Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
| 2579 Ile lugge the guts into the neighbour roome; | 3.4.212 |
|---|
1778 v1778
v1778: Lyly; Stanyhurst analogues
2579 guts] Steevens (ed. 1778): “The word guts was not anciently so offensive to delicacy as it is at present; but was used by Lylly (who made the first attempt to polish our language) in his Compositions. So, in his Mydas, 1592: ‘Could not the treasure of Phrygia, nor the tributes of Greece, nor the mountains in the East, whose guts are gold, satisfy thy mind?’ In short, guts was used where we now use entrails. Stanyhurst often has it in his translation of Virgil, 1582: Pectoribus inhians spirantia consulit exta. ‘She weens her fortune by guts hoate smoakye to conster.’ Steevens.”
1791- rann
rann
2579 guts] Rann (ed. 1791-): Rann (ed. 1791-): “the body.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = v1785 +
2579 guts] Steevens (ed. 1793): “A line somewhat similar occurs in 3H6: [5.6.92 (3168)]: ‘I’ll throw thy body in another room,—”
New parallel interpolated at top of note.
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793 +
2579 guts] Steevens (ed. 1803): “Again, in Chapman’s version of the sixth Iliad: ‘—in whose guts the king of men imprest His ashen lance;—.’ Steevens.”
New parallel interpolated before Virgil/Stanyhurst.
1819 cald1
cald1 ≈ v1778 without attribution (for Lyly, Stayuhurst), v1793 (Chapman analogue) +
2579 lugge the guts] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “There is a coarseness and want of feeling in this part of the conduct, if not in the language, of Hamlet, an excuse for which we seek in vain at this time, in the peculiarity or necessities of his situation. He had now fully opened himself to his mother: there was no other person upon the stage; and there could not, therefore, be the least occasion for his assuming or affecting a character feeling, which was not real, and his genuine sentiment.
“For a violation of decorum, which cannot appear other than gross to modern ears, and may be considered as such in just conception and feeling, we can no otherwise account, than by supposing, that it must have been a compliance with the rude taste of the age; that it was done ‘to please the groundlings,’ or, in modern phrase, was addressed to the galleries; a part of the audience frequently necessary to be conciliated, and which cannot, at any time, be altogether overlooked.
“At the same time we must be careful not to conceive a higher degree of offence, than the expression used would, at the time, actually convey. . .
“See ‘grunt and sweat.’ [3.1.76 (1731)] Ham.”
Before this capping cross-reference, Caldecott includes a series of parallels attributed to Steevens (introduced in v1778, from Lyly and Stanyhurst/Virgil, and in v1803, from Chapman/Homer). Parallel from 3H6 (introduced in v1793) is not included. This may be useful in determining ref-texts.
1826 sing1
sing1 ≈ cald1 (traceable to v1778, v1793); Stanyhurst, Chapman analogues
2579 lugge the guts] Singer (ed. 1826): “It must be confessed that this is coarse language for a prince under any circumstances, and such as is not called for by the occasion. But Hamlet has purposely chosen gross expressions and coars metaphors throughout the interview with his mother, perhaps to make his appeal to her feelings the more forcible. Something may be said in extenuation. The word guts was not anciently so offensive to delicacy as it is at present; the courtly Lyly has used it in his Mydas, 1592. Stanyhurst often in his translations of Virgil, and Chapman in his version of the sixth Iliad: ‘—in whose guts the king of men imprest His ashen lance.’ In short, guts was used where we now use entrails.”
1832 cald2
cald2 ≈ cald1
Compression of a phrase in the end note: “that it was done ‘to please the groundlings,’ or, in modern phrase, was addressed” > “and not merely in modern phrase as addressed.”
1843- mlewes
mlewes
2579 lugge the guts] Lewes (ms. notes in Knight, ed. 1843): “qr, Is this vulgar owing to the change of expression since his day; or is it indicative of Hamlet’s contempt; or is it downright vulgar?”
1854 del2
del2
2579 guts] Delius (ed. 1854): “guts, ein collectiv gefasster Plural, = Eingeweide, unserm "Wanst" entsprechend, von dem wahrscheinlich wohlbeleibten Polonius.” [guts is a collective plural meaning internal organs, corresponding to the German word Wanst (meaning belly or paunch), referring to Polonius who was probably corpulent.]
1857 fieb
fieb ≈ v1778 minus Stanyhurst anal
2579 lugge the guts] Fiebig (ed. 1857): [body]“To lug, (thence luggage,) to pull, to draw or drag.—Steevens informs us, that the word guts anciently was not so offensive to delicacy as it is at present; but was used by Lyly (who made the first attempt to polish the English language) in his serious compositions. So, in his Mydas, 1592: ‘Could not the treasure of Phrygia, nor the tributes of Greece, nor mountains in the East, whose guts are gold, satisfy thy mind?’ In short, guts was used where we now use entrails.”
1865 hal
hal = v1803 +
2579 Halliwell (ed. 1865): “The term guts is one of those words which the silly caprice of fashion has invested with an imaginary coarseness. I have seen a letter written about a century ago in which a lady of rank, addressing a gentleman, speaks of her guts with the same nonchalance with which we should now write stomach.”
Attrib. to Steevens may be based on a variorum edition published after 1803, but v1803 is the first that has the three bits introduced in v1778, v1793, and v1803, respectively.
1877 v1877
v1877 ≈ v1778, cald1; ≈ hal, stau (see.n. 2585)
2579 guts]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
Steevens gives several examples (one from Lyly, ‘who made the first attempt to polish our language’) to show that anciently this word was notso offensive to delicacy as at present.
Caldecott, while conceding this, nevertheless thinks that ‘there is a coarseness, and want of feeling in this part of the conduct, if not in the language, of Hamlet,—an excuse for which we seek in vain at this time in the peculiarity or necessities of his situation;’ and he can account for it only by supposing that it must have been in compliance with the rude taste of the age.
Halliwell: This is one of those words which the silly caprice of fashion has invested with an imaginary coarseness. I have seen a letter, written about a century ago, in which a lady of rank, addressing a gentleman, speaks of her guts with the same nonchalance with which we should now write
stomach.
Staunton: It was commonly used where we should employ
entrails, and in this place really signifies no more than
lack-brain or
shallow-pate.”
1881 hud2
hud2: Tim. //
2579 neighbour] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “neighbouring. So ‘neighbour states,’ Tim. [4.3.95 (1704)].”
1885 macd
macd
2579 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “—to rid his mother of it.”
1890 irv2
irv2 ≈ v1778 (for Lyly analogue), hal (for letter) + magenta underlined
2579 guts] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “The word guts had not so vulgar a sound in Shakespeare’s age as it has in ours. Steevens quotes Lyly’s Mydas, 1592: ‘Could not the treasure of Phrygia, nor the tributes of Greece, nor mountains in the East, whose guts are gold, satisfy thy mind?’ Halliwell states that he has seen a letter, written about a century ago, in which a lady of rank, addressing a gentleman, speaks of her guts with the same nonchalance with which we should now write stomach. In any case, the use of the word here is unquestionably coarse and unfeeling. Compare the other passage in which it is applied to a person, 1H4 [2.4.226-7 (1184-5)]: ‘thou clay-brain’d guts,’ &c.”
1891 dtn
dtn
2579 lugge the guts] Deighton (ed. 1891): “both words used in a contemptuous way, though guts had not the vulgar sense which it has since acquired.”
dtn
2579 neighbour] Deighton (ed. 1891): “used as an adjective.”
1903 p&c
p&c: stau
2579 Porter & clarke (ed. 1903): “Staunton supposes this written in order to give the player a chance to get the body off the stage. It may have been retained for that reason, but it is in the ‘Hystorie’; only in the ‘Hystorie’ he goes off at once with the body, and later ‘hee came againe to his mother’.”
1982 ard2
ard2: Hyst. of Hamb.
2579 lugge the guts] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Hamlet’s unceremonious treatment of the body has its precedent in Saxo and Belleforest, where he cut it in pieces, boild it, and threw it out for the hogs. Does ‘by the heels’ in the prose Hamblet of 1608 derive from what was seen on the stage? See Intro., pp.89-90.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4
2579 Ile . . . roome] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “a practical response to the exigencies of the stage.”
1999 SQ
Mallin: Slater xref
2579 Mallin (1999, p. 130): “Slater’s submachine-gunning of Polonius, for instance, exploits Shakespeare’s several hints about Hamlet’s remorseless brutality--’I’ll lug the guts into the neighbor room’ (3.4.213), for example--and magnifies them to apparent ridiculousness.”
1999R SQ
Mallin
2579 Mallin (1999, p. 130): “If it seems unlikely that the good-natured gag about Olivier’s film conveys anything so grand as a ’reading’ of Shakespeare, Arnold’s fantastic Hamlet nonetheless ties in well with some ways in which the play undermines its own premise. Slater’s submachine-gunning of Polonius, for instance, exploits Shakespeare’s several hints about Hamlet’s remorseless brutality -- ’I’ll lug the guts into the neighbor room’ (3.4.213 [TLN 2579, III.iv.212]), for example -- and magnifies them to apparent ridiculousness.”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: 3H6 5.6.92 //
2579 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Richard of Gloucester has a similar line addressed to Henry VI, whom he has just killed: "I’ll throw thy body in another room’ (3H6 5.6.92).”
ard3q2: 2583, 2585 xref; 1H4 5.4 //; Barrymore, Dawson, Amleth
2579 lug the guts] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “This expression, together with ’draw toward an end’ at 214 [2583] and F’s [stage direction] at 215 [2585], implies that Hamlet drags Polonius offstage. The lines were traditionally cut as undignified in the context; Barrymore restored them in 1925 -- surprisingly as his performance otherwise avoided the less attractive side of Hamlet (see Dawson, 75-6). It must always have been awkward for a lone actor to get a body off, but the unceremonious nature of the proceedings is highlighted here, as it is in Falstaff’s removal of the body of Hotspur in 1H4 5.4. Amleth’s treatment of the body is worse in Saxo Grammaticus.”
2007 ShSt
Stegner: 2413-14, 2550-51, 2552-53, 2685-90 xref
2579 Stegner (2007, p. 120-121): “After mistakenly killing Polonius, Hamlet initially calls him a ’wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell. / I took thee for thy better’ and treats his death as completely justifiable (3.4.31-32). But Hamlet then takes responsibility for the killing, ’I do repent,’ only to abandon this position and again attempt to exculpate himself by imputing responsibility to his role as a revenger: ’but heaven hath pleas’d it so / To punish me with this and this with me, / That I must be their scourge and minister’ (3.4.175-77).60 By further shifting from assuming of culpability (cf. 3.4.178-79) to mistreating Polonius’s corpse (cf. 3.4.214) to jocularly referring to Polonius’s spiritual fate (cf. 4.3.19-25), Hamlet manifests his ongoing conflict of conscience.”
2579
