RALPH: Polonius attempts to say goodbye, using a common expression: to take leave of someone. But once again Hamlet deliberately misinterprets him, pretending that Polonius is saying that he will actually take something from Hamlet.

SARAH: And once again, beneath Hamlet's misinterpretation, there is an insult: Hamlet's response means that there is nothing he'd more willingly give up, or be parted from, than Polonius's company.

RALPH: But then Hamlet becomes serious once again, and even despondent — he adds that, in his dejected state, there is one thing he would more willingly part with — and that's his own life.

SARAH: The repetition in this line — "except my life" repeated three times — is an echo of the earlier repetition "words, words, words." These repetitions are both a response to, and a mockery of, Polonius's own repetitive and verbose language, which we got a taste of when he was giving Laertes his farewell advice in Act I, scene 3.

RALPH: And finally, Shakespeare gives us some solid evidence that, at least at this moment, Hamlet is not at all crazy, but quite clear-headed — after Polonius exits, Hamlet says under his breath, "These tedious old fools!" He's indicating his true feelings about Polonius, but also correctly understanding that Polonius was not acting alone in this conversation, he's working for the King and Queen.