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. Click here for more information about browsing the entries and here for more information about the special symbols used in Hamletworks. Click the question mark icon above to remove this help message.

1773 gent

gent

461 Ophelia Gentleman (ed. 1773), continuing a sentence that begins with Laertes and Polonius, says, “. . . delicacy of appearance, and harmonious utterance, will do justice to Ophelia.”

1774 gent

gent

461 Ophelia Gentleman (ed. 1774) adds: “but a very nice conception and execution are requisite for the frenzy in the Fourth Act.”

Ed. note: See n.462.

1934 cam3

cam3

461 Ophelia] Wilson (ed. 1934): “In Sannazaro’s Arcadia, 1504, ‘Ofelia’ and ‘Montano’ are love-sick swains.”

1961 Rossiter

Rossiter

461-602 and 889-1017 Rossiter (1961, pp. 172-3): <p. 172> “ . . . [N]early everything in the play can be felt as ‘happening to Hamlet’: and this includes those scenes in which he is not on the stage nor even being talked about. . . . </p. 172><p. 173> [T]he world of Polonius and his family [he cites 461-602]—the private world of Elsinore—is but another aspect of unreality: of the ordinariness which can be disturbing (even frightful), because it looks so like the norm of normal life, and yet is only a distraction from the vile reality which is the truth. That vile reality is the ‘Hamlet-world’: though never the world of Hamlet himself. . . . Perhaps I exaggerate about the first Polonius scene; but that much discussed second one [889-1017], No.

“ . . . . The Ghost-world was, as it happens, quite real. But these ordinary events that follow, as well as human weakness, make it nearly impossible to go on thinking so. The average, usual, commonplace is the enemy of the deep, the intense: makes it appear ‘over-strained’ if not quite insane.” </p. 173>

1987 ShSur

Evans, Stuart

461-553 Evans (1987, p. 114) suggests that on radio “outdoor effects may be used to enhance [for example] the departure of Laertes in [1.3] with [sounds of] distant seabirds, seawash, perhaps the sound of a port in action. . . This adds a freshness to the scene. . . ”

Ed. note: Such sounds are of course frequent in film and stage productions.

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: xref; performance

461 his Sister] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “The relationship is established in Laertes’ opening speech in all three texts. If she has not been a silent presence in 1.2 (see [178 CN), this is Ophelia’s first appearance. Some productions anticipate her appearance in 4.5 by having her practise the lute in this scene.”