Line 2270 - 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
| 2270 To giue them seales neuer my soule consent. {Exit.} | 3.2.399 |
|---|
1747 warb
warb
2270 giue them seales] Warburton (ed. 1747): “i.e. put them in execution.”
1765 john1
john1, john2=warb
1791- rann
rann ≈ warb without attribution
2270 giue them seales] RANN (ed. 1791-): “To put those threats in execution.”
1819 CALD1
cald1: xref.;Tim. //
2270 seales] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Make my ‘sayings a deed;’ as is nearly his language in [1.3.27 (490)]. Laert. and Tim. [5.1.26 (2228)]. Painter.”
1826 SING1
sing1
2270 To giue them seales] Singer (ed. 1821): “‘To give his words seals’ is therefore to carry his punishment beyond reproof. The allusion is the sealing a deed to render it effective. The quarto of 1603—‘I will speak daggers; those sharp words being spent, To do her wrong my soule shall ne’er consent.’”
1839 KNT1 (nd)
knt1
2270 To giue them seales] KNIGHT (ed. [1839] nd): “to give my words seals; to make my sayings deeds.”
1843 COL1
col1 ≈ warb
2270 To giue them seales] Collier (ed. 1843): “Warburton explains the expression ‘To give them seals,’ to put them in execution, as the completion of a deed.”
1847 verp
verp ≈ col1 (verp does not acknowledge warb, though Collier does.)
2270 To giue them seales]
Collier (
apud Verplanck, ed. 1847): “to put them in execution, as the completion of a deed.—
Collier.”
1854 del2
del2
2270 seales] Delius (ed. 1854): “Die ‘Siegel’ zu den Worten würden die That sein, zu der Hamlet’s Seele aber, seiner Mutter gegenüber, nie ihre Einwilligung geben soll.” [The seals of his words would be the deed to which, in his mother’s case, however, Hamlet’s soul would never give its consent.]
1856 hud1 (1851-6)
hud1=sing1 without attribution
fieb: standard
2270 seales] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “i.e. to put them in execution.”
1858 Rushton
Rushton: 2H6, Ven., Cym., Ant. //s; xrefs.
2270 seales]
Rushton (1858, pp. 29-30): <p.29> “Grants and letters patents must pass by bill, which is prepared by the Attorney and Solicitor General, in consequence of a warrant from the Crown, and is then signed, that is, superscirbed at the top with the sovereign’s own sign manual, and sealed with the privy signet, which is always in the custody of the principalSecretary of State; and then sometimes it immediately passes under the great seal, in which case the patent is subscribed in these words, ‘per ipsan reginam,’ by the Queen herself.—2 Rep. 17 b. Black Com. [quotes
2H6 [4.2.82 (2399)], and
Ham. [3.2.399 (2270)]; and
ven. [516].
“The soft wax attached to a legal instrument upon which the seal was impressed, required to be tempered before the impression was made upon it, so Fastaff says: [quotes without locating passage;
ham. [4.7.1 (3007)] </p.29><p.30>
cym. [3.4.84 (2181)].
“The forfeiture had sealed to dangerous bonds; and in these times the seal was as binding as the signature, if not more so. [Quotes Ant. [4.12.26 (2882)].
“The neglect of signing, and resting only upon the authenticity of seals, remained very long among us, for it was held in all our books that sealling alone was sufficient to authenticate a deed; and so the common form of attestating deeds, ‘sealed and delivered,’ continues to this day. [quotes Ham 3.4]” </p.30>
1868 c&mc
c&mc
2270 To give them seales]
Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868, rpt. 1878): “To confirm them by deeds,’ ‘to give them force and effect by action as well as speech.’ The allusion is to sealing a bond, in order to give it validity and render it effective.”
1869 tsch
tsch: xref.
2270 Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Der Sinn ist: Der Groll, der in meinen Worten liegen wird, soll meinem Herzen fremd bleiben; die Seele soll ihnen den Stempel ihrer Anerkennung versagen, wie ja auch in demselben [3.4.61 (2445)]. steht: Where every god did seem to set his seal, to give the world assurance of a man. Die Uebersetzung müsste lauten: Wie hart mit ihr mein Wort noch immer schmähle, Nie will’ge drein, es zu besiegeln, Seele. Daher sagt er auch [3.4.178 (2554)]: I must be cruel only to be kind.” [The meaning is: The anger that will lie in my words should remain foreign to my heart, and my soul should refuse it the seal of recognition. Similarly in the same [3.4.61 (2445)], is found: Where every god did seem to set his seal, to give the world assurance of a man. The translation would have to read: Wie hart mit ihr mein Wort noch immer schmähle, Nie will’ge drein, es zu besiegeln, Seele. Hence he also says in [3.4.178 (2554)]: I must be cruel only to be kind.]
1872 cln1
cln1
2270 To giue them seales] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “to [sic], or confirm, his words would be to use daggers as well as speak them. Hamlet shrinks from the guilt of matricide.”
1874 Corson
Corson: Abbott, cap
2270 neuer my soule consent] Corson (1874, p. 28): “The absence of the commas in all the Quartos and Folios, is correct, ‘consent’ being, not an imperative, but a subjunctive, and ‘sould,’ a nominative, not a vocative. See Abbott’s Shakespearian Grammar. §§ 364, 365. The pointing of the C. is after Capell.”
In each of his “jottings on the text,” Corson notes variants between F1 and cam1, stating his preference and, to a greater or lesser extent, offering a rationale.
1877 v1877
v1877=warb, knt1
2270 seales]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
Warburton: Put them in execution.
Knight: To make my sayings
deeds.”
v1877: ≈ Corson, Abbott
2270 consent]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
Corson (p. 28): ‘Consent’ is not an imperative, but a subjunctive, and ‘soul’ a nominative, not a vocative. See
Abbott, §§ 364, 365.”
1878 rlf1
rlf1: Cor., 2H4 //s
2270 giue them seales] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “Confirm them by action. Cf. Cor. [2.3.108 (1499)]: “I will not seal your knowledge with showing them;” 2H4 [4.5.103 (2636)]: ‘Thou hast seal’d up my expectation,’ etc.”
1885 macd
macd
2270 giue them seales] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “‘to seal them with actions’—Actions are the seals to words, and make them irrevocable.”
1885 mull
mull
2270 giue them seales] Mull (ed. 1885): “compass her death.”
1890 irv2
irv2 ≈ warb without attribution
2270 To giue them seales] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “i.e., to put them in execution.”
1913 tut2
tut2 ≈ macd without attribution
1931 crg1
crg1 ≈ macd without attribution
1934 cam3
cam3 ≈ knt1; xref.
2270 give them seales] Wilson (ed. 1934): “i.e. ‘make them ‘deeds”’ (Knight). A legal quibble; cf. note [1.2.60 (240+2)].”
1937 pen1
pen1
2270 To give them seales] Harrison (ed. 1937): “to confirm a promise by fulfilling it, that is, ‘lest my words lead me on to deeds’.”
1939 kit2
kit2 ≈ crg1 without attribution
1942 n&h
n&h ≈ kit2 without attribution
1947 cln2
cln2 ≈ n&h without attribution
1958 fol1
fol1
2270 give them seals] Wright & LaMar (ed. 1958): “authorize punitive action.”
1980 pen2
pen2 ≈ pen1
2270 giue them seales] Spencer (ed. 1980): “confirm my words by actions.”
1982 ard2
ard2
2270 giue them seales] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “It is the seal that authenticates a document and ratifies its words. But Hamlet does not mean to put his harsh words into action.”
ard2: xref .
2270 neuer . . . consent] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “subjunctive (like [3.2.397 (2268)]) rather than imperative, with my soul nominative rather than (as often taken) vocative.”
2004 ShQ
Danner: 1644, 2267 xref
2270 Danner (2004, p. 32): “Hamlet thus ’speak[s] daggers’ to Claudius only by sacrificing the certain, ’[m]ore relative’ grounds for action that he so ardently craves (3.2.387; 2.2.600). But perhaps still more perilous for Hamlet is the way this instance of symbolic violence satisfies his desire to harm Claudius without requiring him to ’give [his words] seals’ (3.2.390), one of the prince’s telling paraphrases for force.”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2 ≈ ard2
2270 To . . . seals] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “to act on them, the royal seal ratified the words of a decree or proclamation, requiring its enactment.”
2270