The humor of Polonius

I was watching Laurence Olivier’s film version of Hamlet yesterday, and began to reflect on how funny some of Polonius’s lines are. He’s a blowhard, who rarely seems to have any idea what’s going on. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Polonius, with my brief commentary…

“What is the matter, my lord?”

My liege, and madam, to expostulate
What majesty should be, what duty is,
Why day is day, night is night, and time is time.
Were nothing but to…