Hamlet act 2 scene 1 and 2

This act was very short overall. It consisted of only two scenes on which King Claudius and the Queen send people to investigate Hamlet's abnormal behavior recently. Polonius is also in this act and he tells the king that Hamlet's weird behaviour is due to Ophelia's rejection. And in order to prove this he made Ophelia confront Hamlet. Before their encounter, Polonius meets Hamlet to test his madness and after talking to him he confirms Hamlet's insanity. Before Polonius left Hamlet said, "You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I will more willingly part withal: except my life, except my life, except my life.” This shows that Hamlet sees things differently than other people. This is interpreted as madness by the other characters on the play. By saying this words it seems that he is paranoid, and as a reader once again I understand this feeling.

After reading this act I became to somewhat dislike Polonius. This does not mean that I support Hamlet or his actions. Since the beginning Polonius has been somewhat against Hamlet. Even though it is obvious that the queen and the new King were suspicious of murder, Polonius still helped them against Hamlet. Perhaps he is an interested man who has not much to do. Also by concluding that Hamlet's madness was due to Ophelia instead of his father seems very unconsidered.