free and bounteous:
If it be so, as so 'tis put on me,
And that in way of caution, I must tell you,
You do not understand yourself so clearly
As it behoves my daughter and your honour.
What is between you? give me up the truth.
Polonius’ opening statement serves a couple of purposes. One, it reinforces the idea established by Laertes that Hamlet and Ophelia have a romantic relationship; two, it raises the question of whether or not Polonius’ intelligence about that relationship was obtained just by chance, as he implies, or by more underhanded means, as later developments suggest. As well, his demanding to know the nature of the relationship suggests, at best, an indifference to his daughter’s feelings in the matter. Also, a certain suspiciousness about her veracity is perhaps indicated by his demand that she “give [him] up the truth” (italics mine.)
OPHELIA
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders
Of his affection to me.
LORD POLONIUS
Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl,
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?
OPHELIA
I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
The contrast between cynicism and innocence is clearly reflected in the above exchange. In terms that eerily echo Laertes’ sentiments, Polonius callously dismisses Ophelia’s trust by calling her “a green girl” who perceives not the danger posed by Hamlet. While it would be easy to assume that Polonius’ words are a reflection of his concern for his daughter’s well-being, the ensuing dialogue suggests otherwise:
LORD POLONIUS
Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly;
Or--not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus--you'll tender me a fool.
And there we have it. Polonius is afraid that indiscreet behaviour on the part of his daughter will make him look bad. He now sees it as his job to disabuse her of the notion that Hamlet could be acting honourably, with good intentions:
OPHELIA
My lord, he hath importuned me with love
In honourable fashion.
LORD POLONIUS
Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to.
OPHELIA
And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord,
With almost all the holy vows of heaven.
LORD POLONIUS
Ay, springes to catch woodcocks.
Despite Ophelia’s defense of the Prince, her father dismisses the latter’s words with a cynical metaphor, saying that Hamlet’s apparent earnestness is merely a ply to catch Ophelia, a silly bird.
I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire.
Drawing upon his own experiences when he was young, Polonius appears to be judging Hamlet by his own base standards, again echoing what his son had earlier said to Ophelia.
From this time
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate
Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, that he is young
And with a larger tether may he walk
Than may be given you: in few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
The better to beguile. This is for all:
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth,
Have you so slander any moment leisure,
As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet.
Look to't, I charge you: come your ways.
OPHELIA
I shall obey, my lord.
Exeunt
After further disparaging Hamlet’s motives regarding Ophelia, Polonius tells her to stop seeing him immediately. Helpless to disobey her father, she acquiesces.
Thus ends Scene 3, whose developments will have far-reaching consequences as the play progresses. Besides allowing us to peer behind the very proper public personas of Laertes and Polonius and thus explore the beginnings of one of the play’s themes (the disparity between appearances and reality), the scene introduces us to the play’s second subplot, sometimes called the Romantic Subplot. Like the Fortinbras subplot, it will support and ultimately merge with the play’s main plot, whose direction will be clear by the end of Act One.
Next, we move back to the development of the main plot which, by now, the audience realizes revolves around the ghost and his purpose for visiting Elsinore.
