The psychological health of Polonius In the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, several characters show signs of possible psychological disorders, such as Prince Hamlet, Ophelia and Polonius. With Polonius, Shakespeare seems to characterize a devious and untrustworthy snake man. Upon further inspection, however, it seems likely that Polonius suffered from one or perhaps more psychological disorders that led him to the extremes of manipulating his daughter, sending someone to spy on his son, and becoming obsessed with Prince Hamlet and his madness. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay While all of the scenes with Polonius serve to develop his character, a few moments illuminate his possible psychological state. While speaking to the mad Hamlet, Polonius mentions "how telling [Hamlet's] answers sometimes are" (II.ii.106-107), indicating that even though Hamlet seems to be rambling into one of his fits of madness, Polonius believes that We are provided with some hidden patterns and signals that will shed light on the true cause of the prince's madness. Schizophrenia can affect people in many different ways, one of which causes someone to believe they are discovering a hidden meaning or pattern that doesn't exist. His obsession with breaking down Hamlet's thoughts and actions makes him appear almost paranoid and almost obsessed due to his suspicions, which suggests that Polonius has some psychological traits very similar to schizophrenia. This personality trait is also shown several times throughout the show. While conversing with Hamlet in the castle, Polonius admits that he believes the prince is "gone, far gone" (II.ii.188), but continues to carefully analyze every single word Hamlet utters, and later decides to hide behind a curtain to spy on Hamlet and his mother. So, whether he intended it or not, Shakespeare imparted to Polonius several traits and behaviors that, especially in modern times, could certainly warrant a psychological evaluation. Another character attribute of Polonius that could contribute to a psychological disorder is his perception of himself. In several scenes, Polonius displays his inflated ego and delusional perception of himself. For example, when the actor originally performs the speech about Pyrrhus and Priam, Polonius interrupts the performance on a few separate occasions with his comments on the play, first complaining about the length, then complimenting the actor on the choice of words, putting showcasing his larger-than-life self. -importance. Another example occurs when Hamlet asks Polonius if he had ever performed in the theater before. Polonius confidently responds that "he was considered a good actor" (III.ii.96-97) for his portrayal of Julius Caesar when he was younger. These two scenes clearly reveal that Polonius is an arrogant and pompous man who may suffer from a delusional perception of himself, which also characterizes those suffering from schizophrenia. Furthermore, while speaking with Claudius and Gertrude, Polonius promises that he will "find where the truth is hidden" (II.ii.155-157), once again displaying his inflated ego. While there is certainly evidence that Polonius has schizophrenic tendencies, many of these cases seem much more typical of a narcissistic personality disorder. However, if Polonius is simply narcissistic, rather than schizophrenic, the narcissistic diagnosis fails to explain Polonius' character flaw: the constant observation and analysis of Prince Hamlet's every action and word which plays a much larger role and leads to his eventual death. Whether Shakespeare intended to portray Polonius as someone suffering from mild schizophrenia, simply a narcissist obsessed with promoting.