Hamlet IV: Act 3 Scene 3-4

Act III brings questions with regard to the motive of the ghost regarding the queen; the ghost claims to want Hamlet not to kill his mother, but rather to allow her to suffer her own conscience. A likely implication of this desire is that the queen, being so crazed by her guilty conscience, will kill herself. However, the ghost asks Hamlet, when Hamlet is invoking the queen's conscience, to cease his invocation; not merely not to kill her, but to "step between her and her fighting soul" (III.iv.129). This implies that the Ghost showed up not because Hamlet is about to kill the queen, but rather because the queen is so distraught. This leaves another layer of the relationship between Hamlet and his mother, because Hamlet is not, according to the Ghost's phrasing, on the verge of killing his mother.

Hamlet is furious, calling her all kinds of nasty names, but he does not attack her - merely what he believes to be Claudius, whom he believed he had caught standing behind a curtain, and likely involved in sin in that way; therefore, his killing of Polonius is not pertinent to the fate of the queen, although the queen may not understand this. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze his actions from the standpoint of attempting to attack the queen's conscience, but not to do her bodily harm. At the ghost's urging, after verbally assaulting his mother, Hamlet asks her, "How is it with you, lady?" (III.iv.132). This sudden change in character illustrates that he was not so riled in anger that he would attack his mother with weaponry, because his question would be more begrudging if he retained any of his original emotion, which he would if he were to the point of killing. This demonstrates how, even though she aided in the death of his father and married his uncle, Hamlet still cares enough for her that, unlike Claudius, he has no plans to kill her in his logical soul.

Hamlet III: Act 3 Scene 1-2

In Hamlet's first thoughts alone after the play, he makes a reference to Nero. Specifically, he says, "let not ever / the soul of Nero enter this firm bosom" (III.ii.426-427). While the conventional meaning of this phrase would be that Nero killed his mother whereas Hamlet would not, there are multiple connotative associations with Nero that are lost to one without knowledge of the Roman empire. Nero is generally regarded as the morally worst Roman Emperor. Aside from marrying his mother, he committed a number of heinous crimes against the Christians. There was a great fire in Rome during his rule, and, according to legend, he watched Rome burn to the ground (although the phrase that he "fiddled while Rome burned" is generally regarded as inaccurate). Finally, he built a giant statue of himself, called the Colossus, merely to placate his own ego (this is where the Flavian Amphitheatre gets its modern name, the Colosseum). These images combine to form an image of a ruler who is entirely egotistical, malicious and incompetent. Hamlet cries to let him not be so. While the direct correlation is certainly the most relevant, the other connotations of Nero associate closely with Claudius: he is egotistical and malicious in stealing the crown and incompetent in his choices with Fortinbras. Thus, Hamlet is not only avoiding the direct association, but also any association with the terrible decisions of his father.

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'.

Hamlet I: Act 1 Scene 3

No parents are absolutely perfect, and this holds true in Hamlet as well as in life. Claudius and Gertrude - Hamlet's adopted parents - are obviously highly capable, but also villainous. By contrast, as a foil to them, Polonius is entirely benevolent to his children. However, due to his lack of consideration of Hamlet's style of life - of Hamlet's philosophical nature as well as maturity, and therefore the maturity of his love - he gives poor advice, not because he is malicious, but rather because he lacks the knowledge necessary to give better advice. For instance, he says to Ophelia that Hamlet's promises and love are "springes to catch woodcocks" (I.iii.124). He fails, as was mentioned, to account for Hamlet's lifestyle and age. Similarly, he advises Laertes with a series of quaint epigrams, but lacking any substance beyond this: his advice is, clearly, standard, and lacks the true depth of character than involved advice would attain. In particular, he tells Laertes to spend money on his appearance: "Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy" (I.iii.76). While he does state that Laertes should not be overly fancy, his focus on physical appearance rather than character presents this as more superficial advice - thus, while certainly not as malicious as Hamlet's parents, even Polonius, their character foil, is imperfect.