tward flourishes, I will be brief. Your noble son is mad."This speech is a wonderful relief from the tension and tragic seriousness. Here it is evident that Polonius is the clown of the play. His use of parallelisms, metaphors, play on words - all delivered in the supreme confidence in his own ability - result in a caricature of a zany. Most amusing is that Polonius is his own critic, as when, after a bombastic sentence about night, day, and time, he concludes, "brevity is the soul of wit." (II. ii. 90) Also, after indulging in another such exercise involving the words true and pity, he exclaims, "A foolish figure!" (II. ii. 98) Polonius tries to put on a show of his wit by delivering a tirade addressing what he considers philosophical questions such as those about the nature of night, time, day, and duty. However, this all is obvious and not worth speaking about to the reader; Polonius's rhetoric and flowery language that emphasize how profound this subject-matter is in his opinion make this all the more comical. Also the rhythm of Polonius's speech is different from the rhythm before it: it is simple, with shorter lines, and even a sort of rhyme achieved by ending lines with the same words. This rhythm makes the speech seem even shallower and more superficial, contrasting to Polonius's intend. Nevertheless, the language, however stupid, suggests that Polonius is an educated man. He is parroting books because to him pompous language is a sign of wisdom.This speech is very artificial. Here, Polonius plays a role - he is humble in his mannerisms and flattery to the King and Queen. Polonius starts his soliloquy with "My liege, and madam, to expostulate/ what majesty should be, what duty is€" (II.ii. 92-93) He is concerned about appearing as wise as possible, at the same time playing it up to the royal couple. His mannerisms are almost self-degrading. This tone is opposite to the one in the dialogue with Reynaldo, where Polonius spea...
