Quote Analysis

Polonius stakes his credibility on his theory that Hamlet's madness is caused by rejected love, gesturing to his head and shoulder as he speaks.

The deictic 'this' repeated three times without clear referents creates confusion—does he mean his head, his office, his life? The vagueness undermines the confidence of his claim, making his pledge feel hollow even as he insists on it.

Support a thesis that Polonius is more invested in being right than in understanding Hamlet—his language here prioritizes his own reputation over the truth, setting up his later failure to see through Hamlet's act.