ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Polonius says it in act 2, scene 2. Simply put, brevity is the soul of wit means that clever people can express intelligent things using very few words. The line itself is actually an example of Shakespeare’s humor, because Polonius tends to have long, rambling speeches to say simple things.

Detailed explanation-2: -Polonius is the character of the play Hamlet whose words and speeches cannot be called short. He is almost always verbose and overly detailed, repeating his words. Consequently, his phrase “brevity is the soul of wit” contradicts his actions.

Detailed explanation-3: -This proverb is the based on the words of Polonius I “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare. ‘Brevity is the soul of wit’ is the phrase of the multiplicity of meanings. In the first sense, it means that a good piece of writing or a good speech should be brief and concise.

Detailed explanation-4: -The irony all belongs to Polonius; he is there to trap Hamlet and finds himself trapped instead. He has said he will silence himself, and he is indeed silenced. There is both simple irony and dramatic irony. The Ghost’s invisibility to Gertrude raises the question of Hamlet’s sanity.

Detailed explanation-5: -In Shakespeare’s day, the word “wits” sometimes referred to the five external senses (hearing, sight, touch, feel, smell), and that’s how Mercutio’s using it when he tells Romeo not to judge him by what Romeo heard him literally say.