Comparing Polonius In Mel Gibson's Hamlet And David Tennius

Hamlet is a play by Shakespeare that tells a story of desired revenge. King Hamlet dies and Hamlet comes home to find his mother interested in someone else and King Hamlet comes back as a ghost. One of the minor characters but has an important role is Polonius, an old wise counselor of the king. He is also the father of Ophelia and as most fathers he is loving and loves his daughter. Two film versions of the play that seem to display Polonius quite differently are Hamlet by Mel Gibson and David Tennant. Polonius is portrayed different in three areas of the films, his ability to listen, ability to focus, and his compassion. In the Mel Gibson version, Polonius possesses the ability to listen though we see this in many characters the main one is towards Ophelia. Polonius takes time to let her talk as he listens. Although, in the David Tennant film, he tends to focus more on what he has to say other than simply listening. One instance in which Polonius talks about giving advice to others but he is not taking for himself is when he says, “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow as the night the day, Though canst not then be false to any man.” He learns that listening to others can

Potentially, focusing on things to come other than what is happening currently in his life. On the other hand, in the Mel Gibson film he seems to be wholly focused and not distracted. Especially in his conversations with Ophelia, he tends to be more focused on what she has to say along with listening very well. In an article by Michael Sacks, he goes along with this concept that Polonius is very scatterbrained and babbles. “Though he attempts to convey an image of shrewdness, Polonius often comes across as a bumbling old fool.”(Sacks, Michael). Therefore, David Tennant portrays Polonius as if he’s concerned about something and just likes to hear himself