Do not believe his vows; they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,
The better to beguile.
– William Shakespeare
Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3. Using a complex metaphor and personification, Polonius urges his daughter not to take Hamlet’s professions of love seriously, because his words and pledges cannot be trusted. Polonius likens the prince’s vows to brokers acting on his behalf. He says that they may be dressed in good clothes and pretending to be holy. But the reality is that they are pimps (“bawds”), pleading their unholy case (“suits”), in order to deceive and charm Ophelia, Polonius claims. He is telling her that Hamlet just wants her for sex.