FAMOUS PLAYWRIGHT POET AND OTHERS
HAMLET
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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He seems to lack a soul.
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He isn’t funny.
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He rambles when he speaks.
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He’s a liar.
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Detailed explanation-1: -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-2: -The line itself is actually an example of Shakespeare’s humor, because Polonius tends to have long, rambling speeches to say simple things. By saying brevity is the soul of wit, Polonius is unintentionally admitting that he himself is not witty because he doesn’t know how to be brief.
Detailed explanation-3: -Polonius speaks these lines. He’s talking to the king and Queen, Claudius and Gertrude. (Claudius, who murdered Hamlet’s father, is now the King of Denmark, married to Hamlet’s mother.)
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: -’Brevity’ is the soul of wit’ means that one can say a lot more by using the minimum of language to convey something. In other words, being brief is the essence of intelligence.