Polonius - wikipedia Polonius Polonius behind the curtain by Jehan Georges Vibert, 1868 Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare 's Hamlet. He is chief counsellor of the king, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of the play, Polonius is described by William Hazlitt as a `` sincere '' father, but also `` a busy - body, ( who ) is accordingly officious, garrulous, and impertinent ''. In Act II Hamlet refers to Polonius as a `` tedious old fool '' and taunts him as a latter day `` Jeptha ''. Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet unknowingly kills Polonius, provoking Ophelia 's fit of madness, ultimately resulting in her early death and the climax of the play : a duel between Laertes and Hamlet. Contents 1 Character 2 Sources 3 Name 4 Stage and film portrayals 5 Famous lines 6 Notable portrayals 7 References Character Father of Ophelia and Laertes, and counselor to King Claudius, he is described as a windbag by some and a rambler of wisdom by others. It has also been suggested that he only acts like a `` foolish prating knave '' to keep his position and popularity safe and to keep anyone from discovering his plots for social advancement. It is important to note that throughout the play, Polonius is characterised as a typical Renaissance `` new man '', who pays much attention to appearances and ceremonious behaviour. Some adaptations show him conspiring with Claudius in the murder of King Hamlet. In Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius gives advice to his son Laertes, who is leaving for France, in the form of a list of sententious maxims. He finishes by giving his son his blessing, and is apparently at ease with his son 's departure. However, in Act 2, Scene 1, he orders his servant Reynaldo to travel to Paris and spy on Laertes and report if he is indulging in any local vice. Laertes is not the only character Polonius spies upon. He is fearful that Hamlet 's relationship with his daughter will hurt his reputation with the king and instructs Ophelia to `` lock herself from ( Hamlet 's ) resort ''. He later suspects that Ophelia 's rejection of Hamlet 's attention has caused the prince to lose his wits, and informs Gertrude and Claudius of his suspicion, claiming that his reason for commanding Ophelia to reject Hamlet was that the prince was above her station. He and the king test his hypothesis by spying on and interrogating Ophelia. In his last attempt to spy on Hamlet, Polonius hides himself behind an arras in Gertrude 's room. Hamlet deals roughly with his mother, causing her to cry for help. Polonius echoes the request for help and is heard by Hamlet, who then mistakes the voice for Claudius ' and stabs through the arras and kills him. Polonius ' death at the hands of Hamlet causes Claudius to fear for his own life, Ophelia to go mad, and Laertes to seek revenge, which leads to the duel in the final act. Sources The literary origins of the character may be traced to the King 's counselor found in the Belleforest and William Painter versions of the Hamlet legend. However, at least since the 19th century scholars have also sought to understand the character in terms of Elizabethan court politics. Polonius was first proposed as a parody of Queen Elizabeth 's leading counsellor, Lord Treasurer, and Principal Secretary William Cecil, Lord Burghley in 1869. Israel Gollancz also suggested that Polonius might have been a satire on Burghley. The theory was often finessed with supplementary arguments, but also disputed. Arden Hamlet editor Harold Jenkins, for example, criticised the idea of any direct personal satire of Burghley as `` unlikely '' and `` uncharacteristic of Shakespeare ''. Name A stained glass representation of Polonius Gollancz proposed that the source for the character 's name and sententious platitudes was De optimo senatore, a book on statesmanship by the Polish courtier Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki, which was widely read after it was translated into English and published in 1598 under the title The Counsellor. `` Polonius '' is Latin for `` Polish '' or `` a / the Polish man. '' The English translation of the book refers to its author as a statesman of the `` polonian empyre ''. In the first quarto of Hamlet, Polonius is named `` Corambis ''. It has been suggested that this derives from `` crambe '' or `` crambo '', derived from a Latin phrase meaning `` reheated cabbage '', implying `` a boring old man '' who spouts trite rehashed ideas. Whether this was the original name of the character or not is debated. Various suggestions have been made to explain this. G.R. Hibbard argues that the name was originally Polonius, but was changed because Q1 derives from a version of the play to be performed in Oxford and Cambridge, and the original name was too close to that of Robert Polenius, founder of Oxford University. Since Polonius is a parody of a pompous pseudo-intellectual, the name might have been interpreted as a deliberate insult. The title page of Q1 specifically states that the play was recently performed in London, Oxford and Cambridge. Stage and film portrayals In most productions of the 20th century, up to about 1980, Polonius was played as a somewhat senile, garrulous man of about seventy - five or so, eliciting a few laughs from the audience by the depiction. More recent productions have tended to play him as a slightly younger man, and to emphasise his shiftiness rather than pompous senility, harking back to the traditional manner in which Polonius was played before the 20th century. Until the 1900s there was a tradition that the actor who plays Polonius also plays the quick - witted gravedigger in Act V. This bit suggests that the actor who played Polonius was an actor used to playing clowns much like the Fool in King Lear : not a doddering old fool, but an alive and intelligent master of illusion and misdirection. Polonius adds a new dimension to the play and is a controlling and menacing character. One key to the portrayal is a producer 's decision to keep or remove the brief scene with his servant, Reynaldo, which comes after his scene of genial, fatherly advice to Laertes. He instructs Reynaldo to spy on his son, and even suggest that he has been gambling and consorting with prostitutes, to find out what he has really been up to. The inclusion of this scene portrays him in a much more sinister light ; most productions, including Laurence Olivier 's famous 1948 film version, choose to remove it. The respective productions starring Richard Burton and Kenneth Branagh both include it. Although Hume Cronyn plays Polonius mostly for laughs in the Burton production, Polonius is more sinister than comic in Branagh 's version. Famous lines Polonius 's most famous lines are found in Act 1 Scene 3 ( `` Neither a borrower nor a lender be '' ; `` To thine own self be true '' ) and Act 2 Scene 2 ( `` Brevity is the soul of wit '' ; and `` Though this be madness, yet there is method i n't '' ) while others have become paraphrased aphorisms ( `` Clothes make the man '' ; `` Old friends are the best friends '' ). Also, the line he speaks when he is killed by Hamlet in Act 3 scene 4 ( `` O, I am slain ! '' ) has been subject to much parody and ridicule due to its relative obviousness. Notable portrayals Hume Cronyn won a Tony Award for playing Polonius opposite Richard Burton 's Hamlet in John Gielgud 's 1964 Broadway production. No other actor has ever won an award for playing Polonius in any professional American stage version of Hamlet, nor for playing him in a film version of the play. In `` The Producer '', an 1966 episode of Gilligan 's Island, Polonius ' `` Neither a borrower nor a lender be '' speech is performed satirically, first by series regular Alan Hale Jr. as The Skipper playing the role of Polonius ( with Dawn Wells as Mary Ann playing Laertes ) in a musical production of Hamlet by the castaways, then by Phil Silvers guest - starring as a famous stage producer who finds himself on the island. Actors who have played Polonius on film and television include Hans Junkermann, Ian Holm, Michael Redgrave, Ian Richardson, Oliver Ford Davies, Bill Murray, and Richard Briers. References England portal Theatre portal Fictional characters portal Wikimedia Commons has media related to Polonius. Jump up ^ ' Hamlet ' in William Hazlitt, Characters of Shakespeare 's Plays. Jump up ^ `` Polonius at Encyclopædia Britannica ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 10 July 2014. Jump up ^ Hamlet Act II scene ii -- William Shakespeare. Jump up ^ 2.2. 346 Jump up ^ French, George Russell. `` Notes on Hamlet. '' Archived 10 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine. In Shakspeareana Genealogica. London : Macmillan & Co., 1869. pp. 299 -- 310. Jump up ^ See, for example, Lilian Winstanley, Hamlet and the Scottish Succession, 1921, 112 ; 114 -- 118 ; John Dover Wilson, The Essential Shakespeare, 1937, 104 ; Joel Hurstfield, The Queen 's Wards, 1958, 257 ; A.L. Rowse William Shakespeare : A Biography, 1963, 323 ; Shakespeare The Man, 1973 185, 186. Jump up ^ Jenkins, Harold, ed. Hamlet ( 1982 ), 142. Jump up ^ Daniel H. Cole, `` From Renaissance Poland to Poland 's Renaissance : The Struggle for Constitutionalism in Poland by Mark Brzezinski, '' Michigan Law Review, Vol. 97, No. 6, 1999 Jump up ^ William Shakespeare, Philip Edwards ( ed ) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 71. Jump up ^ Courtney, Krystyna Kujawinska. `` Shakespeare in Poland : selected Issues '' Internet Shakespeare Editions, University of Victoria, 2003, p. 2. Jump up ^ G.R. Hibbard ( ed ), Hamlet, Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 69 - 75. Jump up ^ `` See all of Polonius 's lines ''. Opensourceshakespeare.org. Retrieved 10 July 2014. Jump up ^ Elizabeth Abele ( 20 November 2013 ). Home Front Heroes : The Rise of a New Hollywood Archetype, 1988 -- 1999. McFarland. p. 187. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7864 - 7333 - 5. William Shakespeare 's Hamlet Characters Hamlet Claudius Gertrude Ghost Polonius Laertes Ophelia Horatio Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Fortinbras The Gravediggers Yorick Soliloquies `` To be, or not to be '' `` Mortal coil '' `` What a piece of work is a man '' `` Speak the speech '' Words and phrases `` The lady doth protest too much, methinks '' `` Thy name is '' `` Primrose path '' Terminology Dumbshow Induction Quiddity Substitution Sources Criticism Legend of Hamlet The Spanish Tragedy Ur - Hamlet Critical approaches Bibliographies Horwendill Saxo Grammaticus House of Gonzaga Damon and Pythias Influence Common phrases from Hamlet Hamlet in popular culture References to Ophelia Language of flowers Human skull symbolism Performances Moscow Art Theatre ( 1911 -- 1912 ) Richard Burton ( 1964 ) On screen 1900 1907 1908 1912 1913 1917 1921 1935 1948 1954 1961 1964 1969 2000 2011 Adaptations Films The Rest Is Silence ( 1959 ) The Bad Sleep Well ( 1960 ) Ophelia ( 1963 ) Johnny Hamlet ( 1968 ) One Hamlet Less ( 1973 ) The Angel of Vengeance -- The Female Hamlet ( 1977 ) Strange Brew ( 1983 ) Hamlet Goes Business ( 1987 ) The Lion King ( 1994 ) Let the Devil Wear Black ( 1999 ) The Banquet ( 2006 ) Tardid ( 2009 ) Karmayogi ( 2012 ) Haider ( 2014 ) Hamlet A.D.D. ( 2014 ) The Lion King ( 2019 ) Novels Gertrude and Claudius ( 2000 ) Dating Hamlet ( 2002 ) Ophelia 's Revenge ( 2003 ) The Dead Fathers Club ( 2006 ) Something Rotten ( 2007 ) Hamlet 's Father ( 2008 ) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle ( 2008 ) Plays Hamletmachine ( 1977 ) Dogg 's Hamlet ( 1979 ) Fortinbras ( 1991 ) Musicals Rockabye Hamlet ( 1973 ) The Lion King ( 1997 ) Television Hamlet ( Australian TV, 1959 ) Hamlet at Elsinore ( BBC, 1964 ) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark ( BBC, 1980 ) Hamlet ( BBC 2, animated, 1992 ) Hamlet ( BBC 2, 2009 ) Parodies 15 - Minute Hamlet The Complete Works of William Shakespeare ( Abridged ) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Io, Amleto The Klingon Hamlet `` Lyle the Kindly Viking '' To Be or Not to Be : That is the Adventure Songs `` My Robin is to the Greenwood Gone '' ( 16th century ) `` Pull Me Under '' ( 1992 ) `` Song for Athene '' ( 1997 ) Opera / classical Hamlet ( Thomas ) Amleto ( Faccio ) Hamlet ( Tchaikovsky ) Tristia ( Berlioz ) Die Hamletmaschine ( Rihm ) Hamlet ( Dean ) Story within a story Films To Be or Not to Be ( 1942 ) Acting Hamlet in the Village of Mrdusa Donja ( 1973 ) To Be or Not to Be ( 1983 ) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead ( 1990 ) Renaissance Man ( 1994 ) In the Bleak Midwinter ( 1995 ) Hamlet 2 ( 2008 ) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead ( 2009 ) Three Days ( 2012 ) Plays Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ( 1966 ) Stage Blood ( 1974 ) I Hate Hamlet ( 1991 ) To Be or Not to Be ( 2008 ) Novels Hamlet, Revenge ! ( 1937 ) Theatre of War ( 1994 ) `` The Undiscovered '' ( 1997 ) The Shakespeare Stealer ( 1998 ) Interred with Their Bones ( 2007 ) Television `` The Producer '' ( 1966 ) Slings & Arrows ( 2003 ) Art Ophelia Affe mit Schädel Video game Last Action Hero ( 1993 ) Hamlet ( 2010 ) Intertextuality Asterix and the Great Crossing The Seagull Sharpe 's Havoc Related Hamlet and Oedipus Hamlet Had an Uncle Hamlet and His Problems Hebenon Hamlet Q1 Ostalo je ćutanje The Chronicles of Amber `` Symphony No. 65 '' ( Haydn ) War Highlander II : The Quickening The Hobart Shakespeareans Gertrude -- The Cry Poor Murderer Something Rotten ! `` The Conscience of the King '' `` Born to Be King '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polonius&oldid=814509275 '' Categories : Characters in Hamlet Fictional viziers Fictional nobility Fictional Danish people Male Shakespearean characters Fictional actors Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links EngvarB from September 2017 Use dmy dates from September 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia བོད ་ ཡིག فارسی Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Português Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 9 December 2017, at 06 : 37. 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Question: who is the knave and who is the fool in hamlet
Answer: Polonius