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Line 770 - 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.

770 Tain’t not thy minde, nor let thy soule contriue	1.5.85

1733 Gent. Mag.

Anon.[Auditor] (Cave, the editor?)

770-2 Anon. [Auditor] (Gent. Mag. 3 [1733]:114): “Shakespeare has found room for Pity, where he would have been excusable had he shewn the greatest Hardness of Heart. This appears in the Words he put into the Mouth of the Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, when he bids him revenge his Murder: ‘But howsoever thou pursu’est this Act, Taint not thy Mind, nor let thy Soul contrive Against thy Mother, ought.—Oh! step between her and her fighting Soul.’ [669-71, 2493] Yet Hamlet’s Mother committed Adultery, and murder’d her Husband.”

1746 Upton

Upton: Sophocles

770-2 Upton (1746, 1:49-50): “ <p. 49> “Divine justice at length overtakes the tyrant in his secrest hours, and the poet is true to the cause of virtue.

“The Electra of Sophocles, in many instances, is not very unlike the Hamlet of Shakespeare. Aegysthus and Clytemnestra, having murthered the former king, were in possession of the crown, when Orestes returned from Phocis, where he </p. 49> <p. 50> had been privately sent by his sister Electra. These two contrive, and soon after effect the punishment of the murtherers. Electra is a Grecian woman, of a masculine and generous disposition of mind; she had been a witness of the wickedness of those two miscreants, who had barbarously plotted the death of her father, the renowned Agamemnon: his ghost called for justice; and she herself, rather than they shall escape, will be the instrument of vengeance. Thus when Clytemnestra calls out to Orestes, ’O son, O son, have mercy on thy mother! [from within. Electra replys, ’For thee she felt no mercy, or thy father. Clyt. Oh, I’m wounded. [from within. Elect. Double the blow, Orestes.’ There is a vast affectation of lenity in mankind: and I am inclin’d to believe that an English audience would scarcely hear this Grecian character. Soon after Orestes kills Aegysthus, and, that this piece of justice may be greater expiation to the manes of the murdered king, he kills him in the same place where Aegysthus had killed Agamemnon.” </p.50>

1752 Dodd

Dodd: rowe, gildon, Upton

770-1 nor . . . heauen] Dodd (1752, 1: 230): “The author, in this noble sentiment, doubtless alluded to the well-known story of Orestes, and his mother Clytemnestra. It would be unnecessary to say any thing concerning the similarity of this play to the celebrated Electra of Sophocles; as I believe, there is scarce an editor or commentator on Shakespear, that has not mentioned something concerning it. The reader, if he thinks proper, may consult Mr. Rowe’s Life of the author, (toward the end) or Mr. Gildon’s Remarks on Hamlet, or rather, perhaps, than either, Mr. Upton’s Observations, p. 49, 2d ed. It will too, possibly, be thought as unnecessary to add, that it is reported, all this fine scene, was written by Shakspear, in a charnel-house.”

Ed. note: Of course the great difference is that Sh’s ghost calls for Hamlet to leave his mother to heaven.

1773 gent

gent

770-2 Gentleman (ed. 1773): “the warning not to bear resentment, inculcates a regard for the living, after nature’s debt is paid.”

1843 MacDonell

MacDonell

770-2 MacDonell (1843, p. 36): the Ghost “obviously implies her guilt.”

1854 del2

del2

770 Tain’t . . . minde] Delius (ed. 1854): “Der Sinn dieser Worte ergiebt sich aus dem, was unmittlebar daraf folgt.” [The sense of these words is revealed by what immediately follows.]

1859 Werder

Werder

770-2 Werder (1859, trans. 1907, p. 82) believes she had no part in the murder and knows nothing of it.

1870 rug1

rug1

770-1 Moberly (ed. 1870): “Thus Shakspere avoids the height of tragic horror which AEschylus boldly fronts . . . in forcing Orestes by inevitable divine command to kill his mother with his own hand. Indeed, the queen in Hamlet may possibly be ignorant of her husband’s murder: certainly was not like Clytemnestra, the chief agent in it.”

1872 Hudson

Hudson ≈ Werder (whom he quotes)

770 See n. 769-70.

1873 rug2

rug2 = rug1

770-1 tain’t . . . ought]

1884 NSS Transactions

Seeley: 2493

770-1 Seeley (1884, p. 492): Though the ghost’s reappearance in the closet scene is ostensibly to urge Hamlet on (TLN 2491), it is motivated, says Seeley, by the ghost’s tender regard for his wife. Hamlet is forgetting the ghost’s admonition not to "contrive Against thy mother ought" (TLN 770-1).

1885 macd

macd

770-1 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Note the tenderness towards his wife that follows—more marked [2493]; here it is mingled with predominating regard to his son to whose filial nature he dreads injury.”

1939 kit2

kit2

770 Kittredge (ed. 1939): "The Ghost does not accuse the Queen of complicity in the murder; indeed, the context seems to exonerate her in that regard. But Hamlet, when he considers the matter, is still in doubt, and he is not satisfied of her innocence until [2411], when her words and bearing prove that she has no suspicion that Claudius is a murderer."

1965 Pollin

Pollin

770 Tain’t not thy minde] Pollin (1965, p. 247): the ghost may be warning Hamlet not against harming his mother but against “a deterioration into frenzy.”

1977 Teaching Sh.

Beckerman

770-3 Beckerman (1977, p. 306): "The charge to Hamlet is for him, as a man, to punish Claudius but for heaven and not man to punish Gertrude. It is a double-edged demand upon Hamlet, a condition evident to the playgoers if they recall his opening soliloquy expressing horror at his mother’s marriage to his uncle."

1980 Frye, Northrop

Frye

770-1 Frye (1980, p. 87): “The Ghost tells him that he must focus on Claudius and stop brooding abut Gertrude. ’Taint not thy mind,’ he says, apparently not realizing how much it’s tainted already, and ’leave her to heaven,’ again not a reassuring recommendation coming from him.”

1982 ard2

ard2: WHH; Semper; Sister Miriam Joseph; Siegel

770 Tain’t . . . minde] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “i.e. with evil thoughts. Most commentators, no doubt guided by the F punctuation, appear to take this as an injunction complete in itself. As such, in contrast with the Ghost’s speech elsewhere, it is less than explicit. (Cf. A Shrew, 16.97, ’Taint not your princely mind with grief.’) Dover Wilson understands it as a warning against loss of mental control (WHH, pp. 46, 209), others as enjoining Hamlet to avoid ignoble passion. I. J. Semper cites Aquinas to the effect that an act of justice may become sinful if hatred mingles in its execution (Hamlet without Tears [1946], pp. 19-21. See Summa, 2.2.Q108a1). Sister Miriam Joseph argues that Hamlet may avoid such ’taint’ by undertaking vengeance as God’s agent rather than in personal vindictiveness (PMLA, 76: 501). But though Hamlet later refers to himself as heaven’s ’minister’ (2551), it is difficult to read such an idea into the present context. What the Ghost has appealed to is Hamlet’s natural feelings as a son (708, 766); and the same ’nature’ as stirs Hamlet to avenge his father would bid him spare his mother (cf. 2265). Punctuation notwithstanding, it seems best to regard ’Taint not thy mind’ as part of the injunction concerning Hamlet’s attitude to his mother, parallel with ’nor let thy soul contrive’. He is neither to cherish animosity nor to take action against her (cf. P. N. Siegel, PMLA 78: 149). The distinction between vengeance on the murderer and forbearance towards the guilty wife is also found in Antonio’s Revenge.”

1985 cam4

cam4

770 Tain’t not thy minde] Edwards (ed. 1985): "Do not let your mind become affected or blemished. But does the Ghost mean this in a moral or in a physical sense? Does he fear that Hamlet may become corrupted in pursuing revenge, or that the burden of revenge may overtax his mind? Perhaps it is a moral rather than a mental breakdown which is uppermost in the Ghost’s mind. Either way, the Ghost’s prohibition is a tall order. How is Hamlet to carry out so formidable a task without mental and emotional damage? In Philaster 1.1.202, the sentence ’Sure he’s somewhat tainted’ refers to mental disturbance."

1987 oxf4

oxf4

770 Tain’t . . . minde] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "don’t allow your mind to be corrupted (by contact with the wickedness of Claudius). Compare [Cym. 5.4.63-6 (3104-6)], ‘Why did you suffer Iachimo, Slight thing of Italy, To taint his nobler heart and brain With needless jealousy’. The quality of Hamlet’s mind that is insisted on throughout the play is its nobility. What the Ghost says is in effect: ‘Take revenge on Claudius, but on no account stoop to his ignoble methods.’ He thus presents the hero with the dilemma that is at the heart of revenge tragedy: how is the nobility of the successful avenger to be preserved?"

1990 SQ

Schleiner

770-1 Schleiner (1990, p. 37): “Shakespeare’s Hamlet is much more a version--even a purposive revision--of Orestes than of Oedipus. Hamlet is at no risk of marrying or having sex with his mother. He is at considerable risk of killing her. [Quotes 770-1.]”

1991 SQ

Rose

770-3 Rose (1991, p. 305): “If Gertrude’s desire is represented and problematized in Hamlet, her authority and responsibility are not. [Quotes 770-3], the Ghost warns Hamlet, articulating at an early point in the action the ambiguity that surrounds Gertrude’s guilt, knowledge, and collusion throughout the play and is never resolved. quotation.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

770 Tain’t . . . minde] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “do not let your mind become contaminated. It is of course a major point of discussion whether Hamlet’s mind does become tainted in the course of the play . . . .”

2008 Barry Kraft

Kraft

770 Tain’t not thy minde] Kraft (2008, private communication): “By saying these words and those that follow the ghost is, whether Shakespeare means to have him do it on purpose or inadvertently, making it impossible for Hamlet to avoid thinking of his mother: whenever someone says ’don’t think of’ X’ people will automatically think of X. And soon enough Hamlet is tainting his mind against his mother: ’O most pernicious woman’ (790).”