Anna Christine

Tenderness in Hamlet: the Problem with Polonius

            The use of the word “tender” in the short dialogue between Polonius and Ophelia in lines 98-108 reveals the nature of their relationship with each other, calls into question the motives of Hamlet, and highlights Polonius’ selfishness as a father.  Polonius’ excess of wordplay at the almost-expense of his daughter’s feelings is almost more cruel when compared with the meaning of tender as an way of showing love.

            Ophelia introduces the word by saying “He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders/ Of his affection to me.” (I.iii.98-99) By saying “tenders,” Ophelia means, according to the OED, “an offer of anything for acceptance” (OED, 2nd ed., s. v., “tender,” 2). Since “tender” also can be defined as an adjective meaning “kind, loving, gentle, mild, affectionate,” Ophelia is almost accidentally revealing her warmth for Hamlet through her words, for although she is literally saying, “Hamlet’s given offers of love to me lately,” by using the word tender she introduces a feeling of tenderness in Hamlet’s gifts to her, a connotation that Polonius may find alarming, as indeed, he repeats the word several times as if to emphasize it and then embarks on an elaborate wordplay (OED, 2nd ed., s.v., “tender,” 8a).

            Polonius perhaps senses her warm reception of Hamlet’s affections and is understandably concerned by the potentiality of her broken heart and lost chastity; “tender” can mean “scrupulous, cautious, circumspect, reluctant, loth,” several characteristics that Polonius certainly possesses (OED, 2nd ed., s.v., “tender,” 9b). Instead of soothing her, however, he disparages how easily she was taken in, dismissing Hamlet’s affection for her in a fashion that is far from fatherly tenderness. He says, “Think yourself a baby/ That you have ta’en these tenders for true pay/ Which are not sterling” (I.iii.104-106). Polonius reuses her word tender in a similar sense, but he could be using a more specific, lawlike definition of the word as “an offer of money, or the like, in discharge of a debt or liability,” the monetary connotations tying into his image of Hamlet’s tenders being counterfeit coins (OED, 2nd ed., s.v., “tender,” 1b). His next sentence begins with the word “tender” used as a verb and a command; “Tender yourself more dearly;” and though the OED defines tender the verb as both the action of becoming kinder, softer, and as “to offer, proffer,” The editorial notes of our edition Hamlet recommend “hold in regard” as a likely substitution (OED, 2nd ed., s.v., “tender,” 2).  The monetary aspect of tender used in his previous sentence does lend the word echoes of worth and value. His last use of the word “tender” is in line 108 where he says, “you’ll tender me a fool,” this time using the verb tender in an offering sense, as in the OED definition, but his word can also be a pun, for someone who is a fool could be called “tender-witted” or maybe “tender-brained” (I.iii. 108). In the whole of the sentence, Polonius is warning against Ophelia taking Hamlet’s affections too seriously, not actually for her own sake, but because her gullibility makes him look like a fool.

            Polonius’ self-serving logic is also reflected by the way he uses words. Instead of soothing his daughter and gently suggesting that Hamlet may not love her, he embarks on a short speech in which he is too carried away by his own play on the word “tender” to offer Ophelia any comfort; ironically, the most well-known definition of tender as “kind, loving, gentle, mild, affectionate” does not apply to Polonius’ treatment to his daughter (OED, 2nd ed., s.v., “tender,” 8a).