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.

1869 tsch

tsch: xref.

2066 Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Dieselben Dinge, die den Freudigen zur Ausgelassenheit, können den Kummervollen zu den schwersten Klagen stimmen, wie das Beispiel des lustigen Königs und des trauernden Prinzen zeigt; ein geringfügiger Umstand kann dagegen den Betrübten erheitern, den Lustigen verstimmen. Erklärt wird dieser Wechsel aus der Instabilität alles Irdischen (This world is not for aye), der auch unsere Affecte unterworfen sind, so dass selbst die L i e b e sich vom Glück ebenso leicht bestimmen lässt, wie der bare Egoismus. Der Inhalt dieses Passus documentirt sich deutlich als jene 12 - 16 Zeilen, die Hamlet in das Stück einschieben wollte. Der l e t z t e G e d a n k e wurde seinem Inhalte nach bereits 2.2.380 ff. vom Prinzen Rosencrantz und Guildenstern gegenüber ausgesprochen.” [The same things that move a joyful person to exuberance can bring a troubled one to heavy mourning, as the example of the happy king and the depressed prince shows. A small matter can, on the other hand, cheer the sad one and make the cheerful one out of sorts. These changes are explained on the basis of the instability of all worldly things (This world is not for aye), which also controls our emotions so that love can be influenced by good or bad fortune just as easily as pure egotism. The content of this passage is clearly documented as those 12 to 16 lines that Hamlet wanted to insert in the play. The content of the last thought had been expressed already in [2.2.378 (1425)] ff. by the prince to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.]

1870 rug1

rug1

2066-7 Moberly (ed. 1870): “The very temper that is cast down with grief is also most capable of joy; and passes from one to the other with slenderest cause.”

1873 rug2

rug = rug1

1877 v1877

v1877 = rug1

1891 dtn

dtn ≈ rug1

2066-7 Deighton (ed. 1891): “excessive indulgence in joy is followed by excessive abandonment to grief: laughter and tears are divided by the thinnest partition.”

1939 kit2

kit2

2066 Where] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “in persons in whom, etc.; i.e., in persons of an emotional temperament.”

1988 bev2

bev2 ≈ rug1

2066-7 Bevington (ed. 1988): “i.e., the capacity for extreme joy and grief go together, and often one extreme is instantly changed into its opposite on the slightest provocation.”