A Quote from Hamlet Essay

Polonius is not one of the most reliable of characters within the play, but he did give pretty good advice to his son before leaving to France, which would be "To thine own self be true" meaning, always be true to yourself. I feel it would've done a greater effect on his son if he would've been a better role model and instead of always just speaking and giving advice to others, he should've actually taken his own advice. Polonius says this quote in Act 1 Scene 3 and tries to guide his children with his fatherly wisdom although coming from Polonius its hard to believe that he is advising his children to be true to themselves when he can't even do that.
I feel Shakespeare took advantage of having the family setting to leave the impression of a loving and caring family. Which is something great to included in a play because like how we mentioned today in class, throughout the play it has only been a slow rising action building up for the climactic end. I feel showing the caring and loving, brother a sister relationship between Laertes and Ophelia builds more of a sentiment into the scene in which Laertes finds out his sister is dead. Yet throughout the conversation you get to know a little bit more about the characters and how they feel for each-other, for example how Polonius is trying to tell his children to be careful and what to avoid, but like a said before, it brings Polonius into question about his own character.
I feel that for the most part Laertes does stay true to himself  within the play because even though he was being maneuvered by King Claudius he did it because he thought it was the right thing to do, to avenge his father just like how Hamlet was planning to do, and in the end Laertes did realized his mistakes and decided to no longer kill Hamlet. I feel that to be yourself is a lot harder than what it sounds because it is true that a lot of things intervene and cause you to mess up and start doubting or questioning yourself, so I feel that throughout this play a lot of characters went through that especially Hamlet. This quote served as a reminder because even if things happen in the end, if you remember this quote you will do what you think is best, so what is right to you even if it might not be right to someone else.