Hamlet

1.4. N O T E S 159

testant theologians that ghosts must be either angels, or
devils; he gives no hint of Purgatory. Cf. Introd. p. Hi.

43.* in such a questionable shape =in at any rate a
form 1 can talk to.

53. Revisits (£>2, F i , Q i ) Most edd. read
'revisit'st,' but Sh. commonly omitted 't' of 2nd pers.
sing, when it would be ugly or difficult to pronounce.
Cf. 1. 5. 84, and MSH. p. 291.

54. fools of nature — nature's dupes, i.e. the realm of
natural phenomena is an illusion, as we realise when
faced by the supernatural.

68. waves me forth Sh. is thinking in terms of the
theatre. The 'platform' is out of doors in Elsinore, but
at the Globe the Ghost stands by one of the stage exits
and 'waves forth.' Cf. 1. 1. head-note and notes 3. 2.
378; 3. 4. 49-51 below.

73.* deprive.. .reason «= dethrone your reason from
its sovereignty over the mind. Cf. 'your cause of
distemper' 3. 2. 338.

75-8. The very place.. .beneath. F i omits these
lines; Delius fantastically suggests that Sh. wished to
use the substance of them for his description of the cliff
at Dover in King Lear.

82. artere* Q2 'arture,' Fi 'Artire,' Qi 'Artiue.'
For Sh. the word was a dissyllable; 'artere' is a normal
sp. of the period. MSH. p. 288. [1954. v. G.]

91. direct it = direct 'the issue.' Hor. answers his
own question.

Nay i.e. 'let us not leave it to heaven, but do some-
thing ourselves' (Clar.).

1.5.

S.D. The scene takes place on the front stage; the.
Ghost disappears down the trap, and then 'cries under
the stage.' Chambers, who does not think that the upper-
stage 'was used for the platform at Elsinore Castle,' gives
as his reasons: 'There would be hardly room "above"

i6o N O T E S 1.5.

for the Ghost to waft Ham. to "a more removed ground"
(1. 4. 61), and the effect of 1. 5. 148, where "Ghost
cries under the Stage," would be less' (Eliz. Stage, iii.
116). The first point is disputable; the second I do not
understand, the hilt.. .before him The sword, drawn
to threaten his friends in the previous scene, is now used,
I suggest, as a protection against the powers of evil. Cf.
note I. 5. 147 and Lavater, p. 247.

11.* fast in fires This has puzzled many; but Dante
(Purg. xxiii, esp. 11. 64-9) describes how the intem-
perate in food and drink are condemned to suffer
agonies of hunger and thirst in the cleansing fires of
Purgatory. It seems to follow that the 'foul crimes' of
which the Ghost speaks were those of intemperance;
cf. 3. 3. 80 'A' took my father grossly, full of bread' and
note 1. 4. 13 above.

19. anend(Qz, F i ) v. G. Many edd. read'on end.'
20. Like quills.. .porpetitine A striking model of a
porcupine with quills erect, the crest of the Sidney
family, faces one as one enters the court of the Leicester
Hospital founded at Warwick in 1571 by the Earl of
Leicester. Sh. must have seen it when a boy; and if so
could hardly have forgotten it, while the memory would
naturally suggest 'blazon' (v. G.) in 1. 21. The 'por-
pentine' was also used as a sign in London (v. MSH.
p. 260).

21. eternal blazon = revelation of the secrets of
eternity, v. G. 'blazon.' Schmidt notes that Sh. often
uses 'eternal' to express extreme abhorrence. Cf.
Jul. Caes. 1. 2. 160; Oth. 4. 2. 130.

33. rots (Fi) Q,2,Q 1 'rootes.' Cf.A. fcf C. 1. 4.

45-7:

Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream
Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide
To rot itself with motion.

MSH. p. 282.
42-57.*//y, that.. .prey on garbage The burden of

i.5. NOTES 161

the passage is that Gertrude had been 'false to her
husband while he lived' (Bradley, p. 166). With this
view I concur despite the arguments of W. Keller (Shak.
Jakrb. 1919, p. 152) and van Dam (Text of Sh.'s
Hamlet, pp. 55-6). Cf. my article M.L.R. xiii. 140-42,
andv. below 5.2.64 'whored my mother'and 5.2.379—
83 (note). Had the Ghost been speaking only of the
incestuous marriage, the reference to 'traitorous gifts'
and the comparison of the physical powers of the two
brothers would lose much point. Moreover, Tie
Hystorie of Hamblet twice refers in unequivocal terms
to the adultery of Fengon (= Claudius), who 'before he
had any violent or bloody handes, or once committed
parricide upon his brother, had incestuously abused his
wife,' and who had used Geruth 'as his concubine
during good Horvendile's life' (Gollancz, Sources of
Hamlet, pp. 187, 189).

62.* hebona (Q2, £>i) F i 'Hebenon' v. MSH.
p. 273. Sh. prob. found the word in Marlowe's Jew
of Malta, iii. 271 'The juice of hebon and Cocytus'
breath/ and Marlowe prob. took it from Gower, Conf.
iv. 3017 'Ofhebenus,thatslepytre.' But Gower did not
mean (as Marlowe assumed) that'hebenus' was soporific
or poisonous; he in his turn borrowed from Ovid
(Met. xi. 610 ff.), who speaks of ebony as the wood used
by the God of Sleep for the walls of his chamber.
Moreover, Sh. unconscious of these misapprehensions
added yet another by associating 'hebona' with henbane
and attributing to it all the properties which were com-
monly ascribed to the herb (v. Sh. Eng. i. 509 and note
in M.L.R. xv. 85-7 by Henry Bradley, who unravels
the whole history, but is challenged on the last point in
M.L.R. xv. 305-7).

64-73. Tie leperous.. .smooth body The effects of
poison are described in very similar fashion in a ballad
of Deloney's, 'Of King Edward the second, being
poysoned' (v. F. O. Mann, Deloney's Works, p. 405).

ifa N O T E S 1.5.

81. nature in thee i.e. any natural affection at all.
v. G. 'nature' and Introd. p. xxxiii.

84. hozosomever v. note 1. 2. 249, pursues v. note

1-4- 53-
85. Taint not thy mind An ominous injunction;

cf. Tzo. Nt. 3. 4. 13 'tainted in's wits.'
85-8. nor let thy soul.. .sting her This means that

Ham. must strike at his uncle "without in any way
harming his mother, a condition which complicates the
task greatly.

91. S.D. falls upon his knees LI. 94-5 make it clear
that Ham. rises from his knees.

92-3. 0 all you host... Ofie! Cf. Introd. p. lii.
93-7. heart, .-.sinews.. .distracted globe By a
natural transition Ham.'s mind turns in upon himself
and his own distraught and half-paralysed condition;
as he strives to rise, he presses his hand first to his heart,
then to his head.
96. whiles (Qx) F i 'while'
100. forms.. .pressures i. e.sketches.. .impressions.
107—109. My tables The whole speech is built up
round the 'tables,' the note-book which young men of
the age carried to record sights or sayings of interest,
especially when on travel. The image is first applied
metaphorically to the memory; 11.99-101 then describe
theusual contentsof suchtable-books; lastly atthethought
of his uncle's face Ham. takes out the actual tables he has
about him and in bitter jest sets down Smiling Villainy
as one of the wonders of Denmark, shutting the book
with a snap at 'So, uncle, there you are!' He may
re-open it for what follows; but it seems more appro-
priate that the 'Word' (v. next note) should be only
inscribed 'within the book and volume of his brain';
more seemly to the occasion of a solemn oath and more
ironical. Cf. Introd. pp. xli-xliii.
n o . * Word Q2, F i 'word.' Hitherto not satis-
factorily explained. Steevens suggests 'watchword' and

r.5. N O T E S 163

Dowden 'command' (cf. Jul. Caes. 5. 3. 5); but
neither accounts for the inclusion of 'adieu, adieu' or
for the oath that follows. I interpret it heraldically as
the motto or 'word' on a knight's coat of arms or shield,
which expressed, often in riddling or cryptic fashion,
the cause or ideal to which the life of its bearer was
sworn. Cf. the joust in Pericles, 2. 2. at which six
knights appear, each with a device on his shield, together
with a 'motto' or 'word,' these terms being used inter-
changeably (v. N.E.D. 'motto,' iff). Ham. solemnly
dedicates himself to the service of the quest which the
Ghost has laid upon him, adopting as his motto his
father's parting words. By a touch at once of supreme
irony and of profound psychological insight, the 'Word'
his creator gives him is 'Adieu, adieu, remember meP

114, So be it! A fervent Amen to Hor.'s prayer.
115. Wo, ho, ho Mar. in despair halloos at the top
of his voice; Ham. mockingly echoes him, turning the
cry into a falconer's call.

121. once = ever. Cf. A. £5? C. 5. 2. 50.

126-32. Why right, ...I -will go pray T h e speech,
which begins in a manner as 'wild and whirling' as
those which have gone before, suddenly changes tone as
the words 'business and desire' remind Ham. of the
task that lies before him. But the hysterical hilarity
returns with the Ghost's cries. Cf. Introd. p. Ixii.

135. offence v. G.
136-40. Tes.. .asyou may These words, spoken to
Hor. alone, should I think be an aside, 'And now, good
friends' (v. note 11. 139-40), marking the point where
Mar. is brought into the conversation. Mar. is Ham.'s
problem in this scene, as Dowden (taking his cue from
Irving) alone among critics seems to have reajised (cf. his
notes on 'Denmark' 1. 123 and 'truepenny' 1. 150).
Ham. will tell Hor. everything later; but Mar. must know
nothing except what he knows already, and on that he
must be sworn to secrecy.

164 N O T E S 1.5.

136. by Saint Patrick Various explanations offered.
It is, I have no doubt, a reference to the legendary
Purgatory of St Patrick; v. N.E.D. 'purgatory,' \b\
T . Wright, St Patrick's Purgatory, and a rev. of Lavater
in T.L.S. (Jan. 9, 1930), to which last I owe this
explanation, though Tschischwitz noted it in 1869
(Furness). Furness also quotes Dekker's Honest Whore,
1. i., 'St. Patrick, you know, keeps Purgatory.' In
the late middle ages St Patrick was regarded as the
chief witness to the existence of Purgatory, since ac-
cording to legend he found an entrance thereto in a
cave near Lough Derg and was thus able to convince
the doubting Irish. Ham. is hinting to the Protestant
'philosopher' Hor., who does not believe in Purgatory,
that the Ghost is 'honest' and comes from Purgatory
not Hell.

13 9-40. Foryour desire... may At the end of 1.138,
I suppose, Ham. is just about to take Hor. into his
confidence; but as Mar., curious to hear the facts, comes
up, he speaks these words instead. An actor playing
Ham. should, I think, make it clear to the audience that
Hor. is to be told as soon as Mar. is out of the way.

147.* Upon my sword i.e. Upon the cross of the hilt.
Cf. Wint. 2. 3. 167-68.

We have.. .already The asseveration 'in faith' was
equivalent to an oath.

149. Swear Here Qz and F i read S.D. 'Ghost
cries vnder the Stage.' Ham. now proceeds to address
his father's spirit as if it were a devil, his attitude being
that of a conjurer with his 'familiar.' The epithets 'old
mole,' 'pioner,' and perhaps 'truepenny,' refer to the
common superstition that devils might work like miners
beneath the ground and that their rumblings could be
heard. Cf. Lavater, p. 73 'Pioners or diggers for mettal,
do affirme, that in many mines, there appeare straunge
shapes and spirites, who are apparelled like vnto other
laborers in the pit' Cf. also (same book) pp. 191, xxv—

1.5. N O T E S 165

xxvi. Scot, Discourse vpon Diuels (ch. iii), tells us that
a particularly dangerous sort of devil known as the
Subterranei 'assault them that are miners or pioners,
which use to worke in deepe and darke holes under the
earth.' Mar. who has taken a threefold oath in the
presence of a powerful devil, as he supposes, will keep
Ham.'s secret. Cf. note 1. 182 S.D. below.

150. truepenny 'It is (as I learn from some Sheffield
authorities) a mining term, and signifies a particular
indication in the soil of the direction in which ore is
to be found' (Collier). There is nothing of this in
N.E.D.

156. Hie et ubique? 'The repetition of the oath, the
shifting of the ground, and the Latin phrase are taken
from the ceremonies of conjurers' (Tschischwitz). Cf.
note 1. 1. 42.

159-61. Swear., .sword (Q2) For F i arrange-
ment, which most edd. follow, v. MSH. p. 69.

163. pioner v. note 1. 149 above.
165. as.. .welcome A glance at Hor.'s scepticism.
Dowden quotes Middleton, Women Beware Women,
2. 2. 'She's a stranger, madam. The more should be her
welcome.'
167. your philosophy 'Your' is prob. used in the
impersonal colloquial sense (cf. 'your worm' 4. 3. 21);
but the rebuke to 'philosophy' (= science, v. G.) is
intended for the 'philosopher,' Hor.
177. There be... might i.e. Some could tell a tale if
they were permitted.
179-80. this do swear.. .you! (Q2) F r , Q i 'this
not to doe.. .you: Sweare' MSH. p. 70.
182. S.D. they swear a third time Scot, Discoverie
(bk. 15, ch. xvii), speaks of 'Promises & oaths inter-
changeablie made betweene the conjuror & the spirit,'
oaths which were sworn three times, and for the viola-
tion of which eternal penalties were exacted. Cf. note
1. 149 S.D. above. The first oath seals their mouths

166 N O T E S x.5.

upon what they have seen, the second upon what they
have heard, and the third upon the 'antic disposition';
cf. Bradley, pp. 412—13, who notes that the ' removing'
during oath-taking occurs also in Fletcher's Woman's
Prize, v. iii.

184. so poor a man Ham. does not harp upon his loss
of the crown but he drops many hints of his lack of
means and of power; cf. 2. 2. 272 ' I am most dreadfully
attended'; 275 'Beggar that I am'; 3. 2. 276 and note
I. 2. 6j.

18 8-90. The time... together The first two lines are
spoken broodingly; at 'Nay' Ham. recollects the others.

190. Some weeks pass Cf. note 2. 1. 1.

2. I.

I. Give him this money etc. The dialogue between
Pol. and Rey. serves to mark the passage oftime, a period
of several weeks during which Laer. has been able to
reach Paris from Denmark (in those days a long journey),
spend the money he took with him, and send for more.
This impression is strengthened by the return of the
ambassadors from Norway, which follows immediately
after. Cf. Aspects, pp. 215-16.

7. Danskers v. G.
25. fencing Cf. Pol.'s condemnation with the K.'s
4 . 7 . 74-6 (note).
30. That.. .incontinence Pol. does not object to a
little private 'drabbing,' inevitable with most young men
('of general assault'); but for his son to be notoriously
incontinent ('open to incontinency') is a very different
thing.
38. warrant (JHi) Qz 'wit' MSH. pp. 107-8. Q2
gives sense; but F i is certainly the true reading. Cf.
note 3. 4. 6.
39. sullies ( F i ) Q2 'sallies' Cf. note 1. 2.129 and
MSH. pp. 108, 308.

2.1. N O T E S 167

44. closes.. .consequence = comes to grips with you
as follows.

48-50. And then.-.. I leave Malone and mod. edd.
print as prose; but the lines, as Q 2 gives them, will pass
as Polonian verse.

60. takes ( F i ) Q 2 'take' MSH.-p. 236.
carp With a quibble on' carp '=talk, discourse, v. G.
Dowden (4th ed.) quotes Chapman's For stay in Com-
petence: 'caught with carps of sophistry.1 T h e carp is
a difficult fish to land. v. Sh. Eng. ii. 374.
62. windlasses v. G.
63. directions, i.e. how to proceed.
66. God bye ye Q2 'God buy y e ' F i 'God buy
you'—the regular Shakespearian forms, for which F 4
reads 'God b'w' you' and most mod. edd. 'God be wi'
you.' I print'God bye'throughout.
68. in yourself i.e. by personal observation, as well
as by hearsay.
75. with his doublet all unbraced etc. Edd. quote
Rosalind's list of the marks of a man in love:

A lean cheek...a blue eye and sunken...an unques-
tionable spirit...a beard neglected....Then your hose
should be ungartered, your bonnet unhanded, your sleeve
unbuttoned, your shoe untied, and everything about you
demonstrating a careless desolation (A.T.L. 3. 2. 365-72).

But cf. note 2. 2. 159 S.D. ('disorderly attired'). For
'no hat upon his head' v. note 5. 2. 96—7.

80. As if.. .out of hell v. Introd. p. Ixii.
103. sorry— The dash is Capell's. Pol. continues
with his sentence at 1. 108.

115-16. being kept close... utter love i .e. if we con-
ceal it we may cause more grief (by Ham.'s 'fordoing'
himself; cf. 1. 101) than the displeasure we may incur
by suggesting an alliance between a prince of the blood
royal and a councillor's daughter.

[68 N O T E S a.2.

2. 2.

S.D. a lobby v. 1. 161 and note I. 159 S.D.
11. of so young days Cf. Jets viii. 11 'of long time
he had bewitched them.'
52. _/r«// 'the dessert after the meat' (Johnson).
59. Valtemand (Q 2) Cf. Names of the Characters,
p. 141.
61. Upon our first i.e. 'at our first representation'
(Verity).
71. majesty: The colon marks the pause of self-
satisfaction at the success of the mission: perhaps the
court murmurs applause.
73. threescore (Q2) F i , Q i 'three' The 'score'
disturbs the metre, but is required by the sense. 'Three
thousand crowns' would be a very poor allowance for
a prince embarking upon a campaign that was esti-
mated to cost 'twenty thousand ducats' (4. 4. 25).
Cf. ' a poor thousand crowns' A.Y.L. 1. 1. 3. MSH.
p. 274. Perhaps Sh. forgot to delete ' him.'

79. regards.. .allowance i.e. 'terms securing the
safety of the country and regulating the passage of the
troops through it' (Clar.).

103. For this effect.. .cause 'for this madness has
some cause, i.e. is not due to mere accident' (Verity).

110. beautified = endowed with beauty. Cf. Two
Gent. 4. 1. 55; Rom. 1. 3. 88; Luc. 404 and Nashe,
ded. of Christ's Tears 'To the most beautified lady, the
lady Elizabeth Carey.' The jest is that Pol. who himself
uses such far-fetched vocabulary should boggle at an
innocent word. Some connect it with 3. 1. 145-47
' I have heard of your paintings' etc., and suppose the
whole letter ironical. I see no grounds for this; it is just
the love-letter of a young man, beginning a la mode,
containing a rather forced jingle for which he apologises,
and ending on a note of genuine passion. The student
comes out in the word 'machine,' v. note 1. 124.

2.8. N O T E S 169

113. in her...bosom 'Women anciently had a
pocket in the fore part of their stays, in which they not
only carried love-letters and love-tokens, but even their
money and materials for needlework' (Steevens). Cf.
Two Gent. 3. 1. 250.

117. Doubt.. .move According to the accepted
astronomy the sun, fixed in its sphere, moved round the
'centre,' which was the earth; 'doubt' in 1. 118 means
'suspect.'

124. machine i.e. body, v. G. Dowden refers to
Bright {Melancholie, pp. 61—2) who describes the body
as a machine connected with the 'soul' by the inter-
mediate 'spirit'; cf. note 2. 2. 300—301.

136. played.. .table-book i.e. noted the matter pri-
vately and kept it secret. Cf. 'tables' I. 5. 107-109
(note).

137. working (Q2) F i 'winking'—which all edd.
follow. Cf. L.L.L. 4. 1. 33 'the working of the heart';
Son. xciii 'thy heart's workings'; I Hen. VI, 5. 5. 86
'working of my thoughts'; above I. 1. 67 'In what
particular thought to work I know not'; and below

1. 557, where Ham. speaks of the 'working' of the
'soul.' Thus 'working' = mental operation of any kind.
MSH. pp. 74-5.

141. out of'thy star The modern'out of thy sphere'
preserves the same astrological notion. Cf. Tzo. Nt.

2. 5. 156; All's Well, 1. 1. 87-91.
145. fruits 'She took the fruits of advice when she

obeyed advice, the advice was then made fruitful'
(Johnson).

146. repelltd £>2 'repell'd.' Cf. 2. 1. 106.
156. S.D. Theobald added 'Pointing to his head
and shoulder.' Dowden suggests that Pol. refers to his
official staff of office and the hand that bore it.
159. Centre i.e. the centre of the earth, which was
the centre of the Ptolemaic universe. Cf. note 1. 117 and
M.N.D. 3. 2. 53-4. Both Qz and F1 print the capital.

170 N O T E S 2.2.

S.D.* Hamlet... reading a book, etc. Q 2, F 1 and Q r
all give Ham.'s entry at 1.167 below, where it is needed
for an entry on to the outer-stage. That Sh. himself
intended Ham. here to enter on the inner-stage is I think
shown by Ham.'s first words to Pol., which gain point
only if we suppose 11. 159-67 to have been overheard
by him. v. Introd. pp. lvi-lix. If Sh.'s manuscript
contained a double-entry, it is easy to see how the earlier
one came to be omitted. MSH. pp. 186-87.

disorderly attired Cf. Oph.'s description at 2. I .
75-8, obviously designed to prepare us for this entry,
and Anthony Scoloker, Daiphantus (1604), cited by
J. Q. Adams (Life of Shakespeare, p. 310):

Puts off his clothes, his shirt he only wears,
Much like mad Hamlet—

which gives us the contemporary stage-effect.
160. four hours The 'four' is indefinite; cf. WinU

5. 2. 132 'any time these four hours.'
161. Here in the lobby He indicates, I suggest, the

inner-stage, v. Introd. pp. Ivi—lix.
162. / ' / / loose my daughter to him v. Introd. pp.

lvii-lviii and G. 'loose.'
166. assistantfor a state Cf. Names ofthe Characters,

'Polonius,' p. 141.
167. S.D. Q2 'Enter Hamlet.' F i ' E n t e r Hamlet

reading on a Booke.' Cf. note 1. 159 S.D.
170. O give me leave The regular formula for

politely saying good-bye esp. to social superiors, or
requesting them to go away; cf. 11. 217-20 below and
K. John, 1.1. 2 3 o. Led astray by F 1 , in which the lines
have become disarranged, all mod. edd. make Pol.
speak them to Ham. Cf. MSH. pp. 218-19.

174. fishmonger i.e. fishmonger, bawd. Malone
quotes Barnaby Rich's Irish Hubbub, 'Senex fornicator,
an old fishmonger'; and Dowden, his Herodotus, 1584
(ed. Lang, p. 131) 'Such arrant honest women as are

9.9. NOTES 171

fishe for every man [i.e. harlots].' Cf. also B. Jonson's
Masque of Christmas, in which Venus plays a 'tire-
woman' and 'a fishmonger's daughter,' and Middleton's
Anything for a £>jfiet Life, in which Margarita, the
French bawd, is likewise the daughter of a fishmonger.
A 'fishmonger's daughter' therefore = a prostitute, and
a 'fishmonger' = 'a seller of woman's chastity' (Her-
ford). Cf. note 1. 159 S.D. The epithet has an added
point as applied to one fishing for secrets.

181—82. For if the sun.. .daughter Such is Ham.'s
first direct reference to Oph. in the text. (Cf. Cymb.
1.4.147—48 'If you buy ladies'flesh at a million a dram,
you cannot preserve it from tainting.') Ham. is playing
upon 'loose' and 'fishmonger'; the usual word of the
time for 'flesh' in the carnal sense being 'carrion'; cf.
N.E.D.'carrion,' 3; Trot/. 4. i . y i j a n d M . / ^ . 1. 32-4
'Shy. My own flesh and blood to rebel! Sol. Out upon
it, old carrion, rebels it at these years ?' For the general
idea ofthe sun breeding from corruption, very prevalent
at this time and going back to Diogenes Laertius and
Tertullian, v. Tilley, 604 and an article by the same
writer in M.L.R. xi. Cf. also note 2. 2. 252-53;
M.W.W. 1. 3.62 'Thsn did the sun on dunghill shine';
A. & C. 1. 3. 68-9 'By the fire That quickens Nilus'
slime'; Meas. 2. 2. 165-68:

...it is I
That, lying by the violet in the sun,
Do as the carrion does, not as the flower,
Corrupt with virtuous season;

and Edward III (1596, Sh. Apocrypha, ed. Tucker
Brooke), 2. 1. 438-39:

The freshest summers day doth soonest taint
The lothed carrion that it seemes to kisse.

182. a good kissing carrion (Q 2, F1) i.e. flesh good
enough for kissing purposes. Warburton read 'a god,
kissing carrion,' and many edd. follow, quoting Cymb.

17* NOTES 2.3.

3. 4. 166 'common-kissing Titan' and 1 Hen. IF,
2. 4. 133-34 'Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of
butter?' Tilley (v. previous note) supports the emenda-
tion as being in keeping with the incorruptible or divine
nature of the sun, insisted upon in all proverbial or
literary expressions of the idea, especially in that of
Tertullian, which occurring in an attack upon the
theatre may have been familiar to Shakespeare. The fact
that 'god' and 'good' are sometimes confused in this
(cf. notes 4. 5.40, 7 1 ; 5. 2. 342) and other Qq. seems
at first sight to lend support also. But 'good' is far more
often spelt 'god' than vice versa; and 'good kissing' is
textually very difficult to set aside. The two versions give
different meanings, both convenient to the context; but
the cynicism of the unemended text is more appropriate
to Ham.'s mood than Warburton's 'noble emendation,'
as Johnson called it. Cf. also next note.

184.* Let her not walk fth'sun 'Oph. is likewise
"a good kissing carrion"; therefore let her not walk
i'th'sun' (Herford). That Ham. has in mind the
proverbial 'Out of God's blessing into the warm sun,'
which is applicable to fallen women as to outcasts in
general (cf. note 1. 2. 67 and G. 'sun'), is shown by
'conception is a blessing?

185. but asyourdaughter (Q2) F i ' b u t not as your
daughter' The Q 2 reading is subtler and more in Ham.'s
manner; cf. MSH. pp. 256-57.

195. Between who? Again harping on the daughter;
cf. 'country matters' (3. 2. 114).

197. Slanders> sir etc. The old man, as appears from
'if like a crab you could go backward,' retreats in fright
as the 'mad' Ham. bears down on him enforcing point
after point of the 'satirical rogue' with an accusing
finger. (Cf. Capell, Notes, i. 131.) For the 'rogue'
Warburton suggests Juvenal (e.g. Sat. x. 188).

199-200. eyes.. .plum-tree gum Cf. Greene's Tu
Q e , 1611 (Hazlitt, Dodsley, xi. 282) 'Surely I was

s.2. N O T E S 173

begotten in a plum-tree, I ha' such a deal of gum about
mine eyes' (Dowden).

208. Will you walk out of the air> my lord? Fresh
air was thought bad for an invalid, and Pol. is thus
politely suggesting that Ham. is not quite himself,
v. Tilley, 751. Cf. Jonson, E.M.I. 2. 3. 40-8
lDame. What aile you sweet heart, are you not w e l l . . .
for loues sake, sweet heart, come in, out of the aire.
Kitely. How simple, and how subtill are her answers!'
There is clearly borrowing here, prob. unconscious, by
either Jonson or Sh.; E.M.I, was first acted, with Sh.
in the cast, in the autumn of 1598.

209. grave. (Q 2) F l 'graue?'
210. that's (Q 2) F 1 'that is.'
212. sanity ( F i ) Q2 'sanctity' Cf. note I. 3. 21
and MSH. p. 107.
227-28. My excellent.. .you both? Ham.'s greeting
is atfirstmost friendly and natural; his manner cools and
his 'disposition' grows more 'antic' as his suspicions
grow.

236. privates i.e. intimate friends (with a quibble).
239-40.* the world's grown honest Hardly a tactful
remark to the dispossessed heir of Denmark; it arrests
his attention and leads him to 'question more in par-
ticular.'

242-7 2. Let me question... dreadfully attended (F1)
Q2 omits, possibly because the talk of Denmark as a
'prison' was thought dangerous with a Danish queen
on the throne. MSH. pp. 96-8.

252-53. there is.. .makes it so A commonplace of
the age; cf. Spenser, F.Q. vi. ix. 30 'It is the mind that
maketh good or ill'; Euphues (Bond, i. 193) 'it is ye
disposition of the thought yt altereth ye nature of ye
thing. The Sun shineth vppon the dungehill and is not
corrupted' (the juxtaposition of the two sentiments is
interesting, cf. note 2.2.181-82 above); Oth. 1. 3. 322-
23 "tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus,' etc.

174 N O T E S 2.8.

255.* your ambition No one seems hitherto to have
observed the significance of this talk about Ham.'s
ambition, continued for 14 lines, and then abruptly
broken off by Ham. The two 'friends' acting on the
K.'s suggestion are probing Ham. to 'gather so much as
from occasion' they may glean (2. 2. 16) of what is in
his mind. Ham. refuses to be drawn; but he has seen
the point, and makes use of it later. Cf. notes 3. 1. 125;
3. 2. 243, 341, 345. To the Eliz. 'ambition' (v. G.)
meant the ostentation of glory as well as the desire for it.

259. bad dreams Cf. Bright, p, 124, 'giuen to
fearefull and terrible dreames.'

266-67. Then are.. .shadows Ham. reduces the
argument to an absurdity: if ambition is but a shadow's
shadow, then kings and bombastic heroes, the very type
of ambition, are shadows, and their antitype, the beggars,
the only real men (after Herford).

268.* Shall we to th' court? i.e. this sort of hair-
splitting would do well enough at court, but is no
pastime for sensible persons.

269. wait upon you = accompany you. But 'wait
upon' also means 'watch' and 'lie in wait for,' as they
prob. show by a significant glance at each other. Ham.
pretends to take it in the sense of 'act as your servants.'

272. most dreadfully attended i.e. my retinue is a
sorry one. Cf. 'Beggar that I am' (1. 275) and note 1.
5.184. Generally taken as referring to the 'bad dreams'
(1. 259); but Ham. is speaking of his 'servants.'

272—73. in the beaten way offriendship i.e. as old
friends (ironical).

275. Beggar that I am Ham. identifies himself with
the real men ('bodies') of 1. 266.

275~77' 1am even Poor'' >t°° dear a halfpenny He
can only afford a ha'p'orth of thanks, and yet even that
is over-payment, since what they give in exchange is
worth nothing. Cf. A.T.L. 2. 3. 74 'too late a week.'

278. come, come (Q2) F l 'Come'

2.2. N O T E S I7S

283. your modesties = your sense of shame.
288-90. by the rights.. Jove Cf. 2. 2. 11-12.
290. love, and by what Q2 'loue; and by what'
290-91. by what more., .withal'*= by any more
moving appeal a better speaker than I could think of.
can charge (Q2) F i 'could charge.'
300-301.* custom of exercises v. G. 'exercises.'
Dowden finds the phrase in Bright, p. 126. Cf. note

2. 2. 124.
302-12. this goodly frame.. .of dust This famous

passage prob. owes something to Florio's Montaigne,
ii. ch. 12 (pp. 296-97). G. B. Harrison (Sh. at Work,
pp. 277-78) quotes from W. Parry's Travels of Sir
Anthony Shirley (pub. Nov. 1601): 'those resplendent
and crystalline heavens over-canopying the earth.' But
Montaigne seems the more likely source.

303. a sterile promontory In a 'sea of troubles.'
305. rooffrettedwith golden fire Cf. note 3. 2. 378.
In M.F. 5. 1. 59-60 ('the floor of heaven.. .thick
inlaid with patens of bright gold') the firmament is
considered from the other side, as it were; the stars being
balls of fire fixed in transparent spheres which revolved
within the firmament. 'Fretted' (v. G.) = embossed
—an architectural term.

305-306. //appeareth...but(Q2) F1 'it appeares
no other thing to mee, then.'

307-11. What a piece of work.. .animals Such is
the pointing of Q 2. Cf. that of the F1 text, accepted by
all edd., substituting notes of exclamation for the orig.
queries, the two being alternatives in old printing:

What a piece of worke is a man! how noble in Reason!
how infinite in faculty! in forme and mouing how exprcsse
and admirable! in Action, how like an Angel! in appre-
hension, how like a Godl the beauty of the world, the
Pan-agon of Animals;

This is rhetorical, the declamation of a player; Q2,
without an exclamation ofany kind, gives us the brooding

Q.H.-I6

176 N O T E S 2.2.

Ham. The sense too is different, to the bewilderment of
some critics. But the absolute 'how like a god' makes
a fine climax, esp. as followed at once by 'this quint-
essence of dust'; 'how like an angel in apprehension'
recalls 'with wings as swift/As meditation or the thoughts
of love' (1. 5. 29—30); while 'how infinite in faculties,
in form and moving' may be paraphrased 'how
infinitely varied in his bodily powers: in sight, hearing
and other qualities of sense (cf. "the very faculties of
eyes and ears" 2. 2. 569); in facial expression and
gesture (cf. "his whole function suiting/With forms to
his conceit" 2.2.5 59—60); and in the motion and activity
of his body.' The traditional (F1) rendering, on the
other hand, involves two grave difficulties: (i) To a
thinking Eliz. angels were discarnate spirits whose only
form of action was 'apprehension' (cf. Aquinas, Summa,
i. 50-8). To make Ham. compare human action to that
of an angel is, therefore, to make him talk nonsense.
(ii) The epithet 'express' goes so awkwardly with 'form
and moving' that N.E.D. has had to devise a nonce-use,
i.e. 'well framed' or 'modelled' to explain it; whereas
its ordinary meaning, i.e. 'direct and purposive' is
exactly suited to 'action.' MSH. pp. 210-14.

307. piece of work = masterpiece, work of art. v. G.
'piece.'

308. faculties (Q2) F i 'faculty.1
323-29. He that plays the King etc. Ham.'s retort
to Ros.'s talk of 'lenten entertainment.' The stock
dramatic types of the age are glanced at, each in ironical
fashion. As Sh. is reputed to have 'played some kingly
parts' himself there may be 'a sly undercurrent of
allusion' in the opening words (v. Sh. Eng. ii. 248).

325. foil and target i.e. for stage-fights, which were
frequent in Eliz. drama, v. G. 'foil'; cf. L. B. Wright,
Stage Duelling etc. (M.L.R. xxii. 265 £ ) .

325-27. the Lover.. .peace i.e. I will applaud the
sighs of the Lover and not interrupt the sallies of the

2.2. N O T E S 177

'Humorous Man.' The latter = the fantastic, like
Jaques, whose supposed topical or personal references
were often in danger of interruption by victims or
their partisans (cf. A.T.L. 2. 7. 48-87). The F i list of
players at the end of 2 Hen. /^"describes Falstaff and his
companions as 'irregular humorists.' W. J. Lawrence
{Sh.'s Workshop, p. 101) suggests a reference to trouble
caused by the ending of Jonson's E.M.O. in 1599
(v. Chambers, Will. Shak. i. 423, E/iz. Stage, iii. 361).

328-29.* theLady.. .haltfor't 'The lady, of course,
will have indecent words to utter; if she omits them, the
halting blank verse will betray her delicacy' (Dowden).

332. the tragedians of the city Generally taken as a
topical reference; if so, more appropriate to the Lord. Ad-
miral's men, with its famous tragic player, Edward Alleyn
and its Marlowe repertory, than to Sh.'s company, who
at this date had made their reputation in comedy rather
than in tragedy. Cf. notes 2. 2. 335-36, 339, 395-96,
451, and G. B. Harrison, Sh. at Work, pp. 273-76.

333. residence i.e. in the city.
335—36. their inhibition.. .innovation Much dis-
cussed, but without agreement. A few points may be
made: (i) The 'innovation' has nothing to do with the
'little eyases,' as many have assumed, since it is expressly
stated to be the cause of an 'inhibition,' i.e. a prohibition
of playing by authority, (ii) As Boas {Sh. and the Uni-
versities, p. 23 n.) shows, 'innovation' always means a
political upheaval of some kind in Sh. He quotes
I Hen. IF, 5. 1. 78 'hurlyburly innovation' and Oth.
2.3.42, to which I may add Cor. 3. 1. 175 'a traitorous
innovator' and More (Sh.'s Addition), 11. 92-3 'You
shall perceive how horrible a shape/Your innovation
bears.' And if the passage (as I think) was written in
1601, the 'innovation' can hardly be other than that of
the Earl of Essex in Feb. ofthat year, (iii) Sh.'s company
were certainly not inhibited on account of the Essex
rising, since they were acting at court on the eve of the

178 N O T E S 2.2.

Earl's execution. Nor have we any direct evidence that
the Admiral's men were inhibited; but they seem to have
ceased playing for a time in Feb. and March, 1601, and
were involved in legal troubles of some kind in the same
year (v. Chambers, Eliz. Stage, ii. 174-75). Cf. also
Chambers, Will. Shak. i. 65, 423.

339. No, indeed, are they not< It is surely absurd to
suppose that Sh.'s company would thus bluntly proclaim
themselves unpopular. Thatthey werefinanciallyaffected
'too' is hinted at in 11. 364-65 (v. note).

340-65. How comes it...his load too ( F i ) . Q2
omits, perhaps because, as De Groot suggests, when Q2
was printed in 1604 Anne of Denmark was Queen of
England and had taken the Children ofthe Chapel under
her protection (v. Chambers, Will. Shak. i. 414 and
MSH. pp. 96, 98). The 'little eyases' were, of course,
these Children, and the passage refers to the Poetomachia
or 'War of the Theatres' begun by Jonson's Cynthia's
Revels, acted by the Children late 1600, and his
Poetaster, belonging to the spring of 1601, to which
Dekker and Marston replied in Satiromastix acted by
Sh.'s company in the summer of the same year. Sh.
therefore can hardly have written the words before the
summer of 1601. Cf. Introd. pp. xxi-xxii. (For the
'War ofthe Theatres' v. Chambers, Eliz. Stage, i. 381;
iii. 363-64, 293, and R. A. Small, Stage-Barrel,
Breslau, 1899.)

343. that cry out.. .question i.e. whose shrill voices
are heard above all others in the controversy, v. G. 'top,'
'question' and 1. 443 below.

345. the common stages i.e. the public playhouses.
The Children of the Chapel played at the Blackfriars,
a 'private' playhouse.

345-47. that many.. .come thither 'Fashionable
gallants are afraid to visit the common theatres, so un-
fashionable have the writers for the children made them'
(Dowden).

2.2. N O T E S 179

351-52. as it is like most will (anon, apud Camb.
Sh.) F1 'as it is like most.' Pope and most edd. 'as it is
most like.' MSH. p. 303.

352. not better (F2) F i 'no better'—with a trace
of the ' t ' type. MSH. pp. 291-92.

357-59. no money bid.. .question Generally ex-
plained: 'the theatre managers would offer nothing for
the plot of a play, unless it concerned the controversy'
(v. G. 'argument'). Verity suggests: 'the public...
would not give a rap for any other subject of debate,'
a rendering which seems less caviary to the general.

3 64-6 5. Hercules and his load too This could not have
been penned before late 1599 when the Globe Theatre,
with its sign of Hercules carrying the globe, was first
opened. The 'too' is noteworthy, implying that 'the
tragedians of the city' were not identical with Sh.'s
company, v. note 2. 2. 332.

366. / / is not very strange etc. The fickleness of
popular favour brings Ham. back from Sh.'s London
to Elsinore.

371. S.D. Q2 'A Florish,' F i 'Flourish for the
Players.' Trumpets were used as a means of advertise-
ment by Eliz. players both in the streets of London and
when travelling in the country.

374. Tour hands? come then Q2 'your hands come
then,' F i 'your hands, come:'—which many edd.
follow. The Qz 'then' makes all the difference. It is
not Ham. but the others who offer to shake hands. He
'complies' for fashion's sake, hinting that he prefers the
company of the players. MSH. pp. 260-62.

379-80. but my uncle.. .deceived Q2 'but my
Vncle-father, and Aunt-mother, are deceaued' The
emphasis-capitals and comma-pauses indicate the pointed
irony of the sally. MSH. p. 202.

382-83*1ambutmad'... I know a hawkfrom a hand-
saw. One of Ham.'s pregnant quibbles. 'Handsaw'is
generally taken as a corruption of'hernshaw' (•= heron),