Polonius in Shakespeares Hamlet and John Updikes Gertrude and Claudiu

Polonius in Shakespeare's Hamlet and John Updike's Gertrude and Claudius In every royal court throughout history, there has been the man who knows everything about everyone, and generally has the ear of the king; Shakespeare’s court of Denmark is no exception. Polonius, adviser and Lord Chamberlain to King Hamlet and Claudius, seems to know every intrigue, every alliance made in the interwoven royal court. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Polonius is firmly seated at the King’s right hand and he will go to any lengths to facilitate the union of young Hamlet and Ophelia. Similarly, in John Updike’s prequel Gertrude and Claudius, Polonius acts as the liaison between Claudius and Gertrude, even going so far as to permit adultery to take place and knowingly to allow the royal bed of Denmark to be besmirched by incest. Throughout both the novel by Updike and the play by Shakespeare, Polonius’ interests are obviously his own, but at certain times in Gertrude and Claudius, he does indeed serve others. Polonius represents a parado x of ideals: on the surface, the loyal, if somewhat senile, counselor to the King; below this servile exterior, however, lurks the mind of a schemer unable to achieve the throne itself and, therefore, determined to undermine and to manipulate it in order to retain his own power. Although sometimes his machinations do not go as undetected as he may have planned Polonius achieves these goals of power through his interactions with several of the characters in Hamlet and Gertrude and Claudius. Shakespeare does not expound greatly on the personalities of his characters; rather he lets them do it for themselves. Through Polonius’s actions and words towards Gertrude in the play, it seems that he is much mor... ...th King Claudius do eventually bring about his downfall, and he has only himself to blame for this. In his insistence that he be involved with everyone’s affairs and due to his faith that â€Å"human affairs could all be managed, manipulated with cogs and ratchets like millwheels and clocks, by a clever enough puppeteer,† Polonius is caught in his own trap (189). For a while he is able enough to run the puppet show; but as the intrigues in Claudius’ court increase, he continues to get farther out of his depth, out of his realm of experience. He never considers having to deal with Hamlet’s madness, his obsession to either sanctify or to condemn his mother. He never concerns himself with the possibility of an accident or changing loyalties. When the puppeteer becomes the puppet unbeknownst to himself a swift reckoning is exacted, caused only by Polonius’ own manipulations.