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Line 3875, 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.

3875 How these things came about; so shall you heare 3875	5.2.380

3876 Of carnall, bloody and vnnaturall acts,	5.2.381

1778 v1778

v1778

3875 carnall] Collins (apud Steevens, ed. 1778) : “cruel]] : “ Thus the more modern editors. The first quarto, and the folio, read— of carnal, &c. referring, I suppose, to the usurper’s criminal intercourse with the mother of Hamlet. COLLINS”

1783 Ritson

Ritson : v1778

3875 carnall] Ritson (1783, p. 224) : “Thus, says mr. Collins, the more modern editors. The first quarto, and the folio, adds he, read—Of carnal, &c. referring, he supposes, to the usurpers criminal itercourse with the mother of Hamlet.

“Carnal, is without doubt, the true reading: but nothing can be more indecent, ridiculous, and absurd than the construction here put upon it. Was the relationship between the usurper and the deceased king a secret confined to Horatio? All the world must have been apprised of it. The word is used by Shakspeare as an adjective to carnage.” </p. 224>

1785 v1785

v1785 = v1778 ; Ritson (abbreviated )

3875 carnall] Ritson (apud Steevens, ed. 1785) : “Carnal is, without doubt, the true reading. The word is used by Shakspeare as an adjective to carnage. REMARKS “

1787 ann

ann : v1785 (Collins only “The first quarto, and the folio, read—Of carnal.” ; Ritson)

3875 carnall]

1790 mal

mal

3875 carnall] Malone (ed. 1790) : “Of sanguinary and unnatural acts, to which the perpetrator was instigated by concupiscence, or, to use our poet’s own words, by ‘carnal stings.’ The speaker alludes to the murder of old Hamlet by his brother, previous to his incestuous union with Gertrude. A feeble Remarker asks, ‘was the relationship between the usurper and the deceased king a secret confined to Horatio?’—No, but the murder of Hamlet by Claudius was a secret which the young prince had imparted to Horatio, and had imparted to him alone; and to this it is he principally, though covertly, alludes.— Carnal is the reading of the only authentick copies , the quarto 1604, and the folio 1623 . The modern editors, following a quarto of no authority , for carnal , read cruel. MALONE”

1792 Ritson

Ritson : mal

3875 carnall] Ritson (1792, pp. 97-8) : “‘A feeble Remarker,’ as this Herculean commentator elegant observes, ‘asks “was the rela-</p. 97><p. 98>tionship between the usurper and the deceased king a secret confined to Horatio?”’ ‘No,’ he answers, ‘but the murder of Hamlet by Claudius was a secret which the young prince had imparted to Horatio alone; and to this it is he principally, though covertly alludes.’

“And, pray, what is all this to the signification of the word carnal? But it is natural enough for a feeble Remark to produce a pitiful cavil from a half-informed hypercritic.”</p. 98>

1793 v1793

v1793 = v1785 (minus Collins) ; MAL +

3875 carnall] Reed (apud Steevens, ed. 1793) : “The edition immediately preceding that of Mr. Malone [v1785], reads— carnal , and not cruel , as here asserted. REED”

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

3875 carnall]

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

3875 carnall]

1819 cald1

cald1 : mal (minus “A feeble Remarker . . . read cruel”)

3875 carnall]

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813 +

3875 carnall] Malone (apud Boswell, ed. 1821) : “To this and similar observations I can only repeat what I have said in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, that the edition here alluded to had not been published when I formerly begun the revision of these plays. MALONE”

1826 sing1

sing1 ≈ mal without attribtution

3875 carnall] Singer (ed. 1826) : “Of sanguinary and unnatural acts, to which the perpetrator was instigated by concupiscence, or, to use our poet’s own words, by ‘carnal stings.’ The allusion is to the murder of old Hamlet by his brother, previous to his incestuous union with Gertrude.

1832 cald2

cald2 : cald1 + magenta underlined

3875 carnall] Malone (apud Caldecott, ed. 1832) : “Of sanguinary and unnatural acts, to which the perpetrator was instigated by concupiscence, or, to use our poet’s own words, by ‘carnal stings.’ So Q. Mary to R3 [R3 4.4.56 (2828)] ‘carnal cur.’ The speaker alludes to the murder of old Hamlet by his brother, previous to his incestuous union with Gertrude. Malone”

Malone doesn’t provide the Q. Mary allusion that Caldecott notes here.

1856 sing2

sing2 = sing1

3875 carnall]

1864 ktly

ktly : standard

3875 carnall] Keightley (ed. 1864 [1866]: Glossary): “sanguinary.”

1864-68 c&mc

c&mc

3875 carnall] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “‘Sanguinary.’ See Note 47, Act iv, [R3].”

1865 hal

hal : v1821 (Ritson ; mal ; ) +

3875 carnall] Ritson (apud Halliwell, ed 1865) : “Carnal is, without doubt, the true reading. a word is used by Shakspeare as an adjective to carnage.—Ritson.”

3875 carnall] Malone (apud Halliwell, ed. 1865) : “Of sanguinary and unnatural acts, to which the perpetrator was instigated by concupiscence, or, to use our poet’s own words, by ‘carnal stings.’ The speaker alludes to the murder of old Hamlet by his brother, previous to his incestuous union with Gertrude. A feeble Remarker asks, ‘was the relationship between the usurper and the deceased king a secret confined to Horatio?’—No, but the murder of Hamlet by Claudius was a secret which the young prince had imparted to Horatio, and had imparted to him alone; and to this it is he principally, though covertly, alludes.— Carnal is the reading of the only authentick copies , the quarto 1604, and the folio 1623 . The modern editors, following a quarto of no authority , for carnal , read cruel. Malone”

3875 carnall] Halliwell (ed. 1865) : “It has not been thought necessary to insert in this edition a reprint of the corrupted text of ed. 1603, the rather as it is so readily accessible to all readers in the extremely accurate and valuable edition of the impressions of 1603 and 1604, placed in juxta-position, by Mr. S. Timmins, 8vo. 1860.”

1869 tsch

tsch

3875 so shall you] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Diese Inversion wird durch so sehr häufig verlanlasst.” [This inversion is quite frequently caused by so.]

3876-80 Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Hier ist offenbar die Lesart der Qs. die einzig richtige, denn die Worte: carnal, bloody and unnatural beziehen sich auf den Incest und Brudermord, accidental judgments auf den Tod des Polonius und der Königin, deaths put on by cunning auf Rosencrantz und seinem Gefährten, deaths for no cause auf Hamlet und Ophelia, purposes fall’n on the inventor’s heads auf Laerets und den König.” [Here the reading of the Qq. is clearly the only correct one, if the words carnal, bloody and unnatural concern the incest and fratricide, accidental judgments to the death of Polonius and the queen, deaths put on by cunning to Rosencrantz and his companion, deaths for no cause to Hamlet and Ophelia, purposes fall’n on the invesntor’s head to Laertes and the king.]

1872 cln1

cln1 ≈ cald2 (R3 //)

3875 carnall] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “Some of the later quartos read ‘cruell.’ The word has much the same sense in [R3 4.4.56 (2828)]: ‘How do I thank thee that this carnal cur Preys on the issue of his mother’s body.’ The reference in this line is to the murder of the elder Hamlet by Claudius, and his incestuous marriage; in the next to the death of Polonius; and in [3878] to the execution of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.”

1877 v1877

v1877 ≈ mal (only “Of sanguinary . . . alludes”)

3875 carnall]

1881 hud3

hud3

3875 carnall] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Carnal, here, probably means sanguinary, cruel, or inhuman; referring to the murder of Hamlet’s father.”

1882 elze2

elze2

3875 carnall] Elze (ed. 1882): “Compare Transactions of the New Shakspere Society, 1875-6, Part II, p. 423.”

1885 macd

macd

3876 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “—those [“acts”] of Claudius.”

1885 mull

mull ≈ macd w/o attribution

3876

1899 ard1

ard1 : standard

3875 carnall] Dowden (ed. 1899): “changed to cruell in [Q3-4]. This line refers to the King’s incestuous marriage and the murder of his brother; the next, to the death of Ophelia (accidental judgments) and of Polonius (casual slaughter); that which follows, to the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.”

1931 crg1

crg1 ≈ ard1

3876 carnall]

1934 cam3

cam3

3875-80 Wilson (ed. 1934): “Here l. 379 [3875] summarises the crimes of Claud.: adultery, murder, incest; l. 380 [3878] refers to the death of Oph. (accidental) and of Pol. (casual); l. 381 [3879] to the deaths of Ros. and Guild.; ll. 382-83 [3879-80] to those that have just taken place.”

cam3 : standard

3876 carnall] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary)

1947 cln2

cln2 ≈ standard

3876 carnall] Rylands (ed. 1947): “lustful (Claudius and Gertrude).”

1951 crg2

crg2=crg1

3876 carnall]

1980 pen2

pen2 ≈ cam3 w/o attribution

3876

1982 ard2

ard2 ≈ Cam3 w/o attribution

3876-8 Jenkins (ed. 1982): “We need not suppose this a systematic classification. Examples of each kind will readily occur to everyone. Carnal applies to the incestuous marriage, unnatural ((cf. [1.5.25])) to the fratricide. The consequential deaths of Polonius, Hamlet, Laertes, Claudius are all bloody. Judgments in casual slaughters are seen in the deaths of Polonius ((cf. [3.4.175-6])), Laertes and the Queen; deaths put on by cunning in those of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and of Hamlet himself.”

1985 cam4

cam4

3876 Edwards (ed. 1985): “Claudius’s deeds.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4

3876-80 Of . . . heads] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “These lines are, in effect, a résumé of the play’s action, similar to that at the end of [Rom. 5.3.215-89]. But there is also a striking difference: what occupies some seventy lines in the earlier tragedy is here confined to five.”

3875 3876