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/lit/ - Literature

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15248547 No.15248547 [Reply] [Original]

Was the line "Brevity is the soul of wit" from Hamlet meant to be ironic?

>> No.15248551

>>15248547
No.

>> No.15248594

YOU DIRTY IRONY FAG

SULLYING ALL YOU TOUCH WITH YOUR FORCED INTRUSION OF IRONY

>> No.15248598

>>15248547

Not exactly. But Polonius is a silly old wind-bag who spouts platitudes. They usually have some truth in them but they don't have much value coming out of his mouth.

In the speech you refer to, for example, he burbles on, saying nothing very much for about ten lines, with that comment in the middle. So the SITUATION is ironic, yes (he says being brief is good but he isn't). But the motto itself has a lot of truth in it.

>> No.15248628

>>15248598
Interesting. A lot of people now use that line at face value, so I think it's worth examining.

>> No.15248647

>>15248547
Adding on to the above, keep in mind that the play opens with questions of appearance. "Something is rotten," "who goes there," and the revelation that the king is in fact corrupt. We are invited to doubt appearances, just as much as we might doubt the integrity of a fruit that smells of rot or a ghost professing to be one's departed father.

Polonius is a character that is all surface. He is a buffoon, bootlicker, lackey, that spouts witticisms despite being at heart inconsequential. To simply accept his phrases as wisdom without question would be to place ourselves in his position and simply ignore the questions that the play raises. We would be watching the play, without realizing how it 'captures the conscience of the king.'

The line becomes ironic if you accept it at face value without question. It becomes valid if you provide yourself the opportunity to check itself for rot. I would say though - Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's longest plays, so it surely is not adhering to brevity.

>> No.15248682

>>15248547
The quote in itself is good for most situations, to be honest.
A problem that gets solved by someone fast might be an indicator of actual intelligence, in my opinion.

>> No.15248714

>>15248547
No. Schopenhauer's rants against people writing longer than they need to is even better than his woman bashing or hatred of noise. Ironically one of the times he drags along too much.

>> No.15248724

>>15248547
Yes, it is actually an early example of meta-irony at play.

>> No.15248951
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15248951

Never read Hamlet, as I don't read scripts meant for the stage, but your post stinks of spiteful person. Here's an image to protect you all.

>> No.15249725

>>15248547
>Brevity is the soul of wit
i agree with it
we all know how potent phrases like "fag", "seethe more", "no u" are in btfoing every argument