to punish Polonius with him and him with Polonius. He takes the responsibility, and explains Gertrude that he is cruel only to be kind to her and warns that worse things are yet to come. Through out the passage, imageries are used to add poetic emotion to Hamlets thought. One example is unction in Hamlets speech Lay not that flattering unction to your soulIt will but skin and film the ulcerous place whiles rank corruption, mining all within, infects unseen. (III, iv, 145) This is a metaphor; flattering unction on soul designates an excuse for her past faults. Unction is scab that only covers the superficial wounds; inside the body the wounds would not heel but infect the flesh and cause more serious damage. Here, making excuses would be same as putting unction on the ulcerous place on skin. Making excuses would only cover the past faults; it does not correct them but only bring more pain in the future. Hamlet is warning that if Gertrude tries to make an excuse for her past faults, her inner soul would corrupt and suffer more pain later. This metaphor not only conveys Hamlets thought but also adds more emotion to the speech, arousing fear in the audiences mind for many ordinary people do tend to make excuses for their mistakes. There is a similar metaphor in the passage just few lines below; And do not spread the compost on the weeds to make them ranker. (III, iv, 152) The compost designates more faults that Gertrude may commit if she does not repent, and the weeds means the past sins. What Hamlet means in this line is that Gertrude should not commit any more sins because more sins would worsen the past faults. Composts are fertilizers, which in the days of Shakespeare probably made of excrements. Here is a brilliant poetic comparison; compost, which is made of excrements, equals to Gertrudes faults. The audience gets the feeling that her faults are as dirty as excrements. Use of these dictions not only provide these emo...
