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Line 2463 - Commentary Note (CN) More Information

Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.
2463 {And} <As> reason {pardons} <panders> will.3.4.88
1773 gent1
gent1
2463 And reason . . . will] Gentleman (ed. 1773): “[Hamlet’s] reasoning and remonstrances, in this scene, are truly pathetic and persuasive.”
1733 theo1
theo1: contra pope
2463 pardons] Theobald (ed. 1733): “This is, indeed, the Reading of some of the elder Copies; and Mr. Pope has a strange Fatality, whenever there is a various Reading, of espousing the wrong one. The whole Tenour of the Context demands the Word degraded by that judicious Editor; ‘And Reason panders Will.’ This is the Reflexion which Hamlet is making, ‘Let us not call it Shame, when Heat of Blood compels young People to indulge their Appetites; since Frost too can burn, and Age, at that Season when Judgment should predominate, yet feels the Stings of Inclination, and suffers Reason to be the Bawd to Appetite.’”
1774 capn
capn
2463 pardons] Capell (1774, 1:1: glossary, pander): “be a Pandar or Bawd to any Thing.”
1780 malsi
malsi: Ven. //
2463 reason pardons will] Steevens (apud Malone, 1780, 1:402 n2): See Ven. [792]: “When reason is the bawd to lust’s abuse.”
1790 mal
mal = malsi
2463 pardons] Malone (ed. 1790): “Panders was certainly Sh’s word. So, in Ven.: ‘When reason is the bawd to lust’s abuse.’ Malone.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = mal
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
1819 cald1
cald1 = mal
2463 reason pardons will] Malone (apud Caldecott, ed. 1819): “panders] ‘When reason is the bawd to lust’s abuse,’ Ven. [792] Malone.”
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1
1854 del2
del2
2463 reason pardons will] Delius (ed. 1854): “die dem Alter inwohnende Vernunft dient dem fleishlichen Triebe (will) zur Kupplerin, hilft ihm sein Gelüst befriedigen.” [The intelligence of age serves as a matchmaker for carnal passion (will) and helps it satisfy its lust.]
1857 fieb
fieb ≈ cald1 (Ven. //)
2463 pardons] Fiebig (ed. 1857): panders] “So, the folio, rightly; but the reading of the quarto is defensible: ‘—reason pardons will.’ Panders, was certainly Sh’s word. So, in Ven. [792]: ‘When reason is the bawd to lust’s abuse.’”
1869 tsch
tsch: Mueller
2463 pardons] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “panders, Lesart der F. von [----------], vom Kuppler [-------]. s. Ed. Mueller II. 158. Der Ausdruck ist v i e l z u g e s u c h t , um neben dem e i n f a c h v e r s t ä n d l i- c h e n pardons dem Vorzug zu verdienen.” [panders, Folio version of [Greek word] from matchmaker [Greek word]. See Ed. Mueller II. 158. The expression is much too contrived to deserve precedence to the much easier to understand pardons.]
1872 del4
del4 = del2
1877 v1877
v1877 theo, mal
2463 pardons] Furness (ed. 1877): “panders] Theobald: suffers Reason to be the Bawd to Appetite. Malone: See Ven. 792.”
1878 rlf1
rlf1
2463 pardons will] Rolfe (ed. 1878): Panders will] “Panders to appetite.”
1903 rlf3
rlf3 = rlf1
1906 nlsn
nlsn
2463 will] Neilson (ed. 1906, glossary): “pleasure, sexual desire.”
1931 crg1
crg1
2463 reason pardons will] Craig (ed. 1931): “panders will] The normal and proper situation was one in which reason guided the will in the direction of good; here, reason is perverted and leads in the direction of evil.”
1934 Wilson
Wilson
2463 pardons] Wilson (1934, rpt. 1963, 1:108): <1:108> “‘pardons’ pandars not only illustrates, both ways on, the n:r confusion, but the a:o confusion likewise.” </1:108>
1934 cam3
cam3 ≈ mal (Ven. //)
2463 reasons pardons will] Wilson (ed. 1934): reason pandars will] “Cf. Ven. 792 “When reason is the bawd of lust’s abuse.’”
1939 kit2
kit2 ≈ crg1
2463 reason pardons will] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “panders will] reason, which should control desire, becomes basely subservient to it.”
1942 n&h
n&h ≈ nlsn
2463 will] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “lust.”
1947 cln2
cln2
2463 pardons] Rylands (ed. 1947): [panders]“serves.”
1947 yal2
yal2
2463 panders] Cross & Brooke (ed. 1947): “ministers to the gratifications of.”
1957 pel1
pel1
2463 panders will] Farnham (ed. 1957): “acts as procurer for desire.”
1980 pen2
pen2
2463 reason pardons will] Spencer (ed. 1980): panders] “reason (the powers of judgement appropriate to middle age) acts as a pander to lust.”
1982 ard2
ard2: xref. + Ant., Tro., MM, Luc . //s
2463 reason pardons will] Jenkins (ed. 1982): [panders] “Cf. 334. The function of reason is subverted when it is put at the service of ‘will’ instead of subduing it. Cf. Ant. 3.12.3-4 [2156-7]. Will, instinct for self-gratification; in general, passion as opposed to reason (cf. Tro. 1.3.120 [579]; MM 2.4.175 [1189]); in particular, sexual desire (cf. MM 2.4.164 [1178]; Luc. 243, 247, etc.).”
1984 chal
chal
2463 will] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “the passions generally.”
1985 cam4
cam4
2463 reason panders will] Edwards (ed. 1985): “reason assists the passions to obtain their ends.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4: standard (Ven. //)
2463 reason pardons will] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “i.e. reason, which should control lust, abets it. Compare Ven.791-2, ‘O strange excuse,/When reason is the bawd to lust’s abuse.’”
1993 dent
dent: xref.
2463 reason pardons will] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Reason (supposedly predominant in frosty-haired elders) serves as the go-between for, rather than the defence against, lust-driven Will, and absolves it from its sins like a corrupt confessor dispensing indulgences. Most of today’s editions adopt the Folio’s panders here; but pardons conveys the idea that vice is not only aided and abetted by but given the approval of ‘sweet Religion’ [3.4.47 (2430)].. It would be in character for a man who studied at Wittenberg to reflect a Luther-like bias against the abuses of the Renaissance papacy.”
1996 ShSu
Holmer
2463 Holmer (1996, p. 177): “For this scene Zeffirelli keeps the most straightforward passages and most of the plot information. . . To Romeo applies Hamlet’s insight,’And reason panders will’ (Hamlet 3.4.78 [TLN 2463, III.iv.88])”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: Jenkins, Edwards, Hibbard
2463 And. . . will] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “and reason forgives (or makes excuses for) passion. F’s ’As Reason panders Will’ makes the construction a comparative one. ’Panders’ is a stronger word meaning ’prostitutes’ or ’serves the gratification of’; Jenkins, Edwards and Hibbard all conflate Q2’s And with F’s ’panders’.”
2463