Polonius: let’s get Hamlet to talk to his mother, I’ll listen in (3.1.179-187) #InkyCloak #SlowShakespeare

POLONIUS My lord, do as you please,

But if you hold it fit after the play

Let his Queen-mother all alone entreat him

To show his grief. Let her be round with him

And I’ll be placed, so please you, in the ear

Of all their conference. If she find him not,

To England send him or confine him where

Your wisdom best shall think.

CLAUDIUS It shall be so.

Madness in great ones must not unwatched go. (Exeunt.) (3.1.179-187)

The last moment of this extraordinary scene sets up a major plot point to come, as Polonius tries both to help and to retain some agency in events as Claudius’s right-hand man (Ophelia apparently not figuring in his thinking). My lord, do as you please—of course, it’s absolutely up to you—but if you hold it fit after the play let his Queen-mother all alone entreat him to show his grief. Polonius still thinks there’s more to this, whether it’s about Hamlet’s relationship with Ophelia or not, and now he wants to co-opt Gertrude (just as he has Ophelia) into making Hamlet speak more freely about his state of mind. Let her be round with him—tell her to put him on the spot, speak her mind—and I’ll be placed, so please you, in the ear of all their conference. I’ll be listening: surveillance, spying, that’s what Polonius is most confident in, and ideally undertaken by himself, no outsourcing to amateurs like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. If she find him not—if his mother can’t get any more information or insight out of Hamlet—to England send him or confine him where your wisdom best shall think; then you can revert to plan A, send him on that mission to England, get him out of the way. Or lock him up, that’s always an option. Up to you. Your Majesty. It shall be so. Claudius makes this concession, he needs to keep Polonius on side, and what have they got to lose, it won’t delay things much. And, after all, madness in great ones must not unwatched go. Makes sense to keep eyes on Hamlet as much as possible. I think we’re done here.

Exit Polonius, Claudius—and Ophelia—does Polonius finally go to her, put an arm around her, lead her off with some looks of concern, even apology? Or do the two men just leave her alone, collateral damage, to make her own way? A key choice for a production.

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I had not thought about that parallel before: both the women used as pawns to study Hamlet’s madness with Polonius eavesdropping on them. Both scenes drip with misogyny and this just adds another creepy layer on top of that.
It is easier to sympathize with Ophelia whose motivations and position are pretty clear. But as I grow older, I feel equally for Gertrude even though we are not allowed as much insight into her character. One production I saw indicated an abusive King Hamlet and a protective & loving Claudius; the abused wife who is now in a better relationship and is terrified her son is too much like the father.
So many of Shakespeare’s plays around this time put women in horrendously misogynistic situations (Troilus and Cressida is almost unbearable on stage).

Hester Lees-Jeffries says:

8 April 2025 at 19:17

I don’t think I’d thought about it either… I think the parallels between Gertrude and Ophelia are really interesting; they’re both isolated. And YES, it’s an interesting possibility, that Claudius is a better husband than old Hamlet, as he may well be a better king… (I LOVE Troilus, but you’re right, its sexual politics are pretty bleak. I’ve written about it a lot.)

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Polonius: let’s get Hamlet to talk to his mother, I’ll listen in (3.1.179-187) #InkyCloak #SlowShakespeare

View 2 comments on “Polonius: let’s get Hamlet to talk to his mother, I’ll listen in (3.1.179-187) #InkyCloak #SlowShakespeare”

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