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.

1891 dtn

dtn

2500 Deighton (ed. 1891): “from your eyes your soul looks out in wild amazement.”

1929 trav

trav xref.

2500 spirits] Travers (ed. 1929): “a word suggesting closer relation to bodily functions than “soul” would. Cp. spirit in [5.2.353 (3842)], and the French phrases “esprits vitaux,” “esprits animaux.””

1939 kit2

kit2

2500 spirits] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “In moments of excitement the spirits or ‘vital forces’ were thought to come, as it were to the surface, and to cause various symptoms of agitation, such as a wild glare in the eyes.”

1980 pen2

pen2

2500 Spencer (ed. 1980): “(that is, you look astonished).”

1982 ard2

ard2

2500 Jenkins (ed. 1982): “A metaphor based on the theory that the physical signs of mental excitement were attributable to the agitation of the spirits. These were conceived of as fluids permeating the blood which ascended to the brain and determined its activity.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4: Tro. //; Webster analogue

2500 Hibbard (ed. 1987): “It was thought that when a man was excited his ‘spirits’ of ‘vital powers’ would rise, as it were, to the surface of the body. Compare Tro. [4.5.56 (2613)], ‘her wanton spirits look out / At every joint and motive of her body’; and Webster’s The Devil’s Law Case 1.1.191-2, ‘the soul / Moves in the superficies.’”

1993 dent

dent: xrefs.

2500 your spirits] Andrews (ed. 1993): “The Queen refers to the fluids that were thought to permeate the blood and animate the brain. Hamlet has used comparable phrasing in [2.2.602 (1642)], [3.2.58-59 (1909-1910)].”

2001 ShSt

2500-03 Dessen (2001, p. 27): “Typical is Gertrude’s description of Hamlet in the closet scene: ’Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep, / And as the sleeping soldiers in th’ alarm, / Your bedded hair, like life in excrements, / Start up and stand an end’ (3.4.119-22).”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

2500 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “a vivid metaphor based on the theory that extreme stress or excitement could cause the spirits to come to the surface of the body and become visible.”