Ophelia - Polonius on love

On the same day that Laertes went back to France, Polonius ordered Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet. Approximately two months later, Polonius sends Reynaldo to France to spy on Laertes. Clearly, Reynaldo who has been in Elsinore, could have been used to spy on Ophelia to check if she and Hamlet were meeting secretly. As will become evident, Polonius did not bother employing Reynaldo for that purpose, despite his ready availability. But why not? I think Polonius was sufficiently a man of the world to believe that one cannot keep lovers apart. Lovers will always find a way to meet. So, did he expect Ophelia to abide by his order? No! It would to him, therefore, have been a waste of time to spy on her.

Only minutes after Reynaldo's departure for France, an extremely frightened Ophelia runs to Polonius. She says that, only a few minutes earlier, Hamlet had come to her room. He was dressed in a crazy fashion and acted very strangely. Polonius instantly tries to find a reason for this behavior. He does not know their actual relationship, but assumes Hamlet's disturbing actions has arisen from a lover's passion. Although he had ordered Ophelia not to speak to Hamlet, he seems, nevertheless, to assume they have had amorous meetings.

Polonius: Mad for thy love?
Ophelia: My lord, I do not know,
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Polonius: This is the very ecstasy of love,
Whose violent property fordoes itself
And leads the will to desperate undertakings
As oft as any passion under heaven
That does afflict our natures. I am sorry.

Polonius, in seeking to know the actual cause of Hamlet's mood, asks a question:

What, have you given him any hard words of late?

That is a tremendously revealing question! It tells us, quite clearly, that he believes they have been meeting! 'Of late' even suggests that he thinks there have been frequent recent meetings. And if recent meetings, then why not meetings all the time, that is, over the previous two months? His question also implies that he wonders whether Hamlet's violent mood may have arisen from lovers' tiffs. But it takes time for lovers' tiffs to develop, hence, his question poses the possibility of many meetings.

Ophelia: No, my good lord; but, as you did command,
I did repel his letters and denied his access to me.

This reply must have stunned Polonius! Obviously, he has not spied on Ophelia and Hamlet for he is unaware of them not meeting. He has, simply, assumed they have been meeting. But with no meetings there are can be no arguments and no passion. Ophelia's revelation that they haven't met would have come as a shock. "That hath made him mad!" Polonius says, instantly believing that Hamlet really does love Ophelia and that her rejection of him, and not lovers' quarrels, is the cause of Hamlet's strange behavior.

Polonius: That hath made him mad.
I am sorry that with better heed and judgment
I had not quoted him. I fear'd he did but trifle
And meant to wrack thee; but beshrew my jealousy!

What, too, would surprise Polonius is that Ophelia, by her deliberate rejection of Hamlet and absolute intention never again to meet him, shows that she does not love him. Polonius knows full well that a lover cannot reject the beloved but will, as Hamlet appears to have done, do anything to be with the beloved.

Polonius declares Hamlet's madness was caused by the enforced separation from the person whom he loves. But consider Ophelia: Given that Polonius's view is that enforced separation from one's lover can drive one mad, why did he not show the same concern for Ophelia? That is never contemplated by Polonius! Nor need Polonius be concerned; Ophelia is not upset, nor in tears, nor heartbroken by the termination of her romance with Hamlet. Thus, with no emotional attachment to Hamlet, Ophelia is able to assist Polonius and Claudius in trying to find the cause of Hamlet's malady. If Ophelia had loved Hamlet it would have been heartless to use her. Under the ordeal of Hamlet's lost sanity she would have risked losing hers. As that possibility was never considered by Polonius, Claudius or Gertrude, it can be safely assumed they all realised she did not love Hamlet. At the end of the nunnery scene, Ophelia is not upset emotionally. for the king shows no concern for her, nor does her father, Polonius, when he says:

How now, Ophelia?
You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said.
We heard it all.

Movies present this scene differently. They tend to follow the lead of Olivier's 1948 Hamlet, being Olivierian rather than Shakesperian!

Without a doubt, there are no expressions of love in the nunnery scene. Polonius hears Hamlet's negative comments yet persists in believing that neglected love has maddened Hamlet. Despite this, he gives not a moment's consideration that this same neglected love might have harmed Ophelia or cause her grief, or threatened her sanity. Presumably, then, he believes she doesn't love Hamlet.

Polonius: yet do I believe
The origin and commencement of his grief
Sprung from neglected love.

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