POLONIUS

councillor to the king and the father of Ophelia and Laertes in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. Polonius' meddlesome and garrulous nature eventually bring about his death. He is especially known for his classic advice to Laertes ("Neither a borrower nor a lender be"). Polonius is wrong in all his judgments, one after another, and this leads the audience to reject his political and human values. In all circumstances he seems slightly ridiculous-a foil for Claudius as he is for Hamlet. His astuteness suffers by comparison with that of the king. His philosophical view of life is hollow compared with Hamlet's. Hamlet has as many general maxims as Polonius; but his seem to be the product of a far more refined sensibility and of an ability to respond genuinely to experience.