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Line 2114 - 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."

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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.

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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.”

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Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary

For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.

2114 Ham. I could interpret betweene you and your loue	3.2.246

1765- mDavies

mDavies: see Davies 1874

2114-15 [Davies] (ms. notes in Johnson, ed. 1765, opp. 8. 225): “I could play Master of the puppet shew & interpret for you and your Lover if I saw ye least prelude of amorous intention.”

1773 v1773

v1773: TGV //

2114-15 Steevens (ed. 1773): “This refers to the interpreter, who formerly sat on the stage at all motions or puppet-shows, and interpreted to the audience. TGV [2.1.94-5 (487-8)]: ’Oh excellent motion! oh exceeding puppet! Now will he interpret for her.’ STEEVENS. See also n. 2455+1.”

1778 v1778

v1778 = v1773 +

2114-15 Steevens (ed. 1778): “Again, in Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit, 1621: ‘—It was I that pennn’d the moral of man’s wit, the dialogue of Dives, and for seven years’ space was absolute interpreter of the puppets.’ STEEVENS.”

1784 ays1

ays1=v1773 minus TGV //

1784 Davies

Davies: see mDavies 1765-

2114-15 I could . . . dallying] Davies (1784, p. 93): “That is, ‘I could act the part of master of the puppet-show, and interpret both for you and your lover, if I saw the least prelude of amourous inclination.’”

1785 v1785

v1785 = v1778

1790 mal

mal = v1785

1791- rann

rann ≈ Davies without attribution

2114-15 Rann (ed. 1791-): “I could play the show-man, could I discern the least amorous tendency in you.”

1793 v1793

v1793 = v1785

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

1805 Seymour

Seymour ≈ v1773 +

2114-15 Seymour (1805, pp. 178-9): <p.179> “This may refer, as Mr. Steevens observes, to the interpreters at puppet-shews; but the </p.178><p.179> immediate sense of, ‘if I could see the puppets dallying,’ is—if I could observe the agitations of your bosom. See a note upon this line in 1H4 [2.3.92 (937)]: ‘To play with mammets, and to tilt with lips.’” </p.179>

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

1819 cald1

cald1 = v1813 + Tim.//

2114 interpret] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “In Tim. the Poet says, ‘To the dumbness of the gesture One might interpret.’ [1.1.33-4 (47-8)].”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v 1813

1826 sing1

sing1 ≈ v1773 without attribution

2114-15 Singer (1826): “Every motion or puppet-show was accompanied by an interpreter or showman. Thus in the TGV [2.1.94-5 (487-8)]:—‘O excellent motion: O exceeding puppet! Now will he interpret for her.’”

1839 knt1 (nd)

knt1 ≈ v1773 without attribution

2114-15 Knight (ed. [1839] nd): “In puppet shows, which were called motions, an interpreter explained the action to the audience. See TGV 2.1 [487-88]”

1843 col1

col1 = v1773 minus //s and without attribution

2114-15 Collier (ed. 1843): “The answer of Hamlet refers, of course, to the dialogue invented for puppets in puppet-shows, which was called interpreting between them.”

1847 verp

verp ≈ v1793 (Henley)

2114-15 Steevens (apud Verplanck, ed. 1847): “Every motion or puppet-show was accompanied by an interpreter or showman.—Stevens [sic].”

1854 del2

del2

2114-15 Delius (ed. 1854): “Anspielung auf ein Puppentheater, dessen Figuren natürlich eines Dollmetschers bedurften.” [Reference to a puppet theater, whose figures naturally need an interpreter.]

1856b sing2

sing2 = sing1

1857+ mstau

mstau: Massinger, D’Avenant, P. Pennilesse analogues

2114 Staunton (ms. note in Knight, ed. 1857): “See Massinger note at p. 232. An interpreter to the puppets was one who explained what they were supposed to say. Thus in a poem by D’Avenant on a long vacation, ‘and man that whilom the Puppets play Through nose expoundeth what they say.’ [addendum] and in a simulated voice, see P. Pennilesse. p. 21.”

1858 col3

col3 = col1

1861 wh1

wh1 ≈ del2 + magenta underlined

2114-15 I could . . . dallying] White (ed. 1861): “To every puppet-show there was an interpreter. But there seems to be an allusion of another nature: ‘A voice arrests my idle ear Which from a neighb’ring thicket flyes. Drawn thither by my greedy Eyes Two loving Rogues within it lay And thus I heard the Puppets play.’ Duffett’s Poems, 1676. p. 64.”

1869 tsch

tsch

2114-5 Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Ich könnte dir auseinander setzen, was sich zwischen dich und deine Liebe gedrängt, wenn die Zwischenträger nicht so versteckt gehandelt hätten. Das Bild is der Erklärung vom Puppentheater entlehnt. Ophelia fühlt den Stich, und Hamlet giebt dem Gespräch sofort eine lascive Wendung, um sich nicht durch seine Scharfsinn zu verrathen, und um die äusserliche Decenz des Hofes zu geisseln.” [I could explain what has crowded in between you and your love, if the tale-bearers had not acted in such a concealed manner. The image is borrowed from the puppet theater. Ophelia feels the accusation, and Hamlet immediately gives the exchange a lascivious turn, so that he will not reveal himself through his cleverness and also to condemn the superficial decency of the court.]

1877 v1877

v1877 ≈ v1773, ktly

2114 interpret] Furness (ed. 1877): “Steevens: An interpreter formerly sat on the stage at all motions or puppet-shows, and interpreted to the audience. See TGV [2.1.94-5 (487-8)]; Tim. [1.1.33-4 (47-8)]. Again, in Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit, i621: ‘It was I that . . . . for seven years’ space was absolute interpreter of the puppets.”

1878 rlf1

rlf1 ≈ v1778, Schmidt (contra “critics”)

2114-15 I . . . dallying] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “Alluding to the interpreter who used to sit on the stage at puppet-shows and explain them to the audience. Cf. TGV [2.1.94-5 (487-8)] and [1.1.33-4 (47-8)]. Steevens quotes Greene, Groatsworth of Wit: ‘It was I that . . . for seven years’ space was absolute interpreter of the puppets.’ In the present passage some of the critics see an indirect meaning; but, as Schmidt remarks, it is more probable that the allusion is simply ‘to a puppet-show in which Ophelia and her lover were to play a part.’”

1881 hud3

hud3

2114 loue] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Love for lover; a very common usage.”

1883 wh2

wh2: wh1 minus Duffet analogue

2114 interpret] White (ed. 1883): “puppet shows had an introduction or chorus.”

1885 macd

macd

2114-15 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “In a puppet-play, if she and her love were the puppets, he could supply the speeches.”

1890 irv2

irv2: v1778 (TGV // and Greene analogue); elze2 (see 2115 for Elze on Nashe analogue)

2114-15 I could . . . dallying] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Compare TGV [2.1.94-5 (487-8)]: ‘O excellent motion! O exceeding puppet! Now will he interpret her.’ An interpreter, in the old puppet-shows, was the person who had charge of the dialogue. Steevens quotes Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit, 1621: ‘It was I that penned the moral of man’s wit, the dialogue of Dives, and for seven years’ space was absolute interpreter of the puppets;’ and Elze cites Nash, Pierce Pennilesse, ed. Collier, p. 21: ‘the puling accent of her voyce is like a fained treble, or ones voyce that interprets to the puppets.’”

1899 ard1

ard1 ≈ v1773)

2114-15 interpret . . . puppets] Dowden (ed. 1899): “an interpreter on the stage expounded the puppet-shows; see TGV [2.1.94-5 (487-8)]. Steevens quotes Green, Groatsworth of Wit: ‘It was I that . . . for seven years’ space was absolute interpreter of the puppets.’”

ard1

2114 your loue] Dowden (ed. 1899): “Your lover.”

1903 rlf3

rlf3=rlf1

1904 ver

ver: TGV, Tim. //s; Dekker, Jonson analogues

2114 I could interpret] Verity (ed. 1904): “An ‘interpreter’ [as he was always called] formerly sat on the stage at all puppet-shows, and interpreted to the audience.” Cf. TGV. [2.1.94-5 (487-8)] and Tim [1.1.33-4 (47-8)]. (F.) The ‘interpreter,’ in fact, carried on the dialogue as in “Punch and Judy.” The staple “argument” of the Elizabethan puppet-shows was the burlesque representation of some well-known play (Dekker saw Julius Caesar imitated), poem or contemporary event. The locus classicus is Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair, 5.3.”

1934 cam3

cam3: TGV //; xref.

2114-5 I could . . . dallying] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Referring to the showman of the puppets, who ‘recited a suitable dialogue as a accompaniment to their gestures’ (Chambers, Med. Stage, ii. 159). Cf. TGV [2.1.94-5 (487-8)] ‘O excellent motion, O exceeding puppet, now will he interpret to her.’ Both Speed and Ham. prob. imply something indecent; cf. [3.2.145-6 (2011-3)] above your love = your lover.”

1935 ev2

ev2

2114-15 Boas (ed. 1935): “If I could see you and your lover together, I could tell what was passing between you. At a puppet-show there would be someone to explain the action or perhaps speak dialogue.”

1938 parc

parc: standard

2114 interpret] Parrott and Craig (ed. 1938): “like a showman explaining the action of puppets.”

1947 cln2

cln2 = ard1 (for your loue)

1947 yal2

yal2 ≈ ver (Jonson analogue)

2114 interpret] Cross & Brooke (ed. 1947): “At puppet shows or ‘motions’ the dialogue was spoken by a person concealed behind the stage. This was called ‘interpreting’. The classic example is the ‘motion’ of Hero and Leander presented by Lanthorn Leatherhead in Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair (1614), 5.4.”

1974 evns1

evns1 ≈ ev2 + magenta underlined

2114-2115 Evans (ed. 1974): “I could speak the dialogue between you and your lover like a puppet-master (with an indecent jest).”

1980 pen2

pen2

2114 interpret] Spencer (ed. 1980): “provide dialogue (that is, act as a pander). Hamlet imagines Ophelia and a supposed lover (love) as puppets, and himself as presenter speaking the words of their play.”

1982 ard2

ard2: elze2 (see 2115 for Elze on Nashe analogue) without attribution; cam3 (TGV //, xref.) without attribution

2114-15 interpret . . . puppets dallying] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “In a puppet-show the man who ‘interprets’ is he who supplies the verbal accompaniment of the puppet action and so makes clear to the audience what is going on. Cf. Pierce Penniless, ‘like . . . one’s voice that interprets to [i.e. for] the puppets’ (Nashe, i.173); TGV 2.1.94-5 (487-8)]. So Hamlet, if he saw the love-play of Ophelia and a lover, would be able to supply dialogue for it. Cf. [3.2.145-6 (2011-3)].”

1984 chal

chal ≈ evns1

2114 interpret] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “speak the dialogue (in a puppet show).”

1987 oxf4

oxf4 ≈ yal2 (Jonson analogue); ≈ ver (TGV//)

2114 interpret betweene] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “(1) provide suitable dialogue for (2) serve as a pander to. As in a Punch and Judy show today, so in a puppet-play in Shakespeare’s day, the puppet-master or ‘master of the motions’, as he was called, ventriloquized for his puppets and was ‘the mouth of ‘em all,’ as Lantern Leatherhead puts it in Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair (5.3.78-9). The same connection between lovers and puppets is made in TGV [2.1.94-5 (487-8)], ‘O excellent motion! O exceeding puppet! Now will he interpret to her.’ Hamlet, at this point, thinks of himself as a puppet-master, because the stage audience as well as the Players are dancing to his tune; and, taking this role still further, he now proposes to give Ophelia an imaginary lover and act as their go-between.”

1997 evns2

evns2 = evns1

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: Hulme

2114-5 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “i.e. I could act as a chorus between you and your love (or lover) if I could see the puppets performing. Hamlet sees himself as a puppet-master who would interpret or provide commentary on the show. It seems possible that puppets has a sexual meaning, related to the use of ’poop’ for the vagina (see Hulme, 114); Q1 has ’poopies.’”