Act 1 Scene 3

Act 1: Polonius

In this scene, Laertes is about to leave for Paris when he shares a few words of advice with his sister, Ophelia. Polonius enters and sends his son off with some fatherly advice of his own and continues the conversation Laertes was having with Ophelia about Hamlet.

Polonius: If it be so (as so 'tis put on me,
And that in a way of caution), I must tell you
You do not understand yourself so clearly
As it behooves my daughter and your honor.
What is between you? Give me up the truth.

Ophelia: He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders
Of his affection to me

Polonius: Affection, puh! You speak like a green girl.
Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his "tenders," as you call them?

Ophelia: I do not know, my lord, what I should think.

Polonius: Marry, I will teach you. Think yourself a baby
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly,
Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus) you'll tender me a fool (1.3.18)

Polonius has just heard that Ophelia has been spending a lot of time with Hamlet lately. He takes this as a warning that his daughter is not behaving herself as well as he expects her to, by making herself available to Hamlet. Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet has been offering affection, but Polonius scoffs at this remark claiming "you speak like a green girl", naive and "unsifted" to the ways of the world. Here Polonius appears as an overbearing father but his motive is unclear. He could just be trying to protect his daughter, but it seems he is only trying to protect his image from his daughter's embarrassment. Ultimately he tells his daughter she is foolish for believing Hamlet's "tenders" are real and bans her from seeing him.