Hamlet II: Act 2 Scene 2

Polonius displays a loquacious speaking style that contrasts strongly with Hamlet's response. He states that Hamlet's replies are "pregnant" and that there is "a happiness / that often madness hits on" in his speech (II.ii.227-228). In other words, Polonius states that there is intelligence in Hamlet's brevity, as he earlier indicated he believed when he said "brevity is the soul of wit" (97). Even recognizing this, he is still sufficiently longwinded that the Queen asks him to say "more matter with less art," to which he replies "I use no art" (II.ii.103-104). This shows an interesting contrast between the brevity of Hamlet's loaded curt replies and the sesquipedalian loquaciousness of Polonius' extended monologues that serves to highlight the depth of Hamlet's thoughts as compared with the shallowness of Polonius'.