Line 2 - Commentary Note (CN) 
Commentary notes (CN):
1. SMALL CAPS Indicate editions. Notes for each commentator are divided into three parts:
In the 1st two lines of a record, when the name of the source text (the siglum) is printed in SMALL CAPS, the comment comes from an EDITION; when it is in normal font, it is derived from a book, article, ms. record or other source. We occasionally use small caps for ms. sources and for works related to editions. See bibliographies for complete information (in process).
2. How comments are related to predecessors' comments. In the second line of a record, a label "without attribution" indicates that a prior writer made the same or a similar point; such similarities do not usually indicate plagiarism because many writers do not, as a practice, indicate the sources of their glosses. We provide the designation ("standard") to indicate a gloss in common use. We use ≈ for "equivalent to" and = for "exactly alike."
3. Original comment. When the second line is blank after the writer's siglum, we are signaling that we have not seen that writer's gloss prior to that date. We welcome correction on this point.
4. Words from the play under discussion (lemmata). In the third line or lines of a record, the lemmata after the TLN (Through Line Number] are from Q2. When the difference between Q2 and the authors' lemma(ta) is significant, we include the writer's lemma(ta). When the gloss is for a whole line or lines, only the line number(s) appear. Through Line Numbers are numbers straight through a play and include stage directions. Most modern editions still use the system of starting line numbers afresh for every scene and do not assign line numbers to stage directions.
5. Bibliographic information. In the third line of the record, where we record the gloss, we provide concise bibliographic information, expanded in the bibliographies, several of which are in process.
6. References to other lines or other works. For a writer's reference to a passage elsewhere in Ham. we provide, in brackets, Through Line Numbers (TLN) from the Norton F1 (used by permission); we call these xref, i.e., cross references. We call references to Shakespearean plays other than Ham. “parallels” (//) and indicate Riverside act, scene and line number as well as TLN. We call references to non-Shakespearean works “analogues.”
7. Further information: See the Introduction for explanations of other abbreviations.
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Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman
| 2 Enter Barnardo, and Francisco, two Centinels. [Bl] | |
|---|
Note: Neither Q1 nor Q2 has act/scene divisions. F1 has divisions up to 1.3 (not labeling 1.4 and 1.5), then 2.1, 2.2. Capell, 1765, introduced the scene divisions now most followed, but see prior divisions by the Players Quartos, Rowe, Pope and Theobald. There is nothing sacrosanct about the divisions. Many commentators believe 3.4 should not end the third act, and many other arrangements have been suggested. Modern productions usually divide the play into two or three acts.
1723- mtby2
mtby2
2 platform Thirlby (1723-) has a cross reference to 405, which contains the word platform.
1747- mtby4
mtby4
2 Centinels] Thirlby (1747-): “Was Horatio a centinel. v. 116.10 [23] & 22-28 [32-38]. v. 131, 10,1 [387-8]. 150.25 [834]. 189.5,6 [1909-10]. At 17 he notes the plural rivals with a xref to his 116.22-28 [32-38] at 387 mtby4 has a xref to his 132. 10,1 [419-20]
1854 del2
del2
2 Centinels] Delius (ed. 1854): “Rowe bezeichnet, im Widerspruch mit den späteren Herausgebern, nur den Marcellus als officer, den Bernardo und Francisco als Soldiers. Die beiden Letztern müssen auch nach den alten Ausgaben gleichen Rang bekleidet haben: in [Q1] steht Enter two Centinels, in den Qs. und Fol. Enter Bernardo and Francisco two Centinels.ˆ [Rowe indicates later that only Marcellus is an officer, Bernardo and Francisco soldiers. But the latter two must also according to old rules have the same rank. Q1 has Enter two Centinels, in the [Q2] and [F1], Enter Bernardo and Francisco two Centinels.ˆ
1857 fieb
fieb
2 platform Fiebig (ed. 1857): “A platform, a level place before a fortification.”
1875 Marshall
Marshall
2 Barnardo, and Francisco] Marshall (1875, p. 197): “ I do not see the necessity of drawing any distinction between Bernardo and Francisco; they all appear to be on equal terms; an officer does not usually relieve a private soldier on guard. But Bernardo seems to have been on equal terms with Marcellus, who seems to assume a tone of superiority over Francisco. I think all the difficulties on this point might be got over if we suppose that there was in the Court of Denmark some body like our ‘Yeomen of the Guard,’ or ‘Gentlemen at Arms,’ composed of gentlemen of good birth to whom the duty of keeping the watch near the Palace was committed. Of this body even Horatio might have been a member.”
1885 macd
macd
2 MacDonald (ed. 1885): ”—meeting, Almost dark.”
1891 dtn1
dtn1
2 platform Deighton (ed. 1891): “a terrace in front of the castle, up and down which the sentinels patrolled.
dtn1 ≈ Marshall without attribution
2 Francisco] Deighton (ed. 1891): “Though Francisco is, in [23], spoken of as an ‘honest soldier,’ and in the dramatis personæ is called “a soldier,’ his question ‘Bernardo?’ [8] is more like that of an equal, and it has not been explained how a common soldier came to be relieved by an officer.”
i.e. it has not been explained by those who name him ‘a soldier’ and the others officers.
1917 yal1
yal1 ≈ fieb without attribution
2 platform Crawford (ed. 1917): “level space on castle ramparts.”
1931 crg1
crg1 ≈ yal1 on platform without attribution; ≈ dtn on Helsingor without attribution
1 platform Craig (ed. 1931): “a level space on the battlements of the royal castle at Elsinore, a Danish seaport; now Helsingör.”
1934 cam3
cam3
2 Barnardo] Wilson (ed. 1934) does not explain the name beyond that he’s using Q2’s spelling and that most eds. use F1’s Bernardo.
cam3: theo
2 platform Wilson (ed. 1934): “For ‘platform’ (first read by Theobald) cf. [405 and quotes]. Its technical meaning in Sh.’s day was a raised level place or an open walk on the top of a building, for the emplacement of guns (v. N.E.D. ‘platform’ 6). Sh. probably imagined it as situation of the battlements of the castle, at once a look-out for guards and a commanding position for canon. Theatrically, I take it, the word denotes the upper-stage, which would explain the unmotived disappearance of Bar. in 1.4, when his place is taken by Ham.: seeing that four characters besides the Ghost would have overcrowded the gallery, which for the rest, with its curtained recess in the middle, would be very convenient for the apparition. (For a different view, by Chambers, v. head-note 1.5).
“[ . . . ] Probably the ‘sentinels’ all carried partisans (v. G.) like the Wardens of the Tower, whom Sh. seems to have in mind. As royal guards, too, they would rank as officers and gentlemen (a title Hor. expressly gives to Mar. and Bar. at [384], though Mar. seems to have been of higher military rank than Bar. (v. note [355]. Perhaps Sh. intended him as captain of the guard and the other s lieutenants. Cf. Sh. Eng. 1, 138.”
1938 parc
parc contra Wilson
2 Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938) refute Wilson about the acting on the upper stage, which would be too crowded for four actors. They prefer a downstage entrance with the ghost entering through the “side doors.”Ed. note: Sh.’s theater probably had no side doors.
1939 kit2
kit2 ≈ cam3 without attribution, underline; ≈ dtn without attribution, underlined twice; otherwise standard
2 platform Kittredge (ed. 1939) : “This scene takes place on a high ‘platform,’—a paved terrace—before the Castle at Elsinore (Helsingör). See [405, 452]. ”
1970 pel2
pel2
1 Farnham (ed. 1970): “Elsinore Castle: a sentry-post”
1974 evns1
evns1: standard
2 platform Kermode (ed. 1974): “Location: Elsinore. A guard-platform of the castle.”
1980 pen2
pen2 = yal1 without attribution + in magenta underlined
2 platform Spencer (ed. 1980) defines a platform, where the action of scene one occurs [405], as “a level place for mounting guns.” He claims that “it was well known to British voyagers” that Elsinore had such guns on a platform commanding “the narrow entrance to the Baltic Sea between Denmark and (modern) Sweden, exacting tolls from ships passing through.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4
2 Hibbard (ed. 1987): Francisco must enter first because for “dramatic effect” the audience has to know “which of the two is on duty.”
2000 Edelman
Edelman
2 Centinels] Edelman (2000): “The theme running through Shakespearean sequences involving sentinels is that it is a cold, boring, and thoroughly unpleasant job. Hamlet begins with the stage direction [quotes], and we soon learn of Francisco’s surprise that he is being relieved on time at the stroke of midnight [10], and his gratitude [quotes 12-13].”
As Edelman points out with respect to Ant. and Caesar’s sentinels [4.9.1-4 (2695)], there is nothing in the dialogue to indicate that any one of them is the leader of the others.