Act 2 Scene 1

Question 1

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth. / By indirections find directions out

Answer 1

Speaker: Polonius speaking to Reynaldo, his spy.
Context: Polonius is asking his spy, Reynaldo, to go to France to spy on his son Laertes. He says in order to find out the truth about what Laertes has been doing, to tell little white lies, in order to see people’s reaction to them.
Importance:
This is important because it relates to Hamlet who is trying to fool everyone into thinking he is crazy (a lie) in order to find out the truth.
Evidence of the theme that nothing is as it seems in Denmark.

Question 2

By heaven it is as proper to our age to cast beyond ourselves in our opinions as it is common for the younger sort to lack discretion.

Answer 2

Speaker: Polonius speaking to Ophelia.
Context: Polonius now believes that Hamlet is in love with his daughter, Ophelia, therefore he is apologizing for initially misreading the situation, and forbidding her from seeing him. Polonius is saying to justify himself that older people overthink, while younger people tend to underthink.
Importance:
This statement is untrue in Denmark since Hamlet (a younger person) overthinks to the point he stalls his revenge and Claudius (an older person) underthinks, acts arrogant, is irresponsible, etc.
Nothing is as it should be in the state of Denmark