Polonius in Hamlet: A Character and Wisdom Literature Review
This literature review surveys scholarly interpretations of Polonius, the chief counselor to the king of Denmark in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Drawing on critics including Wilson, Landy, Hadfield, Cox, Felce, Di, and Farahmandfar and Samigorganroodi, the paper examines whether Polonius's famous line "To thine own self be true" constitutes genuine wisdom or satirical commentary on hypocrisy and self-deception. The review contrasts readings that accept the maxim at face value with those that situate Polonius as a scheming, manipulative liar whose counsel reflects the institutionalized duplicity of Shakespeare's era. The paper also considers how Polonius functions in relation to other characters—particularly Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes—and what his fate reveals about Shakespeare's moral framework.
- Introduction: Polonius and His Famous Maxim: Introduces Polonius's role and his famous line
- Polonius as Satirical Portrait of Hypocrisy: Wilson's reading of Polonius as Shakespeare's satirical target
- The Self as a False Moral Compass: Why Polonius's concept of selfhood is philosophically hollow
- Divergent Critical Readings of Polonius's Wisdom: Contrasting scholarly views on Polonius's counsel
- Polonius, Hamlet, and the Pursuit of Truth: Hamlet as truth-seeker versus Polonius the deceiver
- Polonius as Father and Political Schemer: Polonius's controlling behavior toward Ophelia and Laertes
- Conclusion: The Literary Verdict on Polonius: Summary of critical consensus on Polonius's character
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What makes this paper effective
- It synthesizes multiple scholarly voices—Wilson, Landy, Hadfield, Cox, Felce, Di, and Farahmandfar and Samigorganroodi—without losing track of a clear central argument about Polonius's false wisdom.
- It directly quotes both primary text (Shakespeare) and secondary critics, then analyzes those quotations rather than letting them stand alone, demonstrating active engagement with sources.
- It acknowledges a dissenting scholarly view (Farahmandfar and Samigorganroodi) before explaining why the majority critical consensus overrules it, modeling balanced academic argumentation.
- Historical context—the Protestant Reformation and the scheming courtiers of Shakespeare's day—is woven in to support the thematic reading without overwhelming the literary analysis.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates source synthesis in a literature review format: rather than summarizing each critic in isolation, it groups them by interpretive position (those who accept the maxim, those who reject it) and uses each source to build a cumulative argument. The technique of quoting a critic and then immediately applying their point to the broader thesis is consistently executed throughout.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by introducing Polonius and his famous line, then moves through critical perspectives in roughly escalating order of complexity—from the satirical reading of the Act I speech, to the philosophical problem of "the self," to the historical context of Elizabethan lying culture—before concluding with a summary of where the scholarly consensus lands. The conclusion revisits all named critics and ties Polonius's treatment of Ophelia and Laertes back to the central thesis.
Introduction: Polonius and His Famous Maxim
As chief counselor to the king of Denmark, Polonius plays an important and nefarious role in Shakespeare's Hamlet—yet his words are often quoted out of context. It is Polonius, the spying, lying, manipulating old fool of a father and counselor, who delivers one of Shakespeare's most memorable lines: "To thine own self be true!" (Shakespeare 1.3.564). Polonius demonstrates, of course, that it matters little whether one is being true to oneself, because the self is a chameleon that shifts and changes depending on the environment. Polonius adapts his character to the situation, as do Hamlet, Ophelia, Claudius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern (Wilson; Landy). Horatio is one of the few characters who consistently expresses himself from scene to scene; the others attempt to deceive regularly and deceive themselves throughout. Instead of being true to God or to others, Polonius's counsel is essentially advice on how to deceive, even though he masks it in words about how one should best go about being honest (Landy). This literature review provides an assessment of the relevant scholarship pertaining to Polonius's character and so-called "wisdom."
Polonius as Satirical Portrait of Hypocrisy
As Wilson notes, the line Polonius delivers about being "true" is Shakespeare's attempt to eviscerate the maxim- and proverb-spouting, Puritanical virtue signalers of his day: "It is his satire of moral entrepreneurs" (Wilson par. 15). The entire speech of Polonius in Act I, scene 3 is "a bed of contradiction and a satirical portrait of hypocrisy" (Wilson par. 14). The "wise" counselor is ostensibly advising his son, yet he is simultaneously rationalizing duplicity and the duplicitous nature of the self. In fact, the play itself is a condemnation of the idea of a "pure" self—for every character is riddled with inner conflict, a good self at war with a bad self, to put it mildly. Traditionally, this concept has been depicted as a good angel versus a bad angel, one on either shoulder of every individual. Polonius's good angel is rarely visible in the play; he is constantly serving as the king's bad angel, though he has so thoroughly deceived himself that he believes his counsel is sound. His reward is death, and Shakespeare does not dole out punishment lightly—everything carries meaning (Cox).
Works Cited
Cox, Roger L. Between Earth and Heaven: Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, and the Meaning of Christian Tragedy. Holt McDougal, 1969.
Di, Poona Mtrive. "Unraveling Hamlet's Spiritual and Sexual Journeys: An Inter-critical Detour via the Gita and Gandhi." Shakespeare's Asian Journeys. Routledge, 2016. 75–86.
Farahmandfar, Masoud, and Gholamreza Samigorganroodi. "'To Thine Own Self Be True': Existentialism in Hamlet and The Blind Owl." International Journal of Comparative Literature and Translation Studies 3.2 (2015): 25–31.
Felce, Ian. "In Search of Amlóða saga: The Saga of Hamlet the Icelander." Studies in the Transmission and Reception of Old Norse Literature: The Hyperborean Muse in European Culture. Edited by Judy Quinn and Adele Cipolla (2016): 101–22.
Hadfield, Andrew. "Jonson and Shakespeare in an Age of Lying." Ben Jonson Journal 23.1 (2016): 52–74.
Landy, Joshua. "To Thine Own Selves Be True-ish." Shakespeare's Hamlet: Philosophical Perspectives (2017): 154.
Wilson, Jeffrey R. What Shakespeare Says About Sending Our Children Off to College. No. 402071. 2016. https://www.aaup.org/article/what-shakespeare-says-about-sending-our-children-college
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