How did he end up dead? Don't mess with me. To hell
with my vows of allegiance to you! Vows can go to hell! Conscience,
too! I don't care if I'm damned. I
don't care what happens to me in this world or the next.
Whatever happens, happens, but I'll get revenge for my
father's murder.
CLAUDIUS
Who shall stay you?
CLAUDIUS
Who's stopping you?
LAERTES
My will, not all the world.
And for my means, I'll husband them so well,
They shall go far with little.
LAERTES
Only my free will—nothing else. What little means I
have, I'll use against you.
CLAUDIUS
Good Laertes,
115
If you desire to know the certainty
Of your dear father's death, is 't writ in
your revenge,
That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe,
Winner and loser?
CLAUDIUS
My dear Laertes, in your eagerness to know the truth about your
father's death, are you determined to hurt your
father's friends and enemies alike?
LAERTES
None but his enemies.
LAERTES
No, only his enemies.
CLAUDIUS
120
Will you know them then?
CLAUDIUS
Do you want to know who they are, then?
LAERTES
To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms
And, like the kind life-rendering pelican,
Repast them with my blood.
LAERTES
I'll open my arms wide to his true friends, and like a
mother pelican
with her brood, I'll even give my life for
them.
CLAUDIUS
Why, now you speak
Like a good child and a true gentleman.
125
That I am guiltless of your father's death
And am most sensible in grief for it,
It shall as level to your judgment pierce
As day does to your eye.
CLAUDIUS
Why, now you're talking like a good son and a true
gentleman. I'll prove to you as clearly as daylight that
I'm innocent of your father's death, and am
struck with grief over it.
