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Line 621+7 - 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.

621+7 {So oft it chaunces in particuler men,}	1.4.23

1539 Taverner

Taverner: Erasmus 1500

621+7-621+22 Erasmus (1500, apud Taverner (1539, sig. M iiiv; 1569, p. 35v); “Sui culpa mores fingunt fortunam. A mans owne maners doe shape him his fortune.”

1819 cald1

cald1

621+7-621+20 So oft it chaunces . . . fault] Caldecott (ed. 1819): believes that “to connect the sentence, we must before ‘that these men’ (621+14) supply [the parallel phrase] ‘it happens’ or something to that effect.”

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1

621+7-621+20 So oft it chaunces . . . fault]

1850 Grinfield

Grinfield: Horace

621+7-621+22 Grinfield (1850, p. 30) finds an unconscious analogue in Horace Lib. II., Epist. 1: “Discit enim citiùs, meminitque libentius illud Quod quis deridet, quàm quod probat et veneratus.” And Lib I., Sat. 6: “Vitiis mediocribus, ac mea paucis, Mendosa est natura, alioqui recta; velut si Egregio inspersos reprendas corpore noevos.” Grinfield adds, “This general censure, for a particular fault, is ungenerous and unjust; one should rather say:— ‘ . . . ubi plura nitent, . . . non ego paucis Offendar maculis, quas incuria fudit, Aut humana parùm cavit natura’—Horace.”

1858 Lloyd

Lloyd

621+7- 621+22 Lloyd (1858, pp. [4-5]): <p. 4>“ . . . the efficiency of the character in its position is vitiated by partial overgrowth and consequent want of harmonious interplay and combination. This is a source of weakness of which Hamlet is perfectly aware theoretically, and he expresses it with admirable precision and force; but he knows it only speculatively and outwardly, not from self-knowledge, and if his self-examination leads him near the error that disables him, he dwells upon it too lightly to detect it, and straightway lapses into new misdirections. It is before his encounter with the ghost that he comments on the weakness of national character, and thus applies—with unknown aptness to his own constitution, though still apologetically:— [quotes 621+7-621+22]. Hamlet fails in action not because he broods too deeply on the </p. 4><p. 5> duty imposed upon him and the deed he has to do, entangled in the over-refinement of his foresight of difficulties, but rather from his aversion to brood upon it at all. His predilections are for the arts and elegancies of life, for the studies of Wittenberg, the companionship of chosen fellow students, for poetry and the play, the elegant accomplishments and exercises of his rank, riding and the use of weapons, and for meditation on men and manners, and the collection of recorded observation.” </p. 5>

1870 rug1

rug1: paraphrase; Grinfield Horace analogue without attribution

621+7-621+22 Moberly (ed. 1870) paraphrases: “Men are discredited by some congenital defect, which they can no more cure than they can a mole on their skin, by the overgrowth of some natural temper which reason cannot control, or by some acquired habit of unmannerliness. All these may be the mere outward dress in which nature clothes the man, or the result of an untoward influence of his birth-star; still common opinion judges a man, not by his real self, but by these very weaknesses. Cp. Hor. Epist. 1.1, ad finem.”

1873 rug2

rug2 = rug1

621+7-621+22

1880 Teichmann

Teichmann

621+7-621+22 Teichmann (1880, p. 5): “Now it is a fact that Shakespeare, in general, kept close to his sources, and as the French translation differs in many respects from Saxo, we ought to have from this circumstance, a means to find out the source of Hamlet, if it is to be looked for in these tales. However, apart from that general resemblance of which I have spoken already, I have found only one passage where there is a closer relation in the expression between Shakespeare and the tale; and this one speaks against Saxo. It is . . . ‘This heavy-headed revel, east and west Makes us traduc’d and tax’d of other nations: They clepe us drunkards etc.’ This Shakespearean reflexion is to be found in the translation, but not in Saxo’s text.3 And a little further on the lines ‘So oft it chances in particular men, That for some vicious mole’—down to—‘To his own scandal’4) may be thought to have relation to: Aussi il est bien vrai, que l’homme qui se laisse aller apres un vice, et forfait destestable, estant la liaison des pechez fort grande. Il ne se soucie en rien de s’abbandonner à un pire, et plus abhominable.5

3 Bellef. f. 96 B.

4 I. 4. 23-38.

5 Belleforest, f. 76 A.”

These ideas that tschisch cites as resemblances between Sh and Belleforest are rather commonplace, though, aren’t they?

1881 hud3

hud3

621+7- 621+22 Hudson (ed. 1881): “Hamlet is now wrought up to the highest pitch of expectancy; his mind is sitting on thorns; and he seeks relief from the pain of that over-intense feeling by Launching off into a strain of general and abstract reflection. His state of mind, distracted between his eager anticipation and his train of thought, aptly registers itself in the irregular and broken structure of the language.”

1885 macd

macd

621+7 particuler men] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “individuals”

1902 Reed

Reed: claims Bacon is Shakespeare, supported by Promus notebooks begun Dec. 1594.

621+7 - 621+20 oft . . . fault] Reed (1902, § 110) quotes Bacon De Augmentis 1622: “It is a very hard and unhappy condition of men pre-eminent for virtue, that their errors, be they never so trifling, are never excused. But, as in the clearest diamond, every little cloud or speck catches and displeases the eye, which in a less perfect stone would hardly be discerned, so in men of remarkable virtue the slightest faults are seen, talked of, and severely censured, which in ordinary men would either be entirely unobserved, or readily excused.”

Reed

621+7 - 621+20 oft . . . fault] Reed (1902, § 110) quotes Bacon Reply to a Speaker 1621: “The best governments, yea and the best men, are like the best precious stones, wherein every flaw, or icicle or grain is seen and noted more than in those that are generally foul and corrupted..”

Reed: Dante and Bacon compared

621+ 7- 621+20 oft . . . fault] Reed (1902, § 110): “The origin of this sentiment, at least so far as Shakespeare’s expression of it is concerned, seems to have been in Dante’s ’Convito,’ which had not been translated into English when ’Hamlet’ was re-written in 1604. It may be interesting to compare the two poets on this fine point of the moral law: [Convito] ’Now, the main is stained with some passion, which he cannot always resist; now, he is blemished by some fault of limb; now, he is soiled by the ill-fame of his parents, or of some near relation; things which Fame does not bear with her, but which hang to the man, so that he reveals them by his conversation; and these spots cast some shadow upon the brightness of goodness, so that they cause it to appear less bright and less excellent.’—Translated by Elizabeth Price Sayer.”

Compare Bacon: “The best governments, yea and the best men, are like the best precious stones, wherein every flaw, or icicle or grain is seen and noted more than in those that are generally foul and corrupted.”

1913 Adams

Adams ≈ ktly without attribution

621+7-621+22 Adams (1913, p. 41), speaking about the convoluted sentence that makes up this speech, asks, “Is it not clear that Shakespeare meant for Hamlet to speak in this labyrinthine manner? Did he not construct the sentence to show us that although Hamlet keeps on talking, his mind is not on what he is saying? Furthermore, did not Shakespeare intend for the audience to lose the thought in the maze of the sentence, and, as a result, direct its whole attention anxiously to the appearance of the ghost? The sentence, I believe, shows us Shakespeare, the conscious artist, seeking to reveal the mental state of the speaker; and then, as a by-product perhaps, to focus the attention of the audience upon the entrance of a highly important character.”

His comment continues in 621+20 doc.

1919 N&Q

Morgan

621+7-621+22 Morgan (N&Q 1919, p. 115): “. . . the explicit meaning of the passage . . . applies only to what others think, not to what in fact is. ‘There virtues else . . . Shall in the general censure take corruption From that particular fault.’ That is, not that the fault has actually corrupted the man, but that people think it has. Forrest Morgan.”

1935 Wilson

Wilson WHH

621+7-621+22 Wilson (1935, pp. 206-7) < p. 206> supposes this Q2-only speech to be a clue to the whole play. </ p. 206> < p. 207> Ham. shows he is thinking of himself by moving from the plural men to man. </p. 207>

Ed. note: In an added note in 1937, p. 339, he says that Granville-Baker agrees and says that an actor can show this subtext (51).

1939 kit2

kit2: standard + analogue

621+7 in particuler men] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "in the case of individuals (precisely as in the case of whole nations, which so far Hamlet has been considering). It is interesting to compare Hamlet’s eloquent moralizing with Nashe’s reflections on the same vice of drunkenness:

’A mightie deformer of mens manners and features, is this vnnecessary vice of all other. Let him bee indued with neuer so many vertues, and haue as much goodly proportion and favour as nature can bestow vpon a man: yet if hee be thirstie after his owne destruction, and hath no ioy nor comfort, but when he is drowning his soule in a gallon pot, that one beastly imperfection will vtterlie obscure all that is commendable in him; and all his good qualities sinke like lead down to the bottome of his carrowsing cups, where they will lie, like lees and dregges, dead and vnregarded of any man" (Pierce Penilesse, 1590, ed. McKerrow, I, 205)." "

1953 Alexander

Alexander

621+7-621+20 So . . . fault] Alexander (lecture 1953, published 1955, pp. 37-45, 50-2, 57) <p. 37> objects to the prologue spoken by Olivier in his 1948 film, taken from 621+7-621+20 and followed by the statement, “This is the tragedy of a man who could not make up his mind,” </p. 40> <p. 41> which suggests that Ham. unwittingly reveals his own tragic flaw. Alexander also objects to the definition of Aristotle’s hamartia. </p. 41> <p. 43> Alexander notes that Ham. speaks these lines in scene 4 before he knows he has a duty to do. The lines are invoked by the sounds of merriment from below and give Sh. the opportunity to deplore the Danes’s drinking habits. </p. 43> <p. 44> The king is never drunk when he’s in view, but Hamlet’s speech helps us to see him as self-indulgent. Ham. ranges widely, from defects of nature to defects of fortune, </p. 44> <p. 45> and thus hardly means one fatal flaw. In discussing hamartia, Alexander points out that scholars disagree about its meaning </p. 45> <p. 50> In a discursive discussion, Alexander refutes Bradley, who </p. 50> <p. 51> believes that the tragic hero contributes to his downfall, </p. 51> <p. 52> even if the so-called sin is not commensurate with the punishment. </p. 57> Alexander continues to discuss catharsis, hamartia, and areté throughout most of his book.

Ed. note: See Kliman, 1988, pp. 29 and 36 n. 7 (on website in Criticism section).

1980 pen2

pen2

621+7 particuler men] Spencer (ed. 1980): “individuals.”

1982 ard2

ard2: Nashe; Greene

621+7- 621+22 Jenkins (ed. 1982): “With this whole passage cf. the comment on the effect of drunkenness in Nashe’s Pierce Penniless, (1: 205): ’A mighty deformer of men’s manners and features, is this unnecessary vice of all other. Let him be indued with never so many virtues, and have as much goodly proportion and favour as nature can bestow upon a man: yet if he be thirsty after his own destruction, and hath no joy nor comfort, but when he is drowning his soul in a gallon pot, that one beastly imperfection will utterly obscure all that is commendable in him; and all his good qualities sink like lead down to the bottom of his carousing cups, where they will lie, like lees and dregs, dead and unregarded of any man.’ What Nashe says of drunkenness, Shakespeare extends from drunkenness to any vice. On his indebtedness Nashe see also CN 621+4 and ard2 Intro., pp. 104-6. Cf. also Greene’s Pandosto, ’One mole staineth a whole face: and what once spotted with infamy can hardly be worn out with time; (Greene, 4: 250). The present passage also recalls one in Belleforest’s summing-up on Hamlet, who ’showed himself admirable in everything, if one spot alone had not darkened a good part of his praises.’”

ard2:

621+7 particuler men] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “individuals (the previous sentence having been concerned with the case of a whole people).”

1987 oxf4

oxf4: Nashe

621+7-621+22 Hibbard (ed. 1987): "There is a marked resemblance between these lines and the following passage from Nashe’s Pierce Penilesse: ‘A mighty deformer of men’s manners and features is this unnecessary vice [drunkenness] of all other. Let him [any man] be endued with never so many virtues, and have as much goodly proportion and favour as nature can bestow upon a man, yet if he be thrust after his own destruction, and hath no joy nor comfort but when he is drowning his soul in a gallon pot, that one beastly imperfection will utterly obscure all that is commendable in him; and all his good qualities sink like lead down to the bottom of his carousing cups, where they will lie, like lees and dregs, dead and unregarded of any man’ (Nashe, i.205.23-33)."

oxf4

621+7 particuler men] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "individuals (as distinct from nations)."

1987 Mercer

Mercer

621+7 - 621+22 Mercer (1987, pp. 161-3): <p.161> “ . . . It is now generally agreed that the speech is essentially a moralising observation on the ironies of fame and reputation rather than a frank confession, or even an oblique acknowledgement, of any inward flaw in Hamlet himself </p.161> <p.162>. . . . This lecture on the perils of reputation has the same kind of leisurely circumlocution, the same looping and meandering syntax, as we saw [in the discourse of the first scene]. . . . </p. 162> <p. 163> We may well wonder already whether someone who discourses as readily as Hamlet, who has his being in a world so full of talk, of conversations, disquisitions, narratives, expositions, of such broad and ample expatiation, can ever hope to achieve the terrible amplification of emotion and language, the monstrous concentration of force, that revenge requires. That may indeed be the question.” </p.163>

1992 fol2

fol2: standard

621+7 So] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “in the same way”

fol2: standard

621+7 oft it chaunces in] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “it often happens with”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: Dent; Nosworthy

621+7-621+22 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “This is a difficult section of the speech which comes to a climax with one of the most notoriously obscure passages in the entire canon. The general drift is clear enough and even proverbial: ’One ill condition mars all the good’ (Dent, C585). Hamlet is elaborating on the idea that a single fault (some vicious mole, the stamp of one defect or finally that particular fault) can corrupt or destroy the reputation of an individual person as the fault of drunkenness destroys the reputation of the Danes as a nation. But the long sentence from [627+7] to [621+22] is convoluted and some details of the expression are complex. It has been argued, especially by those who think Shakespeare intended to delete these lines, that he gave up on the speech, leaving it unfinished (see Nosworthy, Occasional, 141). If so, it deserves attention as an example of an unrevised draft, illustrating perhaps that Shakespeare wrote in phrases and metre first and left sorting out the structure and syntax until later.”

ard3q2: standard

621+7 So] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “in the same way”