Polonius's Advice In Hamlet

Life is all about choices, therefore choices are easily tied to one’s life experiences. All actions have consequences, and sometimes one’s greatest vice is not listening to the whole precipice (meaning, lesson) in the advice (actions) from others. For example, in the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Polonius gives Laertes various pieces of advice before Laertes departs for France. Many of which are applicable to a multitude of characters throughout the play, and the characters who are not present while the advice is given may have benefitted from the messages that Polonius gives in his speech. However, the characters that are present to hear the advice, Polonius and Laertes, have the great advantage over other characters because they have …show more content…
Polonius tells Laertes to stay away from fights, but, if he gets into one, to be confident of his abilities: “Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, bear't that th’ opposed may beware of thee”(1.3.72-73). Laertes ignores the first part of his father’s advice when he jumps into a fight with Hamlet in Ophelia’s grave. He does not think rationally at that point, and his emotions overpower his reason. This action shows his weakness in his ability for self-control. While he is confident in his abilities as a fighter, he takes that too much to heart, acts too confident, and that gets the better of him. In the final scene, while he and Hamlet are fighting, the swords are switched and Laertes is stabbed with his own, poisoned sword. He, like a dumb bird, is easily caught in his own trap: “Why as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric. I am justly killed with mine own treachery”(5.2.336-337). Even though he is aware of his outstanding abilities as a fencing player, he does not acknowledge his weaknesses. His foolhardy actions only become clear to him when it is too late for him to save his own life. By trusting King Claudius and plotting to kill Hamlet, he has led himself to his own