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Line 977 - 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.
977 Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other,2.1.78
1854 del2
del2
977 his knees knocking each other] Delius (ed. 1854): “d.h. so haftig zitterte er.” [that is, so much was he shivering.]
1950 Tilley
Tilley
977 Pale . . . shirt] Tilley (1950, C 446): “As pale (white) as a Clout c1489 Caxton Sons Aymon XIX, p. 419: Hb e [[. . . ]] became pale as a white clout for the grete wrathe that he had at his herte.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4
977-80 Pale . . . horrors] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "One recalls that the Ghost was, according to Horatio, ‘very pale’ (1.2.233 [430]); that it had been released from purgatory or the grave; and that it had spoken of horrors (1.5.2-20 [683-705]). Hamlet seems to be identifying himself with it and, simultaneously, reliving his encounter with it, whether deliberately or by imaginative compulsion it is hard to say."

oxf4: Tilley
977 Pale . . . shirt] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "Compare ‘As pale as a clout’ (Tilley C446)."
1993 Lupton&Reinhard
Lupton & Reinhard
977 Lupton & Reinhard (1993, p. 99): See their n. 51. They consider this reported appearance by Hamlet to be one of the Senecan moments in the play.
1996 Bongiorno
Bongiorno ≈ oxf4 without attribution but expanded
977-80 he comes before me] Bongiorno (1996, p. 32) In these words, “we have the third person singular pronoun ‘he’ followed by ‘comes.’ In only three other instances prior to Hamlet’s entrance into Ophelia’s room do we have a third person singular pronoun followed by the word ‘comes’ in a situation charged with terror, and each of them is a reference to the dreadful coming of the Ghost. . . . The identity between the King’s ghost and his son established, first, by the grammatical similitude intrinsic to their frightening entrances, and, second, by the congruence of their [pale demeanor and pitiable aspect] tells us that Hamlet comes [to Ophelia]—not because he is pretending to be mad, or because he is the victim of a mental disorder, but because, as in the case of the ghost of his father, he is driven by a need to find someone compassionate, as Ophelia tells us, unknowingly, ‘to speak of horrors.’ Unfortunately, seeing how terrified Ophelia is, Hamlet recognizes immediately that she cannot be trusted to share his secret, as she herself proves by her immediate flight to Polonius to tell all that had just occurred.”
977