Act 1.10
(Gertrude and Claudius move away from each other, return to the table, and sit at the table in the places they held before)
Claudius:
What do we make of this task we're given. It makes for quite a burden
Gertrude:
What in the name of heaven can we say when he pulls back his dark curtain?
Claudius:
I am not made for a lover's role, but I am brother, son, and subject. I have sworn my loyalty to all, and now that leaves me abject.
Gertrude:
I have sworn to keep love true, but to my husband, I must obey. How can I seek a son with you, and still not go astray?
Claudius:
I do not know how we cannot sin in whatever way we choose. This is no game, but all the same, I fear we cannot but lose.
Gertrude:
What will we lose if we fail the king and, as he says, the nation? What will befall, as he did call, things we can scarce imagine. What if Denmark falls in thrall of old Norway's power? Can we survive, our country thrive, in such a darkest hour?
Claudius:
Can we trade our soul's for this, for in this we will act in sin.
Gertrude:
If we do not, the same will come, if we don't hark to him.
Claudius:
We will sin if we do not obey, and if we do and act, once again we are caught in sin, that is, too, a fact.
Gertrude: We can but go round and round and come thense to no conclusion. There is sin what e'er we do, and it does cause confusion.
Claudius:
Is this request from sanity? He knows this does us harm. He tells us that we must act in love, but his obsession gives alarm. Perhaps he hears the voice of hell, and that's where this comes from. We cannot know, so we must go by way of the least harm. The least of harm will be done to him, and thus to the nation, too. Our harm has come when we are done with our brief caress. I now believe we must come through and act in our distress.
Gertrude:
I have known but the one, the king and never never known another.
Claudius:
For myself, I have held chaste, and not pursued a lover.
Gertrude:
I held fast to my purity, until my wedding night.
Claudius:
I have held to my honesty and avoided love's great might.
Gertrude:
We do not speak of love this night although I've loved you as a brother. We have known each other all my life, but I've never thought us lovers.
Claudius:
Perhaps we can in friendship meet and enact as needs be done.
Gertrude:
With God's good grace, we will achieve the king's most dear, and deeply longed for son.
(They take hands. Light dim and out)