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Line 888 - 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.”

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Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman

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

888 <Actus Secundus.>	..

1885 macd

macd

888 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Between this act[two] and the former, sufficient time has passed to allow the ambassadors to go to Norway and return: [1064]. See [1982], and what Hamlet says of the time since his father’s death, [322-31], by which together the interval seems indicated as about two months, though surely so much time was not necessary.

“Cause and effect must be truly presented; time and space are mere accidents, and of small consequence in the drama, whose very idea is compression for the sake of presentation. All that is necessary in regard to time is, that, either by the act-pause, or the intervention of a fresh scene, the passing of it should be indicated.

“This second act occupies the forenoon of one day.”

Ed. note: Without changes of scenery and a curtain dropping between acts, the time scheme iseven less in the forefront of the presentation.

188_ rossi

rossi

888 added: Hall in Castle Rossi (ed. 188-), which like most players texts omits the Reynaldo scene, places the scene in a hall in the castle, preparing for Ophelia’s encounter with Hamlet. At the end of the scene, right after Polonius says, in the Rossi translation, “Go you to your room,” the king and others enter (“Here’s the king.”), presumably not seeing her leaving.

1904 Bradley

Bradley

888, 1006-7 Bradley (1904, rpt. 2007, p. 114, n. 20) explains the time lapse between the two acts, which may be unnoticed by reader or audience, referring to Ophelia’s statement later in the scene that she “did repell his letters, and denied His access to me.”

1939 kit2

kit2: on time

888 Kittredge (ed. 1939): "Between Acts I and II, the interval cannot be more than six or eight weeks. Since the departure of Laertes [553] time enough has elapsed for his father to think a remittance seasonable and for Ophelia to have ’repelled’ Hamlet’s letters and ’denied his access to her [1006, 1007]. The interval cannot be long, for when the play begins Hamlet’s father had been dead for about two months [322] and scene ii in Act III takes place only four months after the murder [1982]. In the meantime, Hamlet has been acting the madman and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been summoned in haste [1024]."

1980 pen2

pen2

888 Spencer (ed. 1980): “Some time has elapsed: Laertes has arrived in Paris and is settling down there; Ophelia has repelled Hamlet’s letters and denied His access (lines 109-10); the King already knows of Hamlet’s transformation (2.2.5) and has summoned Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This scene reveals that the King’s chief minister is skilful at organizing spying—in this case, upon his own son. So Hamlet’s danger, and the justification of his putting on an antic disposition are understandable.”

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

888 Bevington (ed. 1988): “Location: Polonius’ chambers. ”