Brandwajn 2
Act I, scenes iii, iv.
“For Hamlet and the trifling
of his favor, hold it a fashion
and a toy in blood, a violet in
the youth of primy nature,
forward, not permanent,
sweet, not lasting, the
perfume and suppliance of a
minute; no more” (6-10).
“Give every man thy ear, but
few thy voice; take each
man’s censure, but reserve thy
judgment. Costly thy habit as
thy purse can buy, but not
express’d in fancy; rich, not
gaudy” (69-72).
“Affection! Pooh! You speak
like a green girl, unsifted in
such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his tenders, as
you call them?” (102-104).
This is the first time in the play where
Shakespeare portrays Laertes’
antagonism with Hamlet. In this scene,
Laertes advises Ophelia to be careful in
her relationship with Hamlet.
Shakespeare shows this conversation
between the brothers to foreshadow a
much deeper antagonism later in the
play when Laertes learns of his father’s
assassination.
Before his parting to college in France,
Laertes gets advice from Polonius. His
father tells him to listen more than talk,
to try to understand every man’s
opinion but to withhold his own, and
not to get loans; an exemplary advise
from father to son when the young go
to college.
Polonius, like his son, gives advice to
Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet in a
more aggressive and manipulative way.
He commands Ophelia to wake up
from her naïveté infatuation with
Hamlet. Polonius speaks
disappointingly of Hamlet to sway his
daughter.