CLAUDIUS      In the corrupted currents of this world

Offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice,

And oft ’tis seen the wicked prize itself

Buys out the law; but ’tis not so above:

There is no shuffling, there the action lies

In his true nature, and we ourselves compelled

Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults

To give in evidence. What then? What rests?

Try what repentance can – what can it not? –

Yet what can it, when one cannot repent?  (3.3.57-66)

Ooof. Claudius is so like his nephew—perhaps even more skilled—in the forensic worrying-away at a problem. He knows he’s stuck; he wants to understand—and for the audience to understand—why and how he’s stuck. In the corrupted currents of this world (a bleak indictment of fin de siècle England, not to say a daring one) offence’s gilded hand may shove by justice. If you have money and power, you’re above the law, you can simply push questions of justice, of illegality, out of the way. Through bribery, inter alia, paying off the judges, the agents of the law. Only the little people do actual ‘crimes’! for the powerful, it’s just a way of life, unremarkable. And, besides, oft ’tis seen the wicked prize itself buys out the law. So many questionable actions performed by the powerful are undertaken to gain more of this power, the power to pay off officials, pay the fines, even, and just keep going. Money and influence, and fear, they trump (ahem) law, regulations, morality, every time.

But ’tis not so above. No. God sees everything, and there’s no escaping His laws, and his wrath. There is no shuffling—of papers, of cards, of feet; no sleight of hand, sharp practice—there the action lies in his true nature, everything that we’ve done is exposed, utterly clear to see (and action here is also the legal term, the outline of the case to be answered), and we ourselves compelled even to the teeth and forehead of our faults to give in evidence. We have to own it, own up to it, confess every aspect of our wrongdoings. We have to front up. (There’s a snarling, desperate quality to teeth and forehead, a cornered animal.)

What then? What rests? What’s to be done, if this is the desperate situation I’m in? Are there any other options? Try what repentance can—what can it not?—I guess I’ll give it a go, because I’ve got nothing to lose, and because we’re told it matters, yes, matters almost more than anything, when seeking forgiveness—yet what can it, when one cannot repent?I’m still stuck, I can’t repent and seek forgiveness, because I’m still in a state of sin, and profiting by it. And I can’t even pray.