s his own critic, when talking about night, day and time. He concludes, “brevity is the soul of wit.” (II. ii.90) Also, after indulging in another exercise involving the words true and pity, he exclaims, “A foolish figure!” (II. ii. 98)Polonius tries to put on a show of his funniness by delivering a lecture about what he considers philosophical questions such as those about the nature of night, time, day and duty. However, this is all obvious and not worth speaking about to the reader. Polonius’ funny language that emphasizes how profound this subject matter is in his opinion makes this all the more comical. Also the pattern of Polonius’ speech is different than previous ones; it is simple, with shorter lines, and even rhymes by having ended each line with the same words. Nevertheless, the language however suggests that Polonius is an educated man. He is imitating books because to him it’s a sign of wisdom.This speech is very fake. Here, Polonius plays a role. He is humble in his own manner to flatter 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. This tone of speech is opposite to the one in the dialogue with Reynaldo, where Polonius speaks instructively and with authority. Polonius tries to show off his wisdom and uses different language in both of these passages. He still has different masks on depending on the person he is speaking to.Even though Polonius is a comical character, he has a relation to the main themes in the play and helps us gain insight on other characters. “Madam, I swear I use no art at all,” (II.ii 104) says Polonius, which gives the readers a chance to laugh. Therefore, this soliloquy is successful in communicating the emotional state...
