"Tis meet that some more audience than a mother, / Since nature makes them partial, should o'erhear / The speech of vantage" (3.3.34-36).
King Claudius is so terrified that he can no longer watch the duration of the play as his guilt for murdering Hamlet's father catches up to him. Polonius, the good friend that he is, decides to snoop on the conversation between Hamlet and his mother because Polonius is such a good subject of his majesty's. Polonius stereotypes Queen Gertrude as being partial to her son because she is his mother, and females have the tendency of being more compassionate. These characteristics lead Polonius to listen in on Hamlet and his mother's conversation. King Claudius allows this behavior to happen, which is kind of devious of him because it demonstrates that King Claudius cannot even trust his own wife to fix this predicament. The reoccurring theme of lacking trust is demonstrated, foreshadowing how Hamlet do not trust anyone and the people around him do not even trust the people around them. This highlights the internal and externals struggles within the tragedy.
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