Act 2
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Enter POLONIUS with his man
REYNALDO
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POLONIUS enters with his servant
REYNALDO.
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POLONIUS Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo.
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POLONIUS Give him this money and these letters, Reynaldo.
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REYNALDO I will, my lord.
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REYNALDO I will, sir.
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POLONIUS You shall do marvelous wisely, good Reynaldo,
Before you visit him, to make inquire
5Of his behavior.
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POLONIUS It would be wonderfully wise of you, my dear Reynaldo, to ask
around about his behavior a little before you visit him.
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REYNALDO My lord, I did
intend it.
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REYNALDO That’s what I thought too, sir.
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POLONIUS Marry, well said, very well said. Look you, sir,
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris,
And how, and who, what means, and where they keep
What company at what expense; and finding
10By this encompassment and drift of question
That they do know my son, come you more nearer
Than your particular demands will touch it.
Take you, as ’twere, some distant knowledge of him,
As thus: “I know his father and his friends,
15And, in part, him.” Do you mark this, Reynaldo?
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POLONIUS Excellent, very good. Ask around and find out what Danish people
are in Paris—who they are, where they live and how much
money they have, who their friends are. And if you find out in this
general sort of questioning that they happen to know my son,
you’ll find out much more than if you asked specific
questions about him. Just tell them you vaguely know Laertes, say
something like, “I’m a friend of his father
and I sort of know him,” or whatever. Do you get what
I’m saying, Reynaldo?
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REYNALDO Ay, very well, my lord.
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REYNALDO Yes, very well, sir.
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POLONIUS “And in part him, but,” you may say,
“not well.
But, if ’t be he I mean, he’s very wild.
Addicted so and so.—” And there put on him
20What forgeries you please. Marry, none so rank
As may dishonor him. Take heed of that.
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips
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POLONIUS You should say, “I sort of know him, but not well. Is
it the same Laertes who’s a wild party animal?
Isn’t he the one who’s always,” and
so on. Then just make up whatever you want—of course,
nothing so bad that it would shame him. I mean make up any stories
that
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More Help
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Character List
CHARACTERS -
Hamlet: Character Analysis
CHARACTERS -
Plot Analysis
MAIN IDEAS -
Is Hamlet really mad?
MAIN IDEAS -
Quotes by Theme
QUOTES -
Themes
MAIN IDEAS -
Review Quiz
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