Line 2113 - 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 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
| 2113 Oph. You are {as good as a} <a good> Chorus my Lord. | 3.2.245 |
|---|
1784 Davies
Davies: Jonson, Milton, Mason, Hurd, Montague, Colman
2113 Chorus]
Davies (1784, pp. 91-2): <p.91> “Shakespeare knew little of the antient
chorus. What he so terms, of his own, is always in the shape of a prologue. The learned B. Jonson, has, in his Catiline, introduced the Ghost of Sylla in a rhiming kind of exordium or prologue; to which he has added four odes, to be sung between the acts, as
chorus, in various unequal measure.
“Milton, in his chorus to Samson Agonistes, is the genuine imitator of Æschylus and Sophocles. Mr. Mason, has, by his musical odes, to Elfrida and Caractacus, almost surprised the public into a taste for that part of the antient tragedy.
“Though it does not become me to determine which of the two champions, for and against the
chorus, the learned Dr. Hurd and Mrs. Montague, is in the right; yet I cannot help leaning to the opinion of Mr. Colman; who, in his notes to his happy translation </p.91><p.92 > of Horace’s Art of Poetry, observes,—’That, if a
chorus be really necessary, our dramas, like those of the ancients, should be rendered wholly musical. The dances also will then claim their places, and the pretensions of Vestris and Noverre must be admitted as classical. Such a spectacle, if not more natural than the modern, would at least be consistent; but, to introduced a group of spectatorial actors, some speaking in one part of the drama and singing in another, is as strange and incoherent a medley, as full of unclassical, as the dialogue and airs in the Beggar’s Opera.’” </p.92>
1787 ann
ann: H5 //
2113 Chorus] Henley (apud Editor, 1787, 6:105): “The use to which Shakespeare converted the chorus, may be seen in H5. HENLEY.”
1819 cald1
cald1 = v1813
2113 Chorus] Caldecott (ed.1819): “Mr. Henley observes, the use to which Shakespeare converted the chorus, may be seen in H5.”
1826 sing1
sing1 ≈ v1821 without attribution
1843 col1
col1
2113 Chorus] Collier (ed. 1843): see 2114
1844 verp
verp ≈ v1821
2113 Chorus]
Steevens (
apud Verplanck, ed. 1844): “This use of the chorus may be seen in
H5.
Steevens.”
1854 del2
del2: WT, Rom., H5 //s
2113 Chorus] Delius (ed. 1854): “horus ist auf Sh.’s Bühne die Figur, die am Anfang des Stückes oder in den Zwischenacten den Theil der Handlung zu berichten hat, der nicht dramatisch vorgeführt wird. Solchen Chorus wandte Sh. z. B. in WT, in Rom., H5 an.” [On Shakespeare’s stage, Chorus is the figure that at the beginning of the play or between the acts reports action that is not presented on stage. Shakespeare uses such a Chorus e. g. in WT, in Rom., and in H5. ]
1856 hud1 (1851-6)
hud1 ≈ sing1 without attribution
HUD1 combines parallel first noted by Henley (apud v1793/cald1) with the following version of glosses by Steevens (apud v1773, see 2114), knt1 (see 2115) or col1: “The use to which Shakespeare put the chorus may be seen in H5. Every motion or puppet-show was accompanied by an interpreter or showman.”
1857 fieb
fieb ≈ del2 (wt, H5, Rom, //’s), Per. //
2113 Chorus] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “A chorus is a person who, at the beginning of the play and between the acts, gave intelligence to the auditory of the history treated in the play, or of what was going to pass during the following scenes, but could not be told or dramatically represented by the actors. The use, to which the poet converted the chorus, may clearly be seen in WT, where Time appears as a chorus, in Per., H5, and In Rom.”
1872 cln1
cln1 ≈ v1793 (H5 analogue), del2 (WT, Rom. //s); ≈ fieb (Per. //)
2113 Chorus] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “which explained the action of the play, as in WT, Rom., H5, and Gower in Per.”
1878 rlf1
rlf1 ≈ del
2113 Chorus] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “Explaining the action of the plays, as in WT., Rom., and H5. (Delius).”
1899 ard1
ard1 ≈ rlf1 without attribution
2113 Chorus] Dowden (ed. 1899): “which explains the action of a play, as in WT, Rom., and H5.”
1903 rlf3
rlf3=rlf1 minus del attribution
1931 crg1
crg1 ≈ fieb minus //s, without attribution
2113 Chorus] Craig (ed. 1931): “In many Elizabethan plays the action was explained by an actor known as the ‘chorus’: at a puppet show the actor who explained the actions was known as an ‘interpreter,’ as indicated by the lines following.”
1934 cam3
cam3: xref.
2113 Chorus] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Or ‘presenter,’ to explain the action of the play; cf. the Chorus in H5 and note [3.2.141 (2008)] S.D. above.”
1937 pen1
pen1 ≈ cln1 (2H4, H5, WT, Rom., and Per. //s)
2113 You . . . Chorus] Harrison (ed. 1937): “the Chorus (called also the Prologue or Presenter) often appeared in Elizabethan plays to explain the action to the audience. Shakespeare seldom used a Chorus, but it is found in 2H4, H5, WT, Rom., and Per..”
1939 kit2
kit2 ≈ fieb (incl. //s)
2113 Chorus] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “a character in a play whose business is to make explanations to the audience. Father Time in WT [4.1.1-32 (1580-1611)] is a good example. In H5 the Chorus speaks a Prologue in each act and a final Epilogue. Cf. Rom. [Acts] 1 [and] 2. Gower is the Chorus in Pericles.”
1974 evns1
evns1 ≈ ard1 minus //s, without attribution
2113 Chorus] Evans (ed. 1974): “i.e. one who explains the forthcoming action.”
1982 ard2
ard2 = ard1 minus //s, without attribution
1992 fol2
fol2: xref.
2113 a Chorus] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “a character who (as in Shakespeare’s H5) tells the audience what they are about to see.”
Editors correct fol1 comment, by implying that Ophelia sees Hamlet anticipating the action rather than providing “background information.”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2
2113 as good as a] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Tronch-Perez finds this ’less direct and more submissive’ than F’s ’a good.’”
ard3q2: ≈ ard1; H5, Per, WT //
2113 chorus] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “an actor whose role is to mediate the story to the audience; Shakespeare used this device in H5, Per and WT.”
2113