How does the King manipulate Laertes in Act Four, Scene Seven?

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How does the King manipulate Laertes in Act Four, Scene Seven?

The beginning of this scene is clearly a continuation of the conversation between the King and Laertes in IV.5. From the first line it is clear that the King is willing to do anything possible to ingratiate himself with the young man, abandoning the royal "we" seen so often during the play in favour of "my", which immediately narrows the social gap between the two men and enabling Laertes to see the King as an equal, which is then strengthened by the positioning of "my after "your", referring to Laertes, and therefore displaying humility and supposed high regard for him. The King continues to beg sympathy from Laertes by asking for his friendship, and complimenting Laertes' "knowing ear" and intelligence before describing Polonius as "noble". He continues to attempt to humanise himself by describing his seemingly selfless love for the Queen as "conjunctive to my life and soul", an astronomical term giving him heroic status and leading in smoothly to the comparison between stars in orbit and his love for the Queen. In line 22, the King once again downplays his power by describing his attempts to unseat