In the opening scene of
Act II of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, Polonius wants for Reynaldo to check Laertes’
conduct by analyzing other people’s reactions to made up stories about Laertes’ being a free spirit. He wants to know if he is the same in Paris as he is in
Denmark and the most sincere and objective information he would get from people
agreeing or disagreeing with the made up story.
This instruction in Act
II suggests that Polonius's character is a conniving, distrustful and self-observed.
He is so distrustful of his own son that he is conspiring to do immoral, or
even harmful gossiping just to assure himself that Laertes won’t dishonor his
reputation. His conniving and self-observed nature would bring death upon his
daughter and him himslef.
