Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in
Polonius Behind the Curtain by Jehan Georges Vibert, 1868
Engraving of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, possible inspiration for Polonius, with Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Walsingham (William Faithorne, 1655)