Perhaps he loves you now, And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch The virtue of his will, but you must fear, His greatness weigh’d, his will is not his own, [For he himself is subject to his birth]: He may not, as unvalued persons do, Carve for himself, for on his choice depends The safety and health of this whole state, And therefore must his choice be circumscrib’d Unto the voice and yielding of that body Whereof he is the head.
i do think it's interesting that it's laertes and not his scheming father who brings this up. obviously, polonious is a fool. polonious' warnings are about ophelia being trapped by her station (Woman), because he's focused on how she can move Up, advantageous marriages and such, though not, seemingly, to hamlet. but laertes is very kind here; maybe he does love you, but he may not be able to marry you. idk, maybe i've got my brain rotted from reading hamlet too many times, but i register concern that is about Ophelia getting used and getting her heart broken, as well as concern for Hamlet, or at least sympathy for his position. obviously, whatever laertes is to hamlet, he'd know All About hamlet's position, the limits of it on his own person.
he is, in fact, about to go and do the exact same thing in france himself. "filander" or enjoy himself, but not marry. ophelia sees this as hypocrisy, and perhaps it is, but its just...a brother looking out for his sister. :( i love them so much.
