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.

1847 verp

verp: Reynolds (on scene’s pathos), john1, Hazlitt, Jameson

2767 Verplanck (ed. 1847): “Sir Joshua Reynolds observes that there is no part of this play, in its representation on the stage, more pathetic than this scene; which he supposes to arise from the utter insensibility of Ophelia to her own misfortunes. ‘A great sensibility or none at all, (says he,) seems to produce the same effect. In the latter case, the audience supply what is wanting; and with the former they sympathize.’

“Over her, ‘the sweet Ophelia,’ even Johnson descends from his stern censorship to mourn, as ‘the young, the beautiful, the harmless, and the pious;’ while Hazlitt, in a strain of passionate eloquence, exclaims: ‘Ophelia is a character almost too exquisitely touching to be dwelt upon. ‘Oh, rose of May!’ [2910] oh, flower too soon faded! Her love, her madness, her death, are described with the truest touches of tenderness and pathos. It is a character which nobody but Shakespeare could have drawn in the way he has done; and to the conception of which there is not the smallest approach, except in some of the old romantic ballads.’

“Mrs. Jameson, after having portrayed with great beauty and truth the effect of Ophelia’s character, has with equal delicacy of discrimination, shown the principle by which that effect is produced”—’It is the helplessness of Ophelia, arising merely from her innocence, and pictured without any indication of weakness, which melts us with such profound pity. She is so young, that neither her mind nor her person have attained maturity; she is not aware of the nature of her own feelings; they are prematurely developed in their full force before she has strength to bear them; and love and grief together rend and shatter the frail texture of her existence, like the burning fluid poured into a crystal vase. She says very little, and what she does say seems rather intended to hide than to reveal the emotions of her heart; yet in those few words we are made as perfectly acquainted with her character, and with what is passing in her mind, as if she had thrown forth her soul with all the glowing eloquence of Juliet.”

1856 hud1 (1851-6)

hud1 = sing (see 2759-66)

2767 hudson (ed. 1851-6): “There is no part of this play in its representation on the stage more pathetic than this scene; which, I suppose, proceeds from the utter insensibility Ophelia has to her own misfortunes. A great sensibility, or none at all, seems to produce the same effects. In hte latter case the audience supply what is wanting, and with the former they sympathize.—Sir J. Reynolds.”

1864 Kellogg

Kellogg

2767 Kellogg (1864, p. 12): “The language used is almost identical with what is heard daily in the wards of all asylums. Coherence and incoherence are here strangely, but most truthfully intermingled; yet throughout the whole, the truthfulness, gentleness, and loving kindness of her nature, is manifested. We perceive this in the first words which she utters in this state: [line quoted]. These words, and those which follow, fall upon the ear with a sad, melodious sweetness, than which nothing in the whole range of dramatic literature is more pathetic; and, but for the utter unconsciousness of her own great misfortunes manifested, and which to the mind of the beholder is a sort of relief, would be altogether too painful for dramatic effect.”

1872 hud2

hud2 = hud1

1881 HUD3

hud3 = hud2

1898 Brandes

Brandes

2767 Brandes (1898, rpt. 1905, p. xviii): “In her madness she does not speak Hamlet’s name, nor show any trace of sorrow that it is he who has murdered her father. Forgetfulness of this cruellest blow mitigates her calamity; her hard fate condemns her to solitude, and [. . . ] madness.”

1929 trav

trav

2767 beautious] Travers (ed. 1929): “(cp. ‘plenteous’), abundantly, radiantly, beautiful.”

1980 pen2

pen2

2767 Where . . . Denmarke?] Spencer (ed. 1980): “This may mean merely ‘Where is the Queen?’ or possibly ‘Where has your queenly beauty gone?’ (addressed to the Queen, who, now conscience-ridden, may be looking very different from the happy woman of the scenes up to 3.4).”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q22809 xref; Rosenberg, Hapgood

2767 beauteaous majesty] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “These words most obviously relate tot eh Queen, but, since Ophelia has just been admitted to her presence, she may be asking for the King, anticipating the gender confusion of Sweet ladies at 72 (2809). It is not clear how far she recognizes (or half-recognizes) the other characters throughout her two appearances in this scene; performers have explored a range of options (see Rosenberg; Hapgood).”