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Line 875 - Commentary Note (CN) More Information

Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman
For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.
875 That you knowe ought of me, this {doe sweare,} <not to doe:>1.5.
874 875 876 877 878
1774 capn
capn
875 this doe sweare] Capell (1774, 1:1:128): The correction in the last of these pages [875], is in the three latter moderns; but instead of “you swear,”. . . they have given (what can scarce be pronounc’d) — “ye swear.”
1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773
875 this doe sweare]
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778
875 this doe sweare]
1790 mal
mal = v1785 +
875 this doe sweare] Malone (ed. 1790): “Swear is used here as in many other places, as a disyllable.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = mal +
875 sweare] Steevens (ed. 1793) Steevens (ed. 1793): “Here again my untutored ears revolt from a new dissyllable; nor have I scrupled, like my predecessors, to supply the pronoun —you, which must accidentally have dropped out of a line that is imperfect without it.”
Steevens quotes mal quoting him, even getting the quotation wrong as mal does. Then Steevens adds his response:
1826 sing1
sing1
875-8 Singer (ed. 1826): “The construction of this passage is rather embarrassed, but the sense is sufficiently obvious without explanation.”
1839 knt1
knt1
875-6 Knight (ed. 1839): “We print the passage as in the folio. The ordinary reading [Q2] is by no means so plain: ‘This do you swear, So grace and money at your most need help you.’”
1843 knt2
knt2 = knt1
875-6
1854 del2
del2
875-8 Delius (ed. 1854): “So [i.e. Ghost. Swear.] die Fol. Die Qs lassen das so bedeutsam den Satz schliessended Swear aus, und lesen für this not to do nur this do swear. Aus beiden verschiedenem Lesarten fabrierten willkührlich die meisten Herausgeber eine dritte: This not to do, swear.” [The folio has the ghost say swear. The 4tos omit this very necessary line and substitute for this not to do only this do swear. From both of these variant readings most editors have arbitrarily fabricated a third: This not to do, swear.]
del2 has the SD beneath in brackets, which he does not mention as a variant.
1856 sing2
sing2 = sing1
875-8
1880 Tanger
Tanger
875 doe sweare] Tanger (1880, p. 126): Q2 variant “probably owing to the negligence, inattention, or criticism of the compositor.” (“compositor’s criticism?)
1934 rid1
rid1
875 Ridley (ed. 1934) says that the Q2 variant, which he uses, is grammatical. He points out that ‘the picking up of the never shall in [869] no doubt makes things easier.”
1936 cam3b
cam3b
875 this doe sweare] Wilson (ed. 1936, rpt. 1954, add. notes): “The line lacks a syllable, and Pope read ‘this do ye swear.’ But ‘this do swear,’ spoken with a solemn emphasis upon each word, is more effective.”
1980 pen2
pen2
875 knowe ought] Spencer (ed. 1980): “have confidential knowledge.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4
875 this] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "i.e. everything Hamlet has said in the previous ten and a half lines: ‘Here as . . . of me’ [865-75]."
1988 bev2
bev2: standard
875 ought] Bevington (ed. 1988): “i.e., something secret.”
1998 Kliman
Kliman
875 Kliman (1998): Since there is no stage direction for the men to swear, a possible staging would have both Hamlet and the Ghost just let it go. Then Hamlet would seem more distracted, the ghost less a separate entity or less effectual.
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: Q2; Q1; F1
875 this doe sweare] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Hamlet cuts through the syntactical confusion (see [864-75 CN]) by starting again. Q1 and F resolve this problem differently by substituting ’this not to doe’ for Q2’s ’this doe sweare’.”

ard3q2
875 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “’as you hope for grace and mercy to help you when you need them most’”
2007 ShSt
Stegner
875 That . . . me] Stegner (2007, p. 115): “Hamlet’s insistence that his companions do not reveal ’aught of me’ implies that he considers the only possibility for revealing the inauthentic nature of his madness comes from without.”