LAERTES Do you see this, O God?
CLAUDIUS Laertes, I must commune with your grief
Or you deny me right. Go but apart,
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will,
And they shall hear and judge ’twixt you and me.
If by direct or by collateral hand
They find us touched, we will our kingdom give –
Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours –
To you in satisfaction. But, if not,
Be you content to lend your patience to us
And we shall jointly labour with your soul
To give it due content. (4.5.193-204)
Laertes can’t believe it, he’s shocked, appalled—all the fight gone out of him: do you see this, O God? (And do nothing about it? is perhaps implicit.) This is what Claudius has been waiting for, he has a plan, and he strikes: Laertes, I must commune with your grief or you deny me right. Laertes, we’ve got to talk, I know you’re upset, but you’ve got to allow me this. He’s addressing Laertes directly, by name; he’s giving him something definite to do. (The naming is always important with Claudius.) Go but apart—let’s speak privately—make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, and you can ask anyone, anyone at all, among your supporters, your relations, your friends (oh, there doesn’t seem to be anyone left, does there? never mind, I can fill that gap) to join our conversation; and they shall hear and judge ’twixt you and me. They can assess who’s in the right: look, I’m giving you all the power? (Claudius is not giving Laertes any real power, he’s playing a game.) So, you bring your people—whoever they are—and if by direct or by collateral hand they find us touched—if they ascertain that I had anything at all to do with this series of unfortunate events, either directly or indirectly, I mean, surely you’re not suggesting I had anything to do with your father’s death??—we will our kingdom give—our crown, our life, and all that we call ours—to you in satisfaction. Should you be able to prove it, before your supporters, then, well, you can have everything. (Claudius knows there’s no such proof. And he knows that Laertes is isolated.)
But, if not—the crucial pivot—be you content to lend your patience to us and we shall jointly labour with your soul to give it due content. We team up, we form a united front, united in grief (your patience, your suffering)—and we work together to get you some kind of satisfaction. Yes? So smooth, the illusion of choice, of agency. Claudius, doing what he does best: politics, diplomacy. Dear boy, I understand how you’re feeling—me too!—but let’s see if we can’t work something out together, to our mutual benefit?
