Whether or not Polonius is a co-conspirator in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet depends on what you consider a co-conspirator. Indeed, in most adaptations of Shakespeare’s work and in the Bard’s play itself, Polonius is not directly named as a co-conspirator in Hamlet’s father’s assassination. In Act II, Scene II, however, Polonius does in fact conspire with King Claudius to spy on Hamlet and discover if Hamlet’s madness is genuine or feigned. In a key exchange with...
Whether or not Polonius is a co-conspirator in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet depends on what you consider a co-conspirator. Indeed, in most adaptations of Shakespeare’s work and in the Bard’s play itself, Polonius is not directly named as a co-conspirator in Hamlet’s father’s assassination. In Act II, Scene II, however, Polonius does in fact conspire with King Claudius to spy on Hamlet and discover if Hamlet’s madness is genuine or feigned. In a key exchange with Claudius, Polonius admits he will do whatever he can to get to the heart of matters:
“Take this from this, if this be otherwise:
If circumstances lead me, I will find
Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed
Within the centre”
(http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/full.html).
He does eventually spy on Hamlet, which inadvertently leads to his demise. In Act III, Scene IV, Polonius hides behind drapes within Queen Gertrude’s closet. When he is discovered, Hamlet slays Polonius, thinking instead that he may have murdered Claudius. When Queen Gertrude chastises him for murdering Polonius, Hamlet draws the act back to her supposed betrayal of his father:
"A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother,
As kill a king, and marry with his brother" (http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/full.html).
In summation, there is no firm evidence that Polonius has a hand in Hamlet’s father’s murder. However, Polonius does conspire to spy on Hamlet, so in that sense he could be labeled a co-conspirator.
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