Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
| 2110-2 let the gauled Iade winch, our withers are vnwrong. | <Enter Lucianus.> | This is one Lu- | |
|---|
| 2112 cianus, Nephew to the King. | 3.2.244 |
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1710 Gildon
Gildon
2110 withers] Gildon (1710, p.lxxii): "the shoulders of a horse."
1726 theon
theon
2112 King] Theobald (ed. 1726, p. 89): “All the Editions whatever, ‘tis true, concur in this Reading; and therefore we are to presume the Blunder was original, either in the Poet’s Inadvertence, or the Mistake of the first Transcript. Nephew to what King? The Story of the introduc’d Play is the Murther of Gonzago, Duke of Vienna: As is plain from the preceding Part of this very Speech. It therefore ought to be Corrected, in Spight of all the printed Copies: ‘This is one Lucianus, Nephew to the DUKE.’ So, whenever the Player-King and Queen are mentioned, it ought to be DUKE and DUTCHESS. The Source of these Mistakes is easily to be accounted for, from the Stage’s Dressing of the Characters. Regal Coronets, perhaps, being by the Poet at first ordered for the Duke and Dutchess, the succeeding Players, who did not so strictly observe the Quality of the Characters and Circumstances of the Story, mistook them for a King and Queen; and so the Error was deduced down from thence to the present Times.”
1733- mtby3
mtby3: Ray’s Proverbs
2110 let the gauled Iade winch] Thirlby (1733-): “Ray’s Prov. 112: Touch a gall’d horse on the back & he’ll kick (or wince). Hoc ibi.”
Find Ray’s Proverbs to verify. HLA located Ray and collated items for his section.
1773 mstv1
mstv1
2110 withers] Steevens (ms. notes in Steevens, ed. 1773): “withers, the shoulder bones of a horse.”
1774 capn
capn
2110 withers] Capell (1774, 1:1: glossary, withers): “(1.H.4. 23, 23.) the strong muscular Junction of a Horse’s Shoulder.”
1778 v1778
v1778: Damon and Pythias analogue
2110 let . . . winch] Steevens (ed. 1778): “This is a proverbial saying. So, in Damon and Pythias, 1582: ‘I know the gall’d horse will soonest wince.’ STEEVENS. “
1790 mal
mal = v1785 for let . . . winch (2110)
mal
2112 King] Malone (ed. 1790): “i.e. to the king in the play then represented. The modern editors, following Mr. Theobald, read—’nephew to the duke,’ though they have not followed that editor in substituting duke and duchess, for king and queen, in the dumb shew and subsequent entrance. There is no need of departing from the old copies. See n. 5. MALONE.”
1791- rann
rann: 1H4 //
2110 our . . . vnwrong] Rann (ed. 1791-): “our withers are unwrung] we are not pinched in the shoulders. ‘The poor jade is wrung in the withers.’ 1H4 [2.1.6 (640)] Car.”
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
“See n. 5.” adjusted to read “See n. 4.”
1821 v1821
v1821=v1813
Adjusted reference: “See n. 4, in the preceding page.”
1854 del2
del2
2110 let . . . vnwrong] Delius (ed. 1854): “Das Bild von dem wundgedrückten Pferde, das hinten ausschlägt - sprichwörtlich, wie unser: Wen’s juckt, der kratze sich - wird in withers und unwrung weitergeführt.” [The picture of the galled horse that kicks—proverbially like the German Wen’s juckt, der kratze sich (let him who itches scratch)—is carried further in withers and unwrung.]
1857 fieb
fieb = v1778 (for wince and withers) + magenta underlined
2110 let . . . vnwrong] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “let . . . wince . . . unwrung] This is a proverbial saying, So in Damon and Pythias, 1582: ‘I know the gall’d horse will soonest wince.’ Si. —We have already explained ‘her galled eyes,’ p. 20, 3). A jade is a horse of no spirit, a hired horse; thence to jade, i.e. to tire, to dispirit, to weary.—To wince means to kick as impatient of a rider, or of pain. The poet persists in his metaphor: withers are the joining of the shoulder-bones at the bottom of the neck and mane; whence we call a witherrung, an injury caused by a saddle being unfit, especially when the bows are too wide. J. H. Voss, in his translation of the play, has rendered this proverbial saying by the corresponding German proverb: wen’s juckt, der kratze sich.”
fieb ≈ theo1, mal
2112 Nephew . . . King] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “i.e. to the king in the play then represented. The modern editors, following Theobald, read —‘nephew to the duke,’ though they have not followed that editor in substituting duke and dutchess, for king and queen; in the dumb show and subsequent entrance. There is no need of departing from the old copies, as Malone has proved; see p. 118, 8).
1857- mstau
mstau ≈ v1778 (Damon and Pithias analogue) without attribution
2110 let . . . winch] Staunton (ms. note in Knight, ed. 1857): “‘I know the galde horse will soonest winche’ Damon & Pithius. p. 195. ed. 1825.”
1869 tsch
tsch: Johnson (Farrier’s Dict.)
2110 our . . . vnwrong] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Sam. Johnson, s. v. Wither-rung erklärt nach Farrier’s Dict. An injury caused by a saddle, when the bows, being too wide, bruise the flesh against the second and third vertebrae of the back, which forms that prominence that rises above the shoulders.” [Following Farrier’s Dictionary, Samuel Johnson defines wither-rung as an injury caused by a saddle, when the bows, being too wide, bruise the flesh against the second and third vertebrae of the back, which forms that prominence that rises above the shoulders.]
1872 hud2
hud2
2110 gauled Iade . . . vnwrong] Hudson (ed. 1881): “The allusion is to a horse wincing as the saddle galls his withers. See page 269, note 2.”
1872 cln1
cln1: v1778 (Edwards analogue + magenta underlined
2110 let . . . winch] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “let . . . wince.] Steevens quotes from Edwards’s Damon and Pythias, 1582: ‘I know the gall’d horse will soonest wince.’ See Lyly’s Euphues, p. 119 (ed. Arber): ‘For well I know none will winch except she bee gawlded.”
cln1 ≈ capn (for def. of withers); ≈ rann (for 1H4 //) + magenta underlined
2110 withers] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “The withers of a horse is the part between the shoulders. Compare 1H4 [2.1.6 (640)]: ‘Poor jade, is wrung in the withers out of all cess.’ And Markham’s Miaster Peece (1615), lib. ii. ch. 40” ‘Both to a horses withers, and also to his backe, do happen many infirmities and sorrances, some proceeding from inward causes, as of the corruption of humors, add sometime of outward causes, as through the galling, pinching, & wringing of some naughty saddle.’”
1875 Mercade
Mercade
2210 Mercade (1875, p. 33):
[<p.33> “1 This advancement we read as the liberal and reforming ambition of Hamlet.” </p.33>]
Dowden in ms. commentary questions this gloss: “? advancement toward his object”
Mercade
2111-12 Mercade (1875, pp. 48-9): <p.48> “Lucianus in the Player-scene is Luther himself. Baptista is human belief, and Gonzago is Long-ago. The marriage of Baptista and Gonzago is the pure faith in its original simplicity as a scheme of benevolence; and before it began to be corrupted in the second century. That corruption is the effect of Lucianus
. But he is only acting what the King had done. And Luther did this. He pointed out what the King had done. Lucianus (the break of day, translated </p.48><p.49> literally), prompted by Hamlet, is pointing out artistically what the King has committed.
And Luther, studying the Bible, pointed out how the Romish Church had poured corruption into the ears of a once pure and holy union. The whole Player-scene, we repeat, is the act of the Reformation.” </p.49>
This note is an example of the writer’s allegorical reading, which Dowden regards as “insanity.”
1875 Thornbury
Thornbury: Heywood analogue
2110 let . . .
winch]
Thornbury (
N&Q, 5th series, IV, Aug. 7, 1875, p. 106): <p.106> “I have just found this line of
Hamlet used as a proverb in Heywood’s
Dialogue of Proverbs. Now, as Heywood died a year after Shakspeare was born, there can be no doubt that the saying was proverbial. Heywood’s lines run:—’It is a lie (quoth he) and thou a lyer. Will ye (quoth she) dryve me to touch thee nyer? I drub the gald hors backe till he winche, & yit He would make it seeme, that I toouch him no whit.’”
1875 T.W.W.S.
T.W.W.S.: Latimer analogue
2110 let . . .
winch]
t.w.w.s. (
N&Q, 5th series, IV, Sept. 4, 1875, p. 196): <p.196> “For an earlier use of this proverb, see Latimer’s sermon,
Of the Plough, preached Jan. 18, 1548:—’If they be pricked, they will kicke, if they be rubbed on the gall, they will wince,’ &c. And again, in his sermon on St. Andrew’s Day, 1552:—’There is a common saying, that when a horse is rub’d on the gall, he will kicke,’ &c.” </p.196>
1875 Marshall
Marshall
2112 Nephew to the King] Marshall (1875, p. 43): “The poisoner in the play represented is the nephew of the king; this, I think, is no accident, by making the relation the same as between himself and Claudius, Hamlet adds one more to the many strokes of irony directed against his uncle.”
1877 neil
neil: standard (Damon and Pythias anal.) +
2110 let . . . winch] Furnivall (apud Neil ed. 1877): “F.J. Furnivall has pointed out that in Lydgate’s Fall of Princes these lines occur: ‘A galled horse, the soothe if he list see Who toucheth him, boweth his back for dred’—fol. xxxvii, b.”
1877 v1877
v1877 ≈ v1778; cln1
2110 winch]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
Steevens: A proberb. Thus, in
Damon and Pythias, 1582: ‘I know the gall’d horse will soonest wince.’
Clarendon: See Lyly’s
Euphues, p.
ii9 (ed. Arber): ‘For well I know none will winch except she be gawled.’ See
Mother Bombie, I, iii.”
1878 rlf1
rlf1 ≈ v1778, cln1; H5 //
2110 let the gauled Iade] Rolfe (ed. 1878): Let the gall’d jade] "Apparently a proverb. Steevens quotes Edwards, Damon and Pythias, 1582: ‘I know the gall’d horse will soonest wince;’ and Wr. adds from Lyly’s Euphues: ‘For well I know none will winch except she bee gawlded.’ On jade, see H5 [3.5.19 (1398)].”
1881 hud3
hud3=hud2, minus “See page 269, note 2.”
1889 Barnett
Barnett
2110 Iade] Barnett (1889, p. 48): “a sorry nag.”
Barnett
2110 winch] Barnett (1889, p. 48): “start aside. Also spelt winch. M.H.G wenchen, to start aside. Cogn. with wink.”
Barnett
2110 withers] Barnett (1889, p. 49): “the ridge between the shoulder-blades of a horse. It is so called because it is the part which the horse opposes to his load. The barbs of an arrow were also called withers. A.S. wider, resistance. Our prep. with, in A.S. often meant against, and is the root of the word.”
1890 irv2
irv2 ≈ cln1
2110 let . . . winch] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “A proverbial expression. Steevensd quotes Edwards, Damon and Pythias, 1582: ‘I know the gall’d horse will soonest wince;’ and the Clarendon Press editors refer to Mother Bombie, I. 3, and Lyly’s Euphues, p. 119 (ed. Arber): ‘For well I know none will winch except she be gawlded.’”
1891 dtn
dtn
2110 let . . . vnwrong] Deighton (ed. 1891): “let those shrink who from their consciousness of guilt feel themselves galled by such a representation, we who are innocent need not complain.”
dtn: standard
2110 withers] Deighton (ed. 1891): “the ridge between the shoulder blades of a horse on which the strain of the collar falls.”
dtn
2110 vnwrong] Deighton (ed. 1891): “escape being galled.”
1899 ard1
ard1 ≈ cln1 without attribution
2110 let . . . winch] Dowden (ed. 1899): “a proverbial saying; found in Edwards, Damon and Pythias, and Lyly, Euphues.”
As in many other instances, IRV matches CLN1 nearly verbatim; Steevens acknowledgement (first noted in ed. 1778) also follows CLN1
1900 W.C.B.
W.C.B.: de Gray analogue
2110 let . . .
winch]
W. C. B. (
N&Q, 10th series, XII, July 31, 1900, p. 85): <p.85> “Tho. de Gray, ‘Compleat Horseman,’ 1639, p. 352. —‘A horse that is wrung or hurt in the withers . . . also any swellings by spur-gaules or navell-gaules.’” </p.85>
1903 rlf3
rlf3=rlf1 minus Lyly analogue; H5 //
1904 ver
ver
2112 Nephew] Verity (ed. 1904): “Why “nephew”? Was Hamlet afraid to press the resemblance too closely by making Lucianus “brother to the king”? Or is it a hint of what Claudius may expect from his “nephew”? or an ironical piece of mockery, to reverse the parts and make the “nephew,” not the “uncle,” the villain of this domestic tragedy?.”
1905 rltr
rltr
2110 Iade] Chambers (ed. 1905): “an inferior horse.”
1931 crg1
crg1: standard
2110 gauled Iade] Craig (ed. 1931): “horse whose hide is rubbed with saddle or harness.”
crg1: standard
2110 withers] Craig (ed. 1931): “the part between the horse’s shoulder-blades.”
crg1: standard
2110 vnwrong] Craig (ed. 1931): “not wrung or twisted.”
1934 Wilson
Wilson: Greg
2110 winch] Wilson (1934, rpt. 1963, p. 288): <2:288> “There seems no point . . . in clinging to ‘winch’. . . . The [word] is meaningless as a verb to us, having long been replaced by ‘wince,’ though as Dr Greg notes the latter had a different meaning in the seventeenth century.1” </2:288>
[<2:288> “1Emendation, p. 66; Aspects, p. 194.” </2:288>]
1934 cam3a
cam3a: Tilley
2110 let the gauled . . . vnwrong] Wilson (ed. 1934): let the galled . . . unwrong] “Tilley (525) quotes Euphues. ‘well I knowe none will winch excepte shee bee gawled, neither any bee offended vnlesse shee be guiltie’ (bond, i.257), and ‘rubbe there no more, leaste I winch, for deny I will not that I am wroung on the withers’ (ibid. ii.151). The coincidence of ‘winch’ (v. next note), ‘galled,’ ‘guilty,’ ‘offended’ (offence), ‘wrung’ and ‘withers’ suggests borrowing.”
cam3: MSH
2110 winch] Wilson (ed. 1934): wince] “(Q1) Q2, F1 ‘winch’ MSH. p. 288. ‘winch’ = obs. form of ‘wince.’ In Sh.’s day ‘wince’ = kick.”
cam3: Bradley (xrefs.)
2112 Nephew to the King] Wilson (ed. 1934): “i.e. the Hamlet not the Claudius of the Gonzago story. Bradley (137 n.) points out that though the court, as it is clear from [3.2.300ff. (2171ff.)], [3.3.1-26 (2272-99)], and [4.7.1-5, 30ff. (3007-11, 3038ff.)], see ‘in the play scene a gross and menacing insult to the King...no one shows any sign of perceiving in it also an accusation of murder.’ And he adds ‘surely that is strange.’ The clue is in this passage. Ham. arranges two meanings in the Play, one for the K. (and Hor.), the other for the rest of the spectators, who see a King being murdered by his nephew. In other words Ham. prepares the Court for the assassination of Claudius which was intended to follow, just as R2, with its deposition scene, was performed by Sh.’s company on Feb. 7, 1601 to prepare London for the rising of the Essex party next day. I make little doubt that Lucianus should be dressed like Ham. Cf. notes [3.2.94-5 (1949-50)]; [2.2.252 (1298)]; [3.1.124 (1779-80)].”
1936 cam3b
cam3b: Greg
2110 let the gauled Iade winch] Wilson (ed. 1936): “W.W. Greg paraphrases (M.L.R xxxi. 150) ‘Let your jade of a wife show her withers galled.’ This would imply that the Queen had been visibly disturbed by the references to second marriages in the interlude, which I think very likely.”
cam3b: contra Greg; [OED]
2110 winch] Wilson (ed. 1936): “Greg objects (M.L.R. xxx. 86) that the distinction between ‘wince’ and ‘winch’ (Q2, F1) is ‘one of linguistic form and not merely of spelling, and that not even a modernizing editor has the right to interfere.’ Reference to N.E.D. [OED] ‘wince’ 1a and ‘winch’ 2b shows that both forms were used indifferently of the ‘galled jade’ in Sh.’s day.”
cam3b: Trench
2112 Nephew to the King] Wilson (ed. 1936): “Trench (p. 166, n. 2) anticipates my explanation here to the extent of suggesting that Ros. and Guil. may identify Lucianus with Ham. For second thoughts on Lucianus’ costume v. What happens in Hamlet, p. 171 n.”
1937 pen1
pen1 ≈ crg1 + magenta underlined
2110-2 our withers are vnwrong] Harrison (ed. 1937): “the withers are the part of the shoulder blade galled by the saddle. Hamlet says that of course this story need make neither himself nor the King touchy.”
1939 kit2
kit2: standard
2110 gauled Iade] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “To gall is to ‘rub off the skin so as to make a sore spot’; jade is a common disrespectful term for ‘horse.’ ”
kit2: cln1 (Euphues anal.), Tilley, The Pryde and Abuse of Women, Martin Mark-all analogues
2110 winch] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “wince. Clark and Wright compare Lyly, Euphues (ed. Bond, I, 257): ‘Well I knowe none will winch excepte shee gbee gawled, neither any bee offended vnlesse shee be guiltie.’ Tilley (No. 525) adds, from the same (II, 151): ‘Rubbe there no more, least I winch, for deny I wil not that I am wroung on the withers.’ The proverb is common. Cf. The Pryde and Abuse of Women, ca. 1550 (ed. Hazlitt, Early Popular Poetry, IV, 243): ‘Rubbe a galde horse on the backe, And he wyll kicke and wynse;’ Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, 1610 (Hunterian Club ed., p. 15): ‘It is not good medling with the galled Iades, least they winch and kicke.’ ”
kit2 ≈ crg1
2110 withers] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “the ridge between a horse’s shoulders.”
kit2
2110 vnwrong] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “unwrung] not chafed, and therefore not sensitive. Our consciences are clear.”
1942 n&h
n&h
2110 gauled Iade] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “chafed horse.”
1947 CLN2
cln2
2112 Nephew to the King ] Rylands (ed. 1947): “Is Hamlet provoking the King to pay special attention to Lucianus, he himself being Claudius’s nephew? Or is he throwing dust in the eyes of the court so that they think the Prince contemplates the assassination of the usurper?”
1947 yal2
yal2
2110 vnwrong] Cross & Brooke (ed. 1947): “not galled.”
mun: Carver, Tilley
2110 winch] Munro (ed. 1958): wince, “winch was equivalent to modern wince. For parallel phrases see Palsgrave’s Acolastus, ed. Carver, EETS, p. 196 and Tilley: H, 700.”
1974 evns1
evns1=n&h for gauled Iade (2110)
evns1
2110 winch] Evans (ed. 1974): “wince.”
evns1: standard
2110 withers] Evans (ed. 1974): “ridge between a horse’s shoulders.”
evns1: standard
2110 vnwrung] Evans (ed. 1974): “not rubbed sore.”
1980 pen2
pen2 ≈ rltr + magenta underlined
2110 Iade] Spencer (ed. 1980): “ill-conditioned horse (also a contemptuous term for a woman, possibly glancing at the Queen).”
pen2
2112 Nephew] Spencer (ed. 1980): “Although the circumstances of the murder in the playlet correspond to the murder of King Hamlet by his brother Claudius, the agent is the murdered man’s nephew, not his brother. So the playlet could reasonably be interpreted as a threat against Claudius by his nephew Hamlet. Only Claudius knows that it is also an accusation of murder.”
pen2
2112 the King] Spencer (ed. 1980): “(the King in the playlet).”
1982 ard2
ard2: 1H4 //, Lyly analogue; Tilley, oed, Palsgrave
2110 let the gauled Iade winch] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “A galled jade is a horse which is rubbed sore, esp. on the withers through an ill-fitting saddle. For a literal instance, see [2.1.5-7 (639-41)]. The proverbial expression is very common: Tilley H 700; OED winch v.1 2b; Palsgrave, Acolastus, EETS, pp. 195-6. E.g. Lyly, 1..257, ‘None will winch excepte shee see gawlded, neither any bee offended vnless shee be guiltie’; also ii.151, ‘Rubbe there no more, least I winch, for deny I will not that I am wroung on the withers’. Wince and winch (Q2,F) are different forms of the same word, which then meant ‘kick out restlessly’ but had weakened in meaning since.”
ard2 ≈ pen2 + magenta underlined
2112 Nephew to the King] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “ln . III.ii.239. nephew to the King] Not, as we should expect, brother. But the likeness of The Murder of Gonzago to the murder of King Hamlet is already sufficiently established, and upon the image of the murder can now be superimposed an image of its revenge, with the single figure of Lucianus active in a dual role. The Court, who are ignorant of the brother’s murder, will see Lucianus as the nephew only and hence can interpret the Gonzago play as a threat by Hamlet against the King. For us of course it must depict simultaneously crime and nemesis. When Lucianus becomes the image of Hamlet he does not cease to be Claudius too – after all, this is the very moment of the poisoning – as is sometimes implied by the few commentators who have remarked at all upon his nephew’s role. The identity of killer and avenger which the tragic plot will exhibit in Hamlet himself and which has already been symbolized in Pyrrhus (see [2.2.448-514 (1491-1555)]ln) is here sharply focused in the person of Lucianus. This is of the most profound significance, without a grasp of which the play cannot be understood. See Intro., pp. 145-156.”
1984 chal
chal: standard
2110 gauled Iade] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “horse sore from chafing (e.g. by saddle, harness, spurs).”
chal
2110 withers] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “the highest part of the horse’s back, between the shoulder blades.”
chal
2110 vnwrong] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “unwrung F (Q vnwrong) uninjured.”
1984 klein
klein: Bradley, Jones, Robson, Trench, Wilson; xrefs.
2112 Nephew to the King] Klein (ed. 1984): “nephew derives from the presumed source but not the story of Claudius, Gertrude and Hamlet senior. (In Fraticide Punished [p.166] Hamlet says ’the king’s brother’). In Shakespearean Tragedy (London, 1904, repr. 1962), p.109 (note) A. Bradley remarks about the effect of nephew: "... everyone sees in the play-scene a gross and menacing insult to the king", referring to [3.3.1-25 (2272-99)], [4.7.1-5 (3007-11)], and [4.7.30-33 (3038-42)]. Why does Hamlet say nephew? In the wake of E. Jones (Hamlet and Oedipus [New York, 1949, repr. 1954] W.W. Robson in the Cambridge Quarterly 6 (1975), pp. 303-26 called it a "Freudian slip". Wilson, on the contrary supposed, after Trench, Hamlet wanted to prepare the court for the imminent killing of Claudius. That might possibly be applicable to the allusion to Caesar [3.2.104 (1958)], but not here. The play-within-the-play shows a ruler who is foully murdered out of greed and lust for power [3.2.262 (2132)]– certainly the worst possible preparation of the court for the revenge on Claudius. For that ’brother’ would have served better, perhaps then some more people apart from Claudius himself might have seen the parallel. (As far as we can tell, the whole ear of Denmark [1.5.36 (723)] remains deceived until the revelations at the end of the play. There remains only one possible motive for nephew: keeping up the distance between Vienna and Elsinore.”
1985 cam4
cam4: Tilley
2110-12 let . . . winch] Edwards (ed. 1985): “’galled jade’ is a poor horse with saddle-sores. ‘winch’ = ‘wince’. It was a common saying that it was the galled horse that would soonest wince (Tilley H700).”
1987 oxf4
oxf4
2110 winch] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “kick, lash out. The examples quoted by Tilley, together with those cited by OED (wince v. I and winch v. 2), make it quite clear that there was no distinction between wince (QI) and winch (Q2, F).”
oxf4
2111-12 Lucianus, Nephew to the King] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “Hamlet’s reason for putting on a play in which the poisoner is the nephew, not the brother, of the victim has been the subject of much speculation. There may, however, be a simple explanation: if Lucianus were announced as the brother of the Player King, Claudius would either stop the play at once, or, at least, prepare himself for the shock to come and give nothing away. In either case the Prince’s experiment would fail.”
1992 fol2
fol2
2110 let . . . vnwrong] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “a proverb that says, in effect: let guilty persons flinch; we have clear consciences.”
1985 cam4
cam4
2112 Nephew to the King] Edwards (ed. 1985): “In identifying Lucianus thus, Hamlet brings together past and future: Claudius’s killing of his brother, and his own projected killing of his uncle.”
ard3q2: ≈ ard2; Edwards, OED
2110 let . . . wince] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “let the horse that is saddle-sore kick out (i.e. let the guilty person object or suffer). (Edwards retains Q2/ F’s ’winch’; Q1’s ’wince’ is the same word according to OED.).”
ard3q2: standard; Dent
2110 our . . . vnwrong] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “i.e. we are unaffected. The withers are the highest part of a horse’s back, liable to be galled by the saddle; Dent cites ’Touch (rub) a galled horse on the back and he will wince (kick); as proverbial (H700).”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: Bullough analogue
2112 nephew] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “The word is capitalized in Q2, perhaps for emphasis. Neither of the murderers is a nephew of the victim in the source given by Bullough, nor a brother -- which would be more relevant to the King’s crime. In Fratricide Punished Hamlet does indeed identify the poisoner as ’the King’s brother’ (2.8; Bullough, 7.142). Perhaps Hamlet is looking forward to (or even threatening) his own revenge on his uncle.”
