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Line 3717, 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.”

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Notes for lines 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand

For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.

3717 Ham. Very well my Lord.	5.2.260

3718 Your grace {has} <hath> layed the ods a’th weeker side.

1765 Heath

Heath : john1

3717-8 Ham. Very . . . side] Heath (1765, p. 550-1) : <p. 550> “Well, my lord; Your grace hath laid the odds o’ th’ weaker side.]] The wrong pointing of this passage makes it stark nonsense. It should be pointed thus, ‘Well, my lord, Your grace hath laid; the odds o’ th’ weaker side.</p. 550> <p. 551> That is, Your wager, my lord, is prudently laid; you have given the odds to the weaker side. That this is the sense is evident from the King’s reply, But since he’s better’d, we haue therefore odds . That is, But since that time he is greatly improved, therefore we are allowed odds.”

1765 john1

john1

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Johnson (ed. 1765) : “Your Grace hath laid upon the weaker side.]] Thus Hanmer. All the others read, ‘Your Grace hath laid the oddso’th’ weaker side.’ When the odds were on the side of Laertes, who was to hit Hamle twelve times to nine, it was perhaps the authour’s slip.”

1773 v1773

v1773 = john1

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1773 jen

jen : john1

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Jennens (ed. 1773) : “ But let Dr. Johnson consider, the odds here spoken of were laid, therfore the odds were in the wager; and if we turn back, we shall find that the king betted six Barbary horses against six French rapiers and poniards, with their appurtenances [3626-28]. Who sees not that the Barbary horses are to be look’d upon as odds, against the French rapiers, &c? What the king says afterwards of his having the odds, relates to the number of hits. “

1774 capn

capn : See n. 3721.

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Capell (1774:1:1:149) :

See n. 3721.

1778 v1778

v1778 = v1773 + magenta underlined

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Malone (apud Steevens, ed. 1778) : “For the reason given in a former note [see n. 3630-2], I think we ought to read with Hanmer, ‘Your grace hath laid upon the weaker side.’ The king’s answer is then pertinent and clear.—’I have no apprehensions, for I am acquainted with the skill of each of you. However, as Laertes is improved by practice in his travels, we (viz. Hamlet and the King) have an aduantage giuen us.’ The compositor at the press probably caught the word odds from the line next but one [3721], and inadvertently inserted it in Hamlet’s speech. MALONE”

1783 Ritson

Ritson : v1778

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Ritson (1783, p. 214) : <p. 214>“Mr. Malone (for, unluckyly, as he did not understand the passage, he found it would not, in its present shape, suit his ingenious hypothesis and curious calculations in a preceding page) would have us read: ‘Your grace hath laid upon the weaker side.’ But the text is perfectly right, and neither requires nor admits of alteration. The king had wagered, on Hamlets part, six Barbary horses against a few rapiers, poniards, &c. i.e. about twenty to one. ODDS enough, in all conscience! And yet is this same mr. Malone, in another place, so hardy as to assert that no unequal stakes were laid.”</p. 214>

1785 v1785

v1785 = john1 (the MALONE note from v1778 is absent here)

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1785 Mason

Mason

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Mason (1785, p. 397) : <p. 397> “I see no reason for altering this passage. Hamlet considers the things impon’d by the King, as of more value than those impon’d by Laertes; and therefore says, ‘that he had laid the odds on the weaker side.” </p. 397>

1790 mal

mal

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Malone (ed. 1790) : “Hamlet either means, that what the king had laid was more valuable than what Laertes staked; or that the king hath made his bet, an aduantage being giuen to the weaker party. I believe the first is the true interpretation. In the next line but one the word odds certainly means an aduantage giuen to the party , but here it may have a difference sense. This is not an uncommon practice with our poet. MALONE”

1791- rann

rann

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Rann (ed. 1791-) : “in point of value of the articles wagered.”

1793 v1793

v1793 : v1773 ; Mason ; mal + magenta underlined

MASON between JOHNSON and MALONE

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Ritson (apud Steevens, ed. 1793) : “The king had wagered, on Hamlet, six Barbary horses , against a few rapiers, poniards , &c. that is, about twenty to one. These are the odds here meant. RITSON”

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1819 cald1

cald1 : john1

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Caldecott (ed. 1819) : “The wager having been twelve hits of Laertes’s to nine of Hamlet’s, we are here prepared rather to read ‘taken , than laid, the odds;’ and at first to suppose with Johnson, as it struck Hanmer, who omits ‘the odds,’ that it was a slip of our author’s. But, as the king replies, ‘since he’s better’d, we have therefore odds,’ we may well conceive the phrase to be used by the different speakers with a different aim: and that Hamlet refers to the higher value of the articles pledged, and the king to the advantage had in the other terms of the wager; those that respected the issue of this trial of skill, viz. the number of hits on each side. Bettered is stands higher in estimation. The quartos read better.”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1826 sing1

sing1 : v1821 (Ritson only)

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Singer (ed. 1826) : “The king had wagered six Barbary horses to a few rapiers, poniards, &c.; that is, about twenty to one. These are the odds here meant. The odds the King means in the next speech were twelue to nine in favour of Hamlet, by Laertes giving him three.”

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1854 del2

del2

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Delius (ed. 1854) : “Vgl. Anm. 70” [“Compare note 70 (see n. 3660).”]

1856 hud1 (1851-6)

hud1 = sing1 without attribution

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1856 sing2

sing2 = sing1

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1857 elze1

elze1=

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Elze (ed. 1857, 259): "S. zu § 226." [See section 226 ["The King sir hath laid . . ."]."

1869 tsch

tsch

3718 the ods] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “odds bedeutet hier das Mehr der Preises, welches in den 6 Berberhengsten gegen 6 französ. Rapiere liegt. Es ist deutlich, dass H. in dem Missverhältniss eine Tücke des Königs ahnt, in der Noblesse seines Herzen aber dem Laertes keine Falschheit [[5.1.245 (3413)]] a very noble youth am wenigsten eine meuchlerische Gesinnung zutraut. Der König hält daher auch die beruhigende Erklärung für nothwendig: Ich fürchte meine Webbe nicht zu verlieren; ich habe euch ja beide gesehen; da er aber im fechten weiter ist, haben wir dir odds, d.h. die drei Stösse vorausgegeben.” [odds means here the excess of the prize, which resides in the six Barbary horses against the 6 French rapiers. It is clear that Hamlet suspects a trick in the incongruity of the King’s [[wager]], but in the nobility of his heart ([[5.1.245 (3413)]] a very noble youth) credits Laertes with no falseness at least of a treacherous temperament. The King presents as necessary even a soothing explanation: I don’t fear losing my bet; I have see both of you, certainly; but because he is further in dueling, we have given you odds, i.e. the three stabs.]

1872 del4

del4=del2

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side]

1872 cln1

cln1

3718 ods] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “the odds must here refer to the greater value of the king’s stake, and not to the terms of the wager, as in [3721].”

1872 hud2

hud2=hud1

3718 ods]

1873 rug2

rug2

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Moberly (ed. 1873):“‘I understand that your grace has taken care that points shall be given me; but for all that, I fear that I shall be the weaker. No, replies the King, I have seen you both, and the points given will counterbalance his Paris improvement.’”

1875 Marshall

Marshall

3717-18 Marshall (1875, pp. 106-07): <p. 106>Hamlet is full of gracious courtesy and elegant compliment, as if endeavouring to efface from the minds of all who had witnessed it his violent behaviour in the churchyard. Even for Claudius he has a gentle and polite answer: [cites 3717-18] There is a wonderful skill and power in the tragic touches of this last scene which we, who know what is going to happen, are apt to overlook. What can be more pathetic than to see this noble-hearted, generous, youth falling with such unsuspicious readiness into the treacherous plot, and by his very fairness and courtesy making the gult of his murderers appear so much greater? As unconsciousnesly he goes to his death all that is most amiable in his nature seems to put forth itself: the grating irony, the savage vindictiveness of language, the bitter contempt for the inferior natures </p. 106> <p. 107>around him, have all disappeared in the Hamlet we have now before us; and as we contrast him with the Hamlet of the grave scene, we are forcibly reminded of the Queen’s beautiful decription already quoted [3482-85].”</p. 107>

Marshall

3718 ods] Marshall (1875, p. 106): <p. 106><n>*This expression has given rise to much needless comment and ingenious explanation. All that Hamlet means is that the King has ‘backed’ the weaker side in ‘backing’ him. In betting language Hamlet should have said ‘taken the odds.’ The King sets the matter right in his answer, telling Hamlet that, because Laertes had improved so much, therefore he (the King) had got odds instead of an even bet.” </n></p. 106>

1877 v1877

v1877 ≈ Heath ; ≈ john1 ; ≈ jen ; ≈ Ritson (minus Malone allusion) ; = rug

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Moberly

1881 hud3

hud3 ≈ hud2

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Hudson (ed. 1881): “The odds here referred to is the value of the stakes, the King having wagered six Barbary horses against a few rapiers, poniards, &c; which was about as twenty to one. These are the odds here meant. The odds the King means in the next speech were twelue to nine in favour of Hamlet, by Laertes giving him three.””

1882 elze2

elze2

3718 has layed] Elze (ed. 1882); “hath layed]] Hath,in the text, is owing to a mistake.”

1890 irv2

irv2 : standard

3718 Your grace has layed the ods a’ th weeker side] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “The odds of course refers here to the king’s stake as compared with that of Laertes: not to the terms of the wager, which were in favour of Hamlet.”

1899 ard1

ard1 : standard

3718 the ods] Dowden (ed. 1899): “three points given to Hamlet, who is assumed to be the less skilled. Supposed, erroneously, by some to refer to the greater value of the King’s stake.”

1900 ev1

ev1≈ hud3 ; rug2

1934 Wilson

Wilson

3718 has] Wilson (1934, 2:243) cites this example, for which F1 has the archaic hath as variant.

1934 cam3

cam3

3718 Wilson (ed. 1934): “stipulated that the weaker should have odds, i.e. you were well-advised to secure me a good handicap.”

1939 kit2

Kit2 ≈ standard

3718 the ods]

1947 cln2

cln2

3718 has layed the ods] Rylands (ed. 1947): “backed, betted on (cf. [3721], for which see [3660-61].”

1974 evns1

evns1 ≈ Hud3

3718 the ods]

1982 ard2

ard2

3718 has layed the ods] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “backed. Commentators, assuming odds to imply inequality, have supposed it to refer either ((as in [3721])) to the advantage of hits given to Hamlet ((which makes nonsense of the King’s reply)) or to the unequal stakes. But that lay odds need mean no more than ‘make a bet’ appears from [2H4 5.5.106-8], ‘I will lay odds that . . . We bear our civil swords . . . As far as France’. Cf. Q1, [CLN 2110], ‘on your side the King hathlaide’.”

1985 cam4

cam4

3718 has layed the ods] Edwards (ed. 1985): “A puzzling phrase, which has generated much discussion. It must mean either that Claudius has backed the weaker contestant, or, more probably, that he has kindly provided an advantage for Hamlet in the handicap he has given Laertes.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4 : ard2 w/o attribution ; OED

3718 has layed the ods] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “OED odds sb. 5, citing as its first instance [2H4. . .].”

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

3718 has layed the ods]

1993 dent

dent ≈ standard

3719 has layed the ods]

1992 fol2

fol2≈ standard

3718 has layed the ods]

2008 oed

oed ≈ standard

3718 ods]oed 5. a. Difference in favour of one of two contending parties; balance of advantage; superiority in strength, power, resources, etc. with odds: with the balance of advantage for or against one (obs.). against the (also all, any) odds: against the (also all, any) opposition; despite whatever obstacles there may be. 1574 E. HELLOWES tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. (1577) Ep. Ded. 1, I was constreined with too much oddes, to endure combate with both these furious spirites. 1587 Mirror for Magistrates Albanact. xxxviii, At home, with oddes, they durst not byde the stroke. 1608 G. CHAPMAN Byron’s Conspiracie II. i. sig. D3, His spirits haue flowd so high, In all his conflicts against any odds, That (in his charge) his lips haue bled with feruor. a1616 SHAKESPEARE As you like It (1623) I. ii. 148 You wil take little delight in it,..there is such oddes in the man.

3717 3718