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.

1854 del2

del2

977 his knees knocking each other] Delius (ed. 1854): “d.h. so haftig zitterte er.” [that is, so much was he shivering.]

1950 Tilley

Tilley

977 Pale . . . shirt] Tilley (1950, C 446): “As pale (white) as a Clout c1489 Caxton Sons Aymon XIX, p. 419: Hb e [[. . . ]] became pale as a white clout for the grete wrathe that he had at his herte.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4

977-80 Pale . . . horrors] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "One recalls that the Ghost was, according to Horatio, ‘very pale’ (1.2.233 [430]); that it had been released from purgatory or the grave; and that it had spoken of horrors (1.5.2-20 [683-705]). Hamlet seems to be identifying himself with it and, simultaneously, reliving his encounter with it, whether deliberately or by imaginative compulsion it is hard to say."

oxf4: Tilley

977 Pale . . . shirt] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "Compare ‘As pale as a clout’ (Tilley C446)."

1993 Lupton&Reinhard

Lupton & Reinhard

977 Lupton & Reinhard (1993, p. 99): See their n. 51. They consider this reported appearance by Hamlet to be one of the Senecan moments in the play.

1996 Bongiorno

Bongiorno ≈ oxf4 without attribution but expanded

977-80 he comes before me] Bongiorno (1996, p. 32) In these words, “we have the third person singular pronoun ‘he’ followed by ‘comes.’ In only three other instances prior to Hamlet’s entrance into Ophelia’s room do we have a third person singular pronoun followed by the word ‘comes’ in a situation charged with terror, and each of them is a reference to the dreadful coming of the Ghost. . . . The identity between the King’s ghost and his son established, first, by the grammatical similitude intrinsic to their frightening entrances, and, second, by the congruence of their [pale demeanor and pitiable aspect] tells us that Hamlet comes [to Ophelia]—not because he is pretending to be mad, or because he is the victim of a mental disorder, but because, as in the case of the ghost of his father, he is driven by a need to find someone compassionate, as Ophelia tells us, unknowingly, ‘to speak of horrors.’ Unfortunately, seeing how terrified Ophelia is, Hamlet recognizes immediately that she cannot be trusted to share his secret, as she herself proves by her immediate flight to Polonius to tell all that had just occurred.”