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.

1736 Stubbs

Stubbs

2136 Stubbs (1736, p. 32): “The King’s rising with such Precipitation, and quitting the Play upon seeing the Resemblance of his own foul Crime, is very much in Nature, and confirms the Penetration of our Author’s Hero.”

1875 Marshall

Marshall

2136-7 Marshall (1875, p. 161): “Claudius does not rise till the end of [Hamlet’s] speech, and for a moment he is unable to speak. The Queen evidently thinks that he is going to swoon, which very likely was not far from the truth; but he recovers himself by a great effort, and, calling for lights, hurries away: now Hamlet can let loose his pent-up excitement. . . .”

1885 macd

macd

2136 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “in ill suppressed agitation.”

1939 kit2

kit2

2132-5 Kittredge (ed. 1939): “Hamlet says this without any show of excitement, as if he were merely explaining the play to spectators who were not at all touched in conscience by its incidents.”

1953 Joseph

Joseph

2136 Joseph (1953, p. 87): Ophelia says this line in spite of the fact that it’s not her “duty to arrange the etiquette of the court [which required all to rise when the king did], . . . [it was] her father’s office.” Shakespeare thus impresses upon us that the others, including Polonius, except Hamlet and Horatio, are too deep in the play to notice the king’s reaction. Joseph does not think that the king gives himself away to an on-stage audience.

1982 ard2

ard2

2136 Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Cf. an actual incident when, as a result of a ‘scandalous representation’ before Elisabeth ‘the Queen was so angry that she at once entered her chamber using strong language, and the men who held torches . . . left [the actors] in the dark’ (Cal.S.P,.Spanish,1558-67, p.375).”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: Jenkins

2136-7 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Jenkins includes Hamlet’s additional line from Q1/F, presumably on the grounds that it was an accidental omission in Q2.”