Why does Polonius want Reynaldo to spread rumors about Laertes?

So Polonius, gossiping is wrong unless you are the one who starts it, right? Let’s take a further look.
In this line, Polonius instructs Reynaldo to see with his own eyes what Laertes is up to at school and to be wary of gossip. Ironically, Polonius has just told Reynaldo to spread rumors of Laertes’ faults in order to extract information about him from other people. I am no therapist, but this sounds like unhealthy mistrust between father and son. Looking through a post-colonialist lens, we can relate the relationship between Polonius and Laertes to the relationship between colony and colonizer. If Polonius is the colonizer, we can see how he wants ultimate control over his colony (Laertes). The lack of trust and need for one to have power over another, displays tension between these two characters similar to the tensions between colonizers and the colonized. Like a colony, Laertes is distanced from his Polonius. However, this is only a falsified sense of freedom because Polonius is sending Reynaldo as a spy. Everything Laertes does is a reflection of his father as well. Similarly, American and British history reflects these ideas. Although quite far away, America was not given a full sense of freedom because it was checked up on by British officials. When America began to fight for their independence, the reputation of Great Britain was damaged because they had lost control of their own colony.

Now Shakespeare has a reputation for creating lovesick characters. At the beginning of “Romeo and Juliet,” Romeo is found sighing dramatically to convey the absence of a lover named Rosaline. In this scene, we here about Hamlet sighing in a similar, exaggerated manner to Ophelia. By knowing Shakespeare, and recognizing Hamlet’s “anguished lover” wardrobe, it is clear that Ophelia’s break-up with Hamlet on top of his father’s death, mother’s remarriage, and father’s ghost appearance, only made his mental state more unstable. Therefore, it would not be surprising if at this point Hamlet actually began to go insane. One thing that surprised me, however, was at the end of the scene when Polonius says, “By heaven, it is as proper to our age/ To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions/ As it is common for the younger sort/ To lack discretion.” I would not have expected Polonius to say something like this because he is admitting that he was possibly wrong not letting Hamlet see Ophelia and telling Ophelia to send back all of Hamlet’s letters. As a father so quick to share his opinion, spy on his son, and judge his daughter’s love, I would not have expected him to acknowledge a fault as definitive as not knowing as much as he thinks he does.

Detailed answer:

In Act 1 Scene 2 of Hamlet, Polonius sends his servat, Reynaldo, to Paris to keep an eye on his son, Laertes. In a dialogue with a servant, the petty, vain, selfish nature of Polonius is revealed, as he does not even trust his own son. Polonius urges Reynaldo to lie about Laertes. He wants Reynaldo to spread bad rumors about Laertes, but to make sure he is saying it in a way he “can gather information and in a way that it doesn’t seem so bad, nothing to do with sexual activity just to see what he has been doing”. He instructs Reynaldo, “Your draw of lie takes this carp of truth; And subsequently do we of astuteness and reach, With windlasses and with examines of inclination, By indirections discover headings out.”

Polonius is very controlling father so he plans this manipulation in hopes to find out what Laertes is actually doing while in Paris.

Polonius, in Hamlet, sends Reynaldo to France as his undercover agent to spy on his son. He pays him as his servant, giving him the orders that he won’t be able to disobey. Polonius wants to control his son even from another country. Besides, he wishes to cast a light upon all the dirty secrets. Polonius asks to dent Laertes’s reputation using any sort of lies. And that’s just one side of the story.

Detailed answer:

At the beginning of act II, Polonius sends Reynaldo to spread rumors about his son, Laertes. He has hardly ever done anything immoral in his life, but it doesn’t matter for the father. Under the pretext of delivering money, Polonius calls for Reynaldo and orders him spy on Laertes. On the one hand, the father does not trust his son and wants to examine if he is prone to misbehave. On the other, he is eager to give him a good lesson. Teaching Laertes to survive harmful rumors about him can be a motivation for espionage. Although he suspects something shady at first, Reynaldo had to obey the order. The man is the loyal servant of the lord and believes in his good intentions.

This act of his shows Polonius as a mean-spirited deceptive man. He notices in his son the traits that he personally owns. He is ready to cringe before Claudius and show his loyalty even through espionage that he organizes for his son. Yet, Polonius tries hard to be a good parent. He sincerely believes that he is acting like this to teach his son to be better. Like most characters devised by Shakespeare, Polonius is open to interpretations, as some scholars state. At the same time, he is wise and fool, sensible and callous.

Looking for an inspiring idea for a paper on Hamlet? Take a look at our Hamlet Essay Topics & Thesis Ideas to find the perfect one!

Reference

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In ACT II Scene 1 of Hamlet Polonius is instructing Reynaldo to go to France and spread rumors and lies about his son Laertes. Why? This does not make any sense.

Reynaldo wonders the same thing:

Rey. But, my good lord—
Pol. Wherefore should you do this?
Rey. Ay, my lord,
I would know that.

Polonius pretty much answers that he hopes the person to whom Reynaldo is speaking will, on hearing the lie, pipe up with some truth about Laertes’s dirty deeds. Polonius seems pretty sure that his son is doing dishonorable things in Paris, and hopes that Reynaldo, by starting with some false gossip, will get some true gossip, and spread it along to Polonius.

[Pol.] See you now, Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth, And thus do me wisdom and of reach [understanding], With windlasses [roundabout methods] and with assays of bias [indirect attempts],

By indirections find directions [the way things are going] out…

It took me a bit to figure it out too.

*Originally posted by Muad’Dib *
**In ACT II Scene 1 of Hamlet Polonius is instructing Reynaldo to go to France and spread rumors and lies about his son Laertes. Why? This does not make any sense. **

As I read it (or heard it), Polonius is trying to advise Reynaldo on the best ways to draw out an honest answer about Laertes’ behavior in France. His reasoning seems to be that if Reynaldo hints that he already knows something questionable about Laertes, whoever he is speaking to is more likely to share whatever they know in the same vein, however reluctant they might otherwise have been. It’s basically a way for Reynaldo to grease the wheels of the conversation, so to speak.

Of course, Polonius’ plan would backfire abominably, as it would end in giving Laertes a bad reputation whether he had one in the first place or not… but perhaps Polonius has reason to believe that he already has one.

Then again, perhaps Polonius is a “foolish, prating knave” after all, and really didn’t have a clue what he was doing. shrug

And thus do me wisdom

That should be “And thus do we of wisdom…”

*Originally posted by Loopus *
**

That should be “And thus do we of wisdom…” **

The irony being that you can screw up the grammar in Shakespeare and many people (including me, I must admit) wouldn’t notice.

Ahh, that seems to make sense. I only wish that it was more explicitly stated in the text. I still find Shakespeare an absolute pleasure to read.

When I am grasping it, of course.

One might wonder why Shakespeare put this scene into the play. It has no relevance to the rest of the play - who cares what Laertes is doing off stage. The only possible use of the scene is to allow Kenneth Branagh to wedge in a Gerard Depardieu cameo somewhere. If only Shakespeare had hired a better editor…