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Line 2759-61 - 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. Click here for more information about browsing the entries and here for more information about the special symbols used in Hamletworks. Click the question mark icon above to remove this help message.

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

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

2759-60 {Hora.} <Qu.> Twere good she were spoken with, \| for shee may strew

2760-1 Dangerous coniectures | in ill breeding mindes,

2761 Let her come in.

1736 Stubbs

Stubbs: warb, theo1

2759-61 Stubbs (1736, p. 36-37) <p.36> “The Scenes of Ophelia’s Madness are to me very shocking, in so noble a Piece as this. I am not against </p/36><p.37> her having been represented mad; but surely, it might have been done with less Levity and more Decency. Mistakes are less tolerable from such a Genius as Shakespeare’s, and especially in the very Pieces which give us such strong Proofs of his exalted Capacity. Mr. Warburton’s note (in Mr. Theobalds) on Laertes’s Rebellion, is very judicious, (as indeed are all those of that Gentleman) only I cannot think Laertes (for Reasons I have given) a good Character.” <p.37>

1780 malsi

malsi

2759-61 [Blackston]e (apud Malone, 1780, p. 58): “I think the first two lines of Horatio’s speech belong to him, the rest to the queen.”

1785 v1785

v1785 = malsi

1790 mal

mal = v1785 +

2759 ‘Twere good] Malone (ed. 1759): “In the quarto, the Queen, Horatio, and a Gentleman, enter at the beginning of this scene. The two speeches, ‘She is importunate,’ &c. and ‘She speaks much of her father,’ &c. are there given to the Gentleman, and the line now before us, as well as the two following, to Horatio: the remainder of this speech to the queen. I think it probable that the regulation proposed by Sir. W. Blackstone was that intended by Shakspeare. Malone.”

1793 v1793

v1793 = mal

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

1857 dyce1

dyce1

2759-62 Dyce (ed. 1857): “At the commencement of the scene the quartos, 1604, &c. have ‘Enter Horatio, Gertrad, and a gentleman;’ and, up to this point, they make the dialogue pass between the Queen and the ‘Gentleman.’ They then have,—‘Hora. ‘Twere good she were spoken with, for she may strew Dangerous coniectures in ill-breeding mindes, Let her come it. Enter Ophelia. Quee. To my sicke soule, as sinnes true nature is,’ &c.

“The folio omits the ‘Gentleman,’ and as far as ‘Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily’ inclusive, distrubutes the speeches as in the present edition. It then has,—‘Qu. ‘Twere good she were spoken with For she may strew dangerous coniectures In ill breeding minds. Let her come in. To my sicke soule (as sinne’s true Nature is),’ &c.—There certainly is room for suspecting that the omission of the ‘Gentleman’ is to be attributed to the players. But be that as it may, there can be no doubt that if a modern editor adheres to the folio in omitting the ‘Gentleman,’ he ought to restore to Horatio (what comes very awkwardly from the Queen),— ‘Twere good she were spoken with, for she may strew Dangerous conjectures in il-breeding minds;’ and that, whether he chooses to retain or omit the ‘Gentleman,’ he ought to make the Queen’s speech commence with ‘Let her come in.’”

1857 fieb

fieb: contra mal, Blackstone(malsI);

2760 strew] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “In the quarto, the Queen, Horatio, and a Gentleman, enter at the beginning of this scene. The two speeches, ‘She is importunate,’ etc. and ‘She speaks much of her father,’ etc. are there given to the Gentleman, and the line now before us, as well as the two following, to Horatio: the remainder of this speech to the Queen. Sir W. Blackstone and Malone think it probable, that the two first lines of the Queen’s speech (‘Twere good, etc.) belong to Horatio; the rest to her. However, we have given the regulation as it stands in the folio, which has been adopted by most editors.”

1860 stau

stau

2761 Let her come in] Staunton (ed. 1860): “In the quartos, these words are mistakenly attached to Horatio’s speech: and in the folio, the two previous lines are assigned to the Queen.”

1866a dyce2

dyce2 = dyce1

1866b cam1

cam1: survey of emendations on line assignments

2759-61 Clark and Wright (ed. 1866): “Rowe followed the Folios; Pope, Theobald, Warburton, and Capell, the Quartos. Hanmer continues the lines ‘’Twere good . . . minds’ to the Gentleman who had spoken the previous lines, and gives ‘Let her come in &c.’ to the Queen. Johnson follows Hanmer’s distribution of the speeches, but substitutes ‘Hor.’ for ‘Gent.’ in lines 2 and 4; the arrangement proposed by Blackstone. Steevens (v1773) assigned the speech ‘’Twere good . . . spilt’ (14-20) to Horatio, but restored it to the Queen in his next edition. Mr. Grant White follows the Folios in giving the whole Speech to the Queen, but marks ‘’Twere good...minds’ as spoken aside, and ‘Let...in’ ‘To Hor.’”

1868 c&mc

c&mc

2759-61 Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868, rpt. 1878): “These two concluding lines of Horatio’s speech are made, in the Folio, the commencement of the queen’s next speech; but the Quartos show, as well as the sense of the words themselves, that they belong to Horatio.”

1870 Abbott

Abbott

2759 she were] Abbott (1870, §461): “‘[S]he were’ is contracted in pronunciation: ‘’Twere good / she were spo / ken with: / for she / may strew.’”

1872 hud2

hud2

2759-61 Twere . . . mindes] Hudson (ed. 1872): “In the folio, the next two lines are printed as part of the Queen’s speech. The quartos assign them to Horatio, and the sense of them clearly favours that order.”

1872 cln1

cln1: v1785 (line assignment) ; ≈ cam1 (abbreviated), v1778

2759-65 Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “The quartos continue Horatio’s speech to include the words ‘lether comed in.’ The folios give the whole from ‘‘Twere good’ to ‘spilt,’ to the Queen. the arrangement in the text was first suggested by Blackstone.”

cln1

2761 ill breeding mindes] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “minds that conceive mischief.”

cln1: v1778 (Lyly analogue)

1877 v1877

v1877 ≈ Walker, Abbott

2759 she were] Furness (ed. 1877): “Walker (Crit. ii, 202): Thou wert (sometimes written in the old poets Th’wert), you were, I was, &c., occur frequently in places where it is clear they must have been pronounced as one syllable, in whatever manner the contraction was effected. [See also Abbott, 461.]”

1877 dyce3

dyce3 = dyce2

1878 rlf1

rlf1 = Schmidt

2761 ill breeding] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “= ‘hatching mischief (Schmidt).”

1881 hud3

hud3: han

2759-61 Twere . . . mindes] Hudson (ed. 1881): “The quartos assign all this to Horatio; the folio gives it all to the Queen. The first two lines clearly ought not to be spoken by the Queen; and there can be little doubt that, as Hanmer judged, her speech ought to begin with ‘Let her come in’; which of course marks her final yielding to Horatio’s urgent request.”

1882 elze2

elze2

2761 Let her come in] Elze (ed. 1882): “In Q2 these words are given to Horatio in whose mouth they are by no means misplaced; yet it would seem that they come more naturally from that of the Queen.”

1885 macd

macd

2759 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “—changing her mind on Horatio’s representation. At first she would not speak with her.”

macd

2761 breeding mindes] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “‘minds that breed evil.’”

1889 Barnett

Barnett

2761 ill breeding mindes] Barnett (1889, p. 56): “minds that breed evil thoughts.”

1891 dtn

dtn

2760 strew] Deighton (ed. 1891): “unintentionally suggest.”

dtn

2761 ill breeding mindes] Deighton (ed. 1891): “minds always ready to conceive evil, to put the worst construction upon anything said.”

1903 rlf3

rlf3 = rlf1 for ill breeding (2761)

1929 trav

trav: contra Q2

2761 Let . . . in] Travers (ed. 1929): “Q2 gives these words to Horatio; but the Queen’s total passiveness, to the point of giving no order herself, seems improbable.”

1930 Granville-Barker

Granville-Barker

2761 Let her . . . fearing to be spylt] Granville-Barker (1930, rpt. 1946, 1: 230): At this point she is “sick of soul and conscious of guilt.”

1931 crg1

crg1

2761 ill breeding minds] Craig (ed. 1931): “minds bent on mischief.”

1934 Wilson

Wilson: xref.

2761 Wilson (1934, rpt. 1963, 2:189): “See n. [4.5.154-202 (2903-51)].”

1934 cam3

cam3: MSH

2761-5 Let her come in] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Q2 assigns this to ‘Hora.’; MSH. p. 189.”

1939 kit2

kit2

2759-61 Kittredge (ed. 1939): “It is significant that Horatio is a trusted (though unofficial) adviser at court.”

kit2

2761 ill breeding mindes] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “breeding evil; prone to evil thoughts.”

1947 yal2

yal2

2761 ill breeding] Cross & Brooke (ed. 1947): “plotting ill.”

1974 evns1

evns1

2761 ill breeding] Evans (ed. 1974): “conceiving ill thoughts, prone to think the worst.”

1980 pen2

pen2

2760 Dangerous coniectures] Spencer (ed. 1980): “(about the murder of Polonius and ill-treatment of herself).”

pen2

2761 Let her come in] Spencer (ed. 1980): “Q2 attributes these words to Horatio. If this were retained, the Queen must give some silent assent to Horatio’s request.”

1982 ard2

ard2 ≈ crg1

2760-1 ill breeding] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “prone to breed evil, mischief-making.”

ard2: xref.; MLR

2761 Quee. Let her come in.] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Only the ‘Queen can give this order: I infer that some misunderstanding of the copy led Q2 to put the speech-heading a line too late. Similar mislining of the speech-heading occurs at [4.5.153 (2904)] below, [3.4.52 (2435)]. See MLR, liv, 391-3.”

1984 chal

chal

2759-60 vnhappily] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “with adverse implications.”

chal ≈ kit2

2760-1 ill breeding] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “i.e. breeding ill.”

1988 bev2

bev2 ≈ evns1

2760-1 ill breeding] Bevington (ed. 1988): “prone to suspect the worst and make mischief.”

1993 dent

dent: xref.

2760 strew] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Spread. This verb, which echoes straw, will recur in [5.1.246 (3438)].”

dent: xrefs.

2761 ill breeding mindes] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Minds inclined to thoughts that might endanger the security of the throne. Horatio is advising the Queen to allow Ophelia to be admitted. Compare [2.2.181-82 (1218-19)], [3.2.314-315 (2185-86)].”

1997 evns2

evns2 = evns1

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

2759-61 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “F gives this speech to the Queen. Jenkins gives [2759-60] to Horatio but [2761] to the Queen on the grounds that ’Only the Queen can give this order.’ If Horatio retains [2761] it is presumably spoken as a request to which the Queen must give some sign of assent. The role of Horatio continues to be puzzling: the fact that he is Hamlet’s close friend and confidant does not seem to make the King suspicious of him.”

ard3q2

2759 strew] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “distribute. i.e. incite.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

2761 ill-breeding] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “formenting evil.”

ard3q2

2761 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “ Let her come in implies that someone leaves the stage in order to admit Ophelia; this would seem to be the intended function of Q2’s Gentleman.”