O, That Polonius!

Have you ever came across something where you thought, why didn't they teach us that in school? Well, I have. Just yesterday in fact, as I read an article about the bunk that is, be yourself, as though that's all there is to life. No need to grow, no reason to improve ourselves; that would involve judgment about better or worse, right and wrong, and we can't have that, can we? 

With all the Shakespeare they made us read in high school, one simple little fact did not get shown. And it makes quite a difference in interpretation.

Polonius is a character in Hamlet. He's most widely remembered as the man who advised, 'To thine own self be true'. How often have we heard that (or similar) in today's world? "You've got be true to yourself." Uh-uh. 

Well, here's this: Polonius was a conniving imbecile. Virtually every judgment he makes in Hamlet is wrong. He's also a spy who routinely tries to pull everyone else's strings. The Shakespeare critic William Hazlitt calls him 'an impertinent busybody' only looking out for numero uno. Hamlet refers to Polonius as 'a tedious old fool'. He died while spying on Hamlet, seeking some advantage. Why should we take his advice on anything? Why would we want to?

So remember anytime you think, to mine own self be true, I've got to be true to myself, you're acting on the encouragement a pompous windbag who cares only for himself. Is that really how you want to be seen?