Read the words of king claudius in act iv of hamlet. come, gertrude, we’ll call up our wisest friends; and let them know both what we mean to do, and what’s untimely done: so, haply, slander, whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter, as level as the cannon to his blank transports his poison’d shot, may miss our name, and hit the woundless air. o! come away; how do his words reflect politics in shakespeare’s day? royal leaders were respectful to ordinary people. royal leaders were concerned with their public image. common people were showing opposition to the queen. common people were afraid to speak out against leaders.