Polonius

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Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain King Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of the play, Polonius is described by William Hazlitt as a "sincere" father, but also "a busy-body, [who] is accordingly officious, garrulous, and impertinent". In Act II, Prince Hamlet refers to Polonius as a "tedious old fool" and taunts him as a latter day "Jephtha". Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet kills Polonius in a case of mistaken identity, provoking Ophelia's descent into madness, ultimately resulting in her (probable) suicide and the climax of the play: a duel between Laertes and Hamlet.

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