Line 2203-04 - 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.
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Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
| 2203-4 Ham. We shall obey, were she ten times our mother, | haue you any | |
|---|
| 2204 further trade with vs? | 3.2.334 |
|---|
1729-36? theol
theol: R2 //
2203 ten times our mother] Theobald (ms. letter, p. 47v in W.b.74; rpt. Nichols, Illus, 2:528) referring to “Had I three ears, I’d hear thee”: “I remember, our Poet has express’d himselfe much more oddly in Ham. p. 269. We shall obey, were she ten times our Mother,—which I don[’t] very well understand.—Tis the very Reverse of that easie & intelligible way of Expressing, which we meet with in R2 [5.3.101-2 (2476-7)]. —were he twenty times My Son, I would appeach him.”
Transcribed by BWK.
1765 john1/john2
john1
2204 trade] Johnson (ed. 1765): “Further business; further dealing.”
1791- rann
rann
2203 ten times our mother] Rann (ed. 1791-): “ten times less entitled to that name.”
rann ≈ mal
2204 trade] RANN (ed. 1791-): “business.”
1819 cald1
cald1
2204 trade] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Occasion of intercourse.”
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813 +
2204 trade] Boswell (ed. v1821): “So Nicholas Grimaldi, in his translation of Cicero de Officiis, 1555, describes that work as a ‘matter containing the whole trade how to live among men discreetly and honestly.’ Boswell.”
1822 Nares
Nares: R2 //; Massinger, Spenser analolgues
2204 trade] Nares (1822, glossary, trade): “Current use, frequency of resort; as traffic sometimes, at present. A road of much traffic, i.e. frequent resort. ‘Or I’ll be buried in the king’s highway, Some way of common trade.’ R2 [3.3.155-6 (1743-4)]. Labour, employment: ‘—Long did I serve this lady, Long was my travel, long my trade to win her.’ Massinger, Very Wom. In Spenser, for tread, or footstep; perhaps, only for the rhyme: ‘As shephearde’s curre that in darke evening’s shake, Hath tracted forth some salvage beaste’s trade.’ FQ II.vi.39.”
1865 hal
hal ≈ v1821 (Epytaphe analogue) without attribution
2204 trade] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “‘Behold this fletying world how al things fade Howe evry thyng doth passe and weare awaye; Eche state of lyfe by comon course and trade Abydes no tyme, but hath a passyng daye.’ An Epytaphe of the Death of N. Grimald.”
1872 cln1
cln1: xref.
2203 shall] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “See [2.1.3 (892)].”
cln1: TN //
2204 trade] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “business, dealings. Compare TN [3.1.74-5 (1286-7)]: ‘My niece is desirous you should enter, if your trade be to her.’”
1877 v1877
v1877=cln1 for shall (2203)
v1877=john1 for trade (2204)
2204 trade]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
Johnson: Business, dealing.”
1878 rlf1
rlf1 ≈ cln1
2204 trade] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “Business. Cf. TN 3.1.83 [1287]: "if your trade be to her," etc.”
1889 Barnett
Barnett: xref.
2204 trade] Barnett (1889, p. 49): “cf. the use of commerce in Hamlet’s speech with Ophelia, in [3.1.109 (1764)].”
1889-90 mBooth
mBooth
2203 We . . . our] E. Booth (ms. notes in PB 82, HTC, Shattuck 108): “Hamlet now uses the plural we, our & us. He is determined to kill the King and pursue his rights. Indeed, it seems, that his ‘slau[gh]terous thoughts’ extend to all about the Court—‘now could I drink hot blood’ & even to his mother—‘O, heart lose not thy nature’—I will speak daggers to her,’ &c. E.B.”
1890 irv2
irv2=rann
2204 trade] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “business.”
1891 dtn
dtn
2203 We shall . . . mother] Deighton (ed. 1891): “further to bewilder Guildenstern. Hamlet in we affects the royal style, and speaks as though obedience to a mother was about the last thing that could be expected of a son, instead of its being ordinary duty.”
dtn
2204 trade] Deighton (ed. 1891): “business; another intentional affectation.”
1899 ard1
ard1 ≈ cln1
2204 trade] Dowden (ed. 1899): “business, as in TN [3.1.74-5 (1286-7)].”
1939 kit2
kit2: 2H4 //
2204 trade] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “business. The word was common in this sense, and conveys no suggestion that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are mercenary agents. Cf. [1.1.173-4 (232-3)]: ‘His forward spirit Would lift him where most trade of danger rang’d.’”
kit2: xref.
2204 vs] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “Hamlet’s intentional use of the royal we reminds Rosencrantz of the idea that his madness sprang from thwarted ambition, and he accordingly makes one more attempt to induce him to reveal the cause of his insanity (cf. [2.2.252 (1298)]).”
1947 cln2
cln2:
2203 We . . . mother] Rylands (ed. 1947): “ i.e. I intend to speak with her whether she is my mother or not.”
1980 pen2
pen2
2204 trade] Spencer (ed. 1980): “(an insulting word) business.”
1982 ard2
ard2: kit minus 2H4 // + magenta underlined
2204 trade] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “business. Although, as Kittredge says, the word does not accuse them of mercenariness, it puts an end to any pretence of friendship; and it coincides with Hamlet’s use of the royal plural for the only time in the play.”
1984 chal
chal
2204 trade] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “trade a word that suggests Hamlet’s view of the relationship.”
chal
2204 trade] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “a word that suggests Hamlet’s view of the relationship.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4
2203-4 We . . . our . . . vs] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “ Hamlet’s assumption of the royal we is intended to show the two courtiers that he will stand no further interrogation from them.”
oxf4: Dent
2203 ten times our mother] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “ ‘Ten times’ was a common form of hyperbole (Dent T343.I).”
1993 dent
dent: Exodus analogue
2203 We . . . mother,] Andrews (ed. 1993): “I would obey her even if she were my mother ten times over. Alluding to the commandment that children are to ‘honour’ their mothers (Exodus 20:12), Hamlet implies that he will obey the Queen despite the fact that she is his mother, rather than because of it.”
dent: xrefs.
2204 trade] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Commerce. This word, combined with Hamlet’s use of the royal plural (‘us’), implies that he regards his old schoolmates as nothing more than the King’s mercenaries.”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2
2203 We . . . our] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Hamlet’s first use of royal plural may be a deliberate distancing tactic.”
2006 ]ard3q2
ard3q2 ≈ pen2
2204 trade] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “business -- perhaps used contemptuously.”
2203 2204