Line 3198, etc. - 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 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand
| 3198-9 Clowne. It must be {so offended} <Se offendendo>, it cannot be els, for | heere lyes the | |
|---|
1819 cald1
cald1
3198 se offendendo ] Caldecott (ed. 1819) : “A confusion of things as well as of terms: used for se defendendo , a finding of the jury in justifiable homicide.”
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1
3198 se offendendo ]
1843 col1
col1:
3198 se offendendo] Collier (ed. 1843) : “The quartos have only so offended , the compositor not understanding the humour”
1854 del2
del2
3198 se offendendo] Delius (ed. 1854) : “Er will sagen se defendendo. Nur wenn sie in Vertheidigung ihrer selbst um’s Leben gekommen wäre, gebührte ihr, nach der Ansicht des ersten Clown, ein christliches Begräbniss.” [“He means to say se defendendo . Only if if she had come in defense of her life, according to the view of the first clown, is a christian burial owed to her.”]
1857 elze1
elze1
3198 se offendendo] Elze (ed. 1857): ’Der Clown meint natürlich das Gegentheil von dem, was er sage, nämlich: se defendendo." ["The clown naturally means the opposite of what he says, namely, ’se defendendo.’"
1858 col3
col3 = col1
3198 se offendendo]
1864-68 c&mc
c&mc
3198 se offendendo] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “The clown blunderingly confounds this with ‘se defendendo,’ which is a plea allowed to be used by one accused of homicide, alleging that the act was committed in self-defence. Nevertheless, the fellow blunders with the wit of his author-creator, since he uses the expression ‘se offendendo,’ which means ‘offending against oneself,’ or ‘committing violence on oneself.’”
1869 tsch
tsch
3198 se offendendo] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Die Komik liegt nicht nur in der verkehrten Einmischung römischer Rechtsausdrücke, sondern auch in der Folgerung. Wer bei der Selbstvertheidigung des Leben verlor, erhielt noch christliches Begräbniss. Ophelia erhält christliches Begräbniss, folglich muss sie sich zu ihrer Selbstvertheidigung ertränkt haben. Der einfache Verstand der beiden Leute müht sich ab ihre Rechtsüberzeugung mit der Entscheidung des Todtenbeschauers, der, wie sie selbst hernach finden, auf den Rang der Todten Rücksicht genommen, in Einklang zu bringen.” [“The comedy doesn’t reside only in the inverted blending of Roman [Latin?] legal terms; on the contrary, even in what follows. Who loses his life through self-defense still receives a Christian burial. Ophelia received a Christian burial, hence she must have drowned herself in her own self-defense. The simple understanding of the two people takes pains to bring into agreement the legal conviction with the decision of the coroners, who, as they find for themselves here, take into consideration the rank of the deceased.”]
1870 rug1
rug1; standard
3198 se offendendo]
1872 del4
del4 = del2 +
3198 se offendendo] Delius (ed. 1872) : “Die Qs. lesen so offended für se offendendo der Fol.”
1872 hud2
hud2
3198 se offendendo] Hudson (ed. 1872): “The Clown, in undertaking to show off his legal learning, blunders offendendo for defendendo.”
1873 rug2
rug2 ≈ standard
3198 se offendendo]
1877 v1877
v1877 : ≈ cald2
3198 se offendendo]
1877 neil
neil ≈ standard
3198 se offendendo] Neil (ed. 1877, Notes): “in self-injury, used intentionally by Shakespeare instead of se defendendo, in self-defence.”
1881 hud3
hud3 = hud2
3198 se offendendo]
1883 wh2
wh2 ≈hud2
3198 se offendendo] White (ed. 1883): “the clown’s blunder for defendendo.”
1885 macd
macd ≈ standard
3198 se offendendo] MacDonald (ed. 1885):
1885 mull
mull ≈ standard
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1890 irv2
irv2 : standard
3198 se offendendo] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “i.e. se defendendo, a finding of the jury in justifiable homicide.”
1899 ard1
ard1
3198 offended] Dowden (ed. 1899): “offendendo]] The Clown’s mistake for defendendo, as perhaps salvation in [3191].”
1900 ev1
EV1
3198 offended] Herford (ed. 1900): se offendendo]] the clown’s blunder for ’se defendendo.’ He continues to treat ’justifiable suicide’ as a variety of ’justifiable homicide.’"
1905 rltr
rltr : standard [≈ Ard1 w/o attribution]
3198 offended]
1907 Rushton
Rushton
3198-3211 It must be . . . . Crowners quest law.]
Rushton (1907, pp. 47-48): <p.47> “It seems that Shakespeare has made the first clown confound a felo de se, or one who is guilty of self murder, with a person who commits homicide se defendendo, in his own defence, or, as he miscalls it, se offendendo; for, in answer to the second clown’s assurance that ‘the crowner hath sate on her and finds it Christian burial,’ he says, ‘How can thqt be, unless she drowned herself in
her own defence?’ This is also apparent from his reasoning, which, although it may appear absurd, is good law; for he evidently means, that if the water comes to a man and drowns him, not wittingly, but against his inclination, he is as innocent of suicide as that man is innocent of murder, who, se defendendo, in his own defence, kills another who, felleo animo, presses upon him. And so the crowner </p.47></p.48> found it ‘Christian burial;’ for although the ‘churlish priest’ tells Laertes that ‘her death was doubtful,’ yet the queen says—[quotes 3164-7 There . . . Brooke]. And although, according to this account, the water cannot be said to come to Ophelia, it appears that she was drowned, not ‘wittingly,’ but against her inclination. Suicides were not entitled to what is called ‘Christian burial,’ for it was formerly the custom to drive a stake through the body of one who had been guilty of self-murder, and to bury it in the highway; but this brutal law and ignominious burial has been altered by the 4 Geo. IV. c. 52, which directs that a person felo de se shall be buried without any stake driven through the body, privately in a churchyard, within twenty-four hours from the finding of the inquisition, and between the hours of nine and twelve at night; but this statute does not authorise the performance of the rites of burial.” </p.48>
1931 crg1
crg1 ≈ standard
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1934 rid1
rid1
3198 so offended] Ridley (ed. 1934): “emendation is always extremely perilous when the speeches are those of characters part of whose humour consists in verbal blunders. Q2 reads so offended, and F se offendendo; but it is rash to assume that the double blunder for se defendendo is the compositor’s and not the clown’s.”
1934 cam3
cam3 : standard +
3198 offended] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Se offendendo]] (unless he is making a shot at ‘felo de se’).”
1939 kit2
kit2 ≈ standard
3198 so offended]
1937 pen1a
pen1a : standard
3198 so offended]
1938 parc
parc ≈ standard
3198 so offended] Parrott (ed. 1938): “for se defendendo, a legal term meaning ‘in self defense.’”
1947 cln2
cln2 : standard
3198 so offended] Rylands (ed. 1947, Notes, se defendendo)
1951 crg2
crg2=crg1
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1957 pel1
pel1 : standard
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1970 pel2
pel2=pel1
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1974 evns1
Evns1 ≈ standard
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1980 pen2
pen2 ≈ standard +
3198 so offended] Spencer (ed. 1980): “Q2’s reading, ‘so offended’, may be a further comic corruption of the phrase, rather than a misprint.”
1982 ard2
Ard2 ≈ pen2 w/o attribution
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1984 chal
chal : standard + Q2 VN√
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1985 cam4
cam4 ≈ standard
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1987 oxf4
Oxf4
3198 so offended] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “se offendendo]] This reading is a combination of Q2’s ‘so offended’ and F’s ‘Se offendendo.’ The assumption behind it is that the Q2 compositor, Y, set so correctly but then, merely glancing at the next word, mistook it for offended. The F compositor, I, on the other hand, knowing some Latin, naturally read so as se, thus obscuring the way in which the First Clown picks up so from the Second’s use of it in the previous line. He means, of course, se defendendo.”
bev2: standard
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1992 fol2
fol2≈ standard
3198 so offended] se defendendo
1993 dent
dent ≈ standard
3198 so offended] se defendendo
3198 3199