Line 2972 - Commentary Note (CN)

Commentary notes (CN):

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Notes for lines 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand

For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.

2972 Enter Horatio {and others.} <,with an Attendant.>	..

1857 elze1

elze1

2972 Enter Horatio and others] Elze (ed. 1857): "In StR lautet diese Bühnenweisung:Enter Horatio and others. Wie in QB and F!? Die Personenbbezeichung für den Diener ist in StR: Gen. (=Gentleman)." ["In StR [a collection drawn from Steeven’s 1766 edition and found in CAP and BM; see p. lviii introduction], reads the stage direction, Enter Horatio and others. As in Q2 and F1? The person designated for the servant is Gen. In StR."]

1859 stau

stau

2972 Enter Horatio and others] Staunton (ed. 1859) : “In the quarto, 1603, at this point of the action there is a scene between the Queen and Horatio, not a vestige of which is retained in the after copies. Like every other part of that curious edition, it is grievously deformed by misprints and mal-arrangement of the verse; but, as exhibiting the poet’s earliest conception of the Queen’s character, is much too precious to be lost.”

1875 Marshall

Marshall (see. 2976-77)

2976-77 Marshall (1875, pp. 81-2): <p. 81> “While Claudius is relating to Laertes the way in which Polonius met his death, the stage is occupied by a scene (Act IV., Scene 6) replacing that one in the earlier play, between Horatio and the Queen, which I have transcribed in the Appendix. [Appendix M]. Horatio is visited by some sailors, who bring him letters from Hamlet, announcing his capture by the pirates, &c. There are two or three points to notice in this scene. Horatio says: —[cites 2976-7] This passage seems to imply, what the rest of the play confirms, that Horatio’s was a singularly lonely position. Who or what he was we can only conjecture: all we know is that he was a fellow-student of Hamlet’s, but of what rank in life we are not told.† His fortune, we know from Hamlet’s own words, was very small—[cites Act III, Scene 2, ll. 52-54 (1907ff)] and it would seem that he was equally poor in friends, since he knew of no one who was likely to send any letter to him </p. 81> <p. 82> but Hamlet. This very loneliness was probably one of the causes which first drew the young prince towards Horatio.” </p. 82>

1882 elze2

elze2

2972 Enter Horatio and others] Elze (ed. 1882): “As in §172 [2744], the text has been altered in [F1], in order to fit an insufficient number of actors; only a single Attendant is allowed to Horatio, and a single Sailor introduced. Moreover the Gentleman, who announces the Sailors, has been degraded to a servant, no doubt because the company, at the timem when the alteration was made, could not dispose of a player capable of personating this Gentleman, whereas a meaner hireling was at hand that was up to the part of a Servant. Also in §172 the Gentleman has been done away with, evidently for the same reason.”

1934 cam3a

cam3a

2972 Wilson ( ed. 1934): “There seems no good reason why edd. should locate Scenes 6 and 7 [2972ff and 3006ff] in different ‘rooms in the castle’ as following Capell they have commonly done.”

1936 cam3b

cam3b ≈ cam3a +

2972 travers (apud Wilson, 2nd ed., 1936, Additional Notes): "A scene to which justice has not always been done. Even its ’sea-faring man,’ however briefly sketched and on merely typical lines, makes, for the moment, a breezy change. As to the news, why not accept them in the spirit that Sh. would expect from his audience: appreciation of their exciting nature, of the intricate opportuneness of the affair with the ‘thieves of mercy,’ of hero’s valiancy and resourcefulness, of his epistolary style too, as sharp as any rapier?”

1947 cln2

cln2

2972ff Rylands (ed.1947, Notes): “This little intervening scene allows us to imagine Claudius and Laertes in close conference. He has to explain to him what we know already and to excuse it before proceeding to his own intrigue. The news of Hamlet’s return raises the pitch. The opposing forces begin to draw together again. Hamlet’s letter excites our expectation. What words has he to speak in Horatio’s ear which will strike him dumb? The pursuit by the pirate ship, the short grapple, the Prince the sole prisoner—these add a touch of romance. When the scene is over we feel that fate is working with Hamlet aand no longer against him; as he says himself later of the adventure: ‘There’s a divinity that shapes our ends Rough-hew them how we will.’”

1982 ard2

ard2 : Q1

2972 Jenkins (ed. 1982): “In Q1 this scene is replaced by one in which Horatio tells the Queen of the letter he has received from Hamlet announcing his return, and, further, reporting the exchange of commissions ((from v.ii.13-53)), so that the Queen is now apprised of the King’s villainy.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4

2972ff Hibbard (ed. 1987): “The value of Horatio as a piece of dramatic machinery is particularly evident in this scene. Through his presence at the Danish court the audience knows of Hamlet’s return before Claudius does so, and they are made aware of much of his story that he does not choose to reveal to Claudius.”

1992 fol2

fol2≈ standard

2972ff. Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “Horatio is given a letter from Hamlet telling of the prince’s boarding of a pirate ship and his subsequent return to Denmark.”

1993 dent

dent≈

2972ff Andrews (ed. 1993): “This scene is probably to be thought of as occurring somewhere in the Castle.”

2972

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