Word: polonius
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...reaction from the involved psychological analyses so commonly foisted upon the original character in recent years, Mr. Evans' interpretation is vigor ous, and comparatively speaking, simple. To the ghost, Hamlet shows a nature capable of passionate hatred; to his uncle, he is actively hostile, not sullen or melancholy; to Polonius, he is flip, humorous; to Ophelia, deeply in love; to his mother, pitiless, scornful. Even when alone, Hamlet the melancholy philosopher is subordinate to Hamlet the emotional youth...
...offering the spectator all the clues, it gives him a far better chance to guess for himself. In the usual acting version, Hamlet confines itself to a single complex character study; uncut, it becomes also a swirling, tumultuous drama of court life and court intrigue. Such characters as Polonius, Fortinbras, the King take on added size. Denmark's dark, uneasy political fortunes constantly impinge upon the action. Some of the problems which have haunted generations of scholars, but scarcely occurred to casual playgoers, suddenly stand out: why, for example, the murdered King's brother...
When he looks at Kenneth Rexroth's formless verse, he will think of Hamlet's replay to Polonius upon being asked what he read: "Words, words, words...
...motto: Hardly do I call these things ours. A frail, handsome, serious child, he was early accustomed to "plots, conspiracies, attempted assassinations, rebellions, mutilations, headings and hangings . . . burnings at the stake." As Queen Elizabeth's Lord Deputy in Ireland and Lord President of Wales, his own father, a Polonius-like stalwart who advised Philip to "pray and wash with regularity," duplicated for the Irish and Welsh the dirty deals his family had received...
...said the tutee, "The King, Claudius, Polonius, and the Queen make four...