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"'tis not so above"
Context and Language Videos
Act 3,
Scene 3
Lines 57-66

A discussion of Claudius's description of the difference between Earth and heaven in Act 3, Scene 3 of myShakespeare's Hamlet.

myShakespeare | Hamlet 3.3 “tis not so above”

Claudius

In the corrupted currents of this world, 
Offense's gilded hand may shove by justice,    
And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself
Buys out the law. But 'tis not so above.     
There is no shuffling, there the action lies
In his true nature, and we ourselves compelled,
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
To give in evidence. What then, what rests?     
Try what repentance can. What can it not?
Yet what can it when one cannot repent?    
Video Transcript: 

RALPH: Now Claudius completes his comparison — above, in heaven, it's not like the justice system here in everyday life. There's no getting out of what you've done, and you have to give evidence against yourself.

SARAH: Shakespeare's lines here refer to the fact that in Elizabethan courts, just like in our own, you cannot be compelled to testify against yourself; but, as Claudius remarks, this is certainly not the case in heaven.

RALPH: Claudius's image of the "teeth and forehead of our faults," suggests that, in heaven, we're forced to confront our crimes face to face, as if they were people right in front of us, and we have to look at them so closely that we're right up against their teeth and their foreheads.

SARAH: Unpleasant indeed!