Enter CLAUDIUS and LAERTES.
CLAUDIUS Now must your conscience my acquittance seal
And you must put me in your heart for friend
Sith you have heard and with a knowing ear
That he which hath your noble father slain
Pursued my life.
LAERTES It well appears. But tell me
Why you proceed not against these feats
So criminal and so capital in nature
As by your safety, greatness, wisdom, all things else,
You mainly were stirred up. (4.7.1-9)
It’s another tease; it might be thought that the next scene would begin with Hamlet himself, and Horatio arriving to see him, but no, it’s back to Claudius and Laertes, the former consolidating his position. He’s been ‘explaining’ everything to Laertes, and now it’s up to Laertes to concede that Claudius is blameless in Polonius’s death and that they are in fact on the same side: now must your conscience my acquittance seal—you know now in your heart of hearts that I’m not guilty, says Claudius—and, moreover, you must put me in your heart for friend—we’re allies, joined together by our common cause, and our shared experiences. Friends! Family, even! Then the crucial bit: sith you have heard and with a knowing ear that he which hath your noble father slain pursued my life. As is so often the case, Claudius doesn’t name Hamlet, and what he’s saying is in fact sort of true, Hamlet did think that he might have stabbed Claudius, rather than Polonius—but it was pretty much unpremeditated, so pursued my life is stretching the truth considerably. Hamlet meant to kill me when he killed your dad! It well appears, admits Laertes, he’s mostly convinced by this. But he still has some questions, perhaps even doubts: but tell me why you proceed not against these feats so criminal and capital in nature—why didn’t you take action then, if it was so clearly an attempt on your life, a criminal act, treason, murder! Why didn’t you go after Hamlet with the full force of the law? (You are the actual king!) Why didn’t you act as by your safety, greatness, wisdom, all things else, you mainly were stirred up? Surely it would have been the logical thing to do, in terms of security, your high status, your political savvy? Everything, surely, was telling you to act, to pursue and punish Hamlet?
