Question

Polonius is so certain that he is correct about the source of Hamlets insanity that he points to his head and shoulders and says, Take this from this, if this is otherwise, meaning he should be killed if hes wrong. Given that we know the truth about Hamlet and given that this is a famous tragedy, what do you suppose is going to happen to Polonius by the end of this play?

Answer 1

At this point, we know that even though Polonius is completely sure of knowing the cause of Hamlet's insanity, he is actually wrong. However, he has asked to be killed if he is. Although he only meant this as an expression, it is in fact an act intended to foreshadow what is going to happen later in the story. Therefore, it is very likely that Polonius will in fact be killed. Moreover, we know that the play is a tragedy, and tragedies usually result in the death of the most important characters.