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Line 97 - 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 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman

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

97 At least the whisper goes so; our last King,	1.1.80

1857 elze1

elze1: Belleforest

97-112 our last King . . . fell to Hamlet] Elze (ed. 1857) points out that the Belleforest differs from the Saxo Grammaticus here and he quotes: “Ce Roy magnanime (nämlich Coller) ayant defié au combat, corps à corps, Horvvendille y fut receu avec pactes, que celuy qui seroit vaincu perdroit toutes les richesses qui seroyent en leurs vaisseaux, et le vainqueur feroit enterrer honnestement celuy qui seroit occis au combat, car la mort estoit le pris et salaire de celuy, qui perdoit la bataille.”

1891 dtn1

dtn1

97 the . . . so] Deighton (ed. 1891): “it is whispered that the reason of all this is such as I will relate to you.”

1929 trav

trav

97-124 our . . . . land] Travers (ed. 1929) thinks that this passage derives from the earlier Ham. play. “In manner, in phrasing, and chiefly by the elaborate articulation of the two long-drawn sentences of which it is made up, it seems intended largely to imitate, in verse, the slow, learned, unlovely, but proportionately impressive, style of the law. Cp. Voltimand’s official report of his embassy [1085-1105].”

1929 trav

trav

97 At least] Travers (ed. 1929): “Habitual and gradual suspension of belief, in the absence of full evidence, is characteristic both of Horatio’s temperament (cp. [1904-25] ) and of his intellectual training (cp. e.g. [33, 83-4, 154-5, 164]).”

1980 pen2

pen2

97-124 Spencer (ed. 1980) comments on Danish strength, evidenced in successes against Norway, and reinforced by “the success of the diplomatic pressure on the King of Norway” [206, 1085] and the reference to Danish power over England [2724].

1987 oxf4

oxf4

97 whisper] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “rumour—an under-theme in the play as a whole.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

97 whisper] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “rumour. This might suggest that Horatio is not after all speaking from personal knowledge.”

ard3q2: xref; List of Roles; Nunn

97-112 our . . . Hamlet] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “It becomes apparent at [3334-52] that the events Horatio recounts happened 30 years before the play begins, though one might otherwise suppose that they were recent and that Horatio was old enough to remember them. His confident knowledge of Danish politics here might suggest he is a local, but in the next scene Hamlet greets him as a fellow student on a visit from Wittenberg (see List of Roles, 10n.). One recent production, directed by Trevor Nunn at London’s Old Vic in 2004, avoided this problem by transferring these lines to Barnardo.”