Hamlet Page 26

  10 bound ready/under obligation

  17 But were it not

  20 harrow up distress/tear up

  21 like ... spheres individual stars and planets were thought to be contained within concentric hollow spheres that revolved around the earth 22 knotty ... locks neat and carefully styled hair

  24 porpentine porcupine

  25 eternal blazon revelation of the secrets of the eternal world

  26 List listen

  31 in the best even at best

  34 meditation thought

  35 sweep swoop in sudden attack

  36 apt fit/ready/responsive

  37 duller ... be you would be more sluggish

  38 Lethe wharf the banks of the Lethe, the river of forgetfulness in the classical underworld 40 orchard garden

  42 forged process fabricated account

  43 Rankly excessively/foully

  47 adulterate adulterous

  48 gifts natural talents/presents

  51 will sexual desire

  53 dignity worth, excellence

  55 decline Upon sink to

  58 virtue, as it as virtue

  61 sate itself become satiated/grow weary

  62 garbage filth/animal entrails

  66 secure carefree, unsuspecting

  67 hebenon a poisonous substance--possibly "henbane" or "yew" (hebenus) 69 leperous distilment distillation causing leprosy-like symptoms (i.e. corrosion of the skin) 71 quicksilver liquid mercury

  73 posset And curd clot, curdle

  74 eager sour/acid

  76 tetter eruption of the skin

  76 barked about covered with a bark-like crust

  77 lazar-like leperlike

  80 dispatched deprived through death

  82 Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled without having received Holy Communion (the "housel"), unprepared, and without having received extreme unction (being anointed with holy oil before death) 83 reckoning settling of debts

  83 account i.e. judgment

  86 nature natural feeling

  88 luxury lust

  90 Taint pollute

  91 aught anything

  94 matin morning

  95 'gins begins

  95 uneffectual i.e. no longer providing light

  97 host angels

  98 couple add (to heaven and earth) 102 distracted distressed, agitated

  102 globe world/head (plays on the name of the Globe Theatre)

  103 table writing tablet, slate

  104 fond foolish

  104 records memories/written accounts

  105 saws sayings, maxims

  105 pressures impressions, stamps

  110 pernicious destructive/wicked

  113 meet fitting

  116 word watchword/motto

  124 Hillo ... come Hamlet mockingly responds as if Horatio's call were that of a falconer summoning his bird to return 125 How is't how is it with you, how are you

  127 wonderful astonishing, extraordinary

  132 once ever

  136 arrant downright/notorious

  140 circumstance roundabout talk/details

  142 as i.e. in the direction that

  150 Saint Patrick the keeper of Purgatory

  152 honest genuine (i.e. not an evil spirit)

  154 O'ermaster't repress it

  161 not I i.e. I will not tell (not "I will not swear")

  163 sword i.e. the hilt of the sword (the shape of a cross) 166 under the stage accessed through the trapdoor, this region was often associated with hell 168 truepenny honest fellow

  169 cellarage cellars

  175 Hic et ubique? "Here and everywhere?" (Latin)

  182 pioneer soldier whose responsibility it was to dig trenches

  182 remove move

  184 stranger i.e. one in need of hospitality

  187 never ... mercy never, as you hope for God's mercy (Hamlet begins the oath) 188 How ... soe'er however strangely or oddly

  190 antic grotesque/fantastic/bizarre

  192 encumbered entangled (i.e. folded)

  192 headshake shaking the head

  193 doubtful ambiguous

  194 an if if

  195 list wished 'There ... might' there are those who might tell, if they could 196 giving out utterance/suggestion

  196 note indicate

  201 commend me entrust myself

  202 what whatever

  203 friending friendship

  205 still always

  206 The time things generally, the age

  206 out of joint dislocated, disordered

  Act 2 Scene 1

  2.1 Location: within the royal castle at Elsinore; this remains the location for all scenes until Act 4 scene 3

  3 marvellous marvelously, extremely

  4 you i.e. if you

  8 Inquire me inquire (me is emphatic)

  8 Danskers Danes

  9 keep lodge

  11 encompassment roundabout manner of talking

  11 drift general aim

  12 come ... it you will come closer to the truth than you would were you to ask specific, pointed questions 14 Take you assume, affect

  20 Addicted devoted or inclined to

  21 forgeries fabrications

  21 rank excessive/coarse

  23 wanton boisterous/wild/lustful

  23 slips flaws, foibles

  26 gaming gambling

  28 Drabbing using prostitutes

  30 season ... charge moderate the accusation

  32 incontinency excessive sexual license

  33 quaintly artfully, skillfully

  34 taints of liberty faults resulting from too much freedom

  36 savageness wildness

  36 unreclaimed untamed

  37 Of general assault by which all men are affected

  41 drift intention/plan

  42 fetch of warrant legitimate stratagem

  44 As 'twere as if he were

  44 i'th'working in the handling, the manufacture

  45 party in converse the person with whom you are conversing

  45 sound question, probe

  46 Having ever if he has ever

  46 prenominate aforementioned

  47 breathe of speak about (i.e. Laertes)

  48 closes ... consequence agrees with you in the following way

  50 addition form of address

  58 ay, marry yes, by the Virgin Mary, i.e. yes, of course

  62 o'ertook in's rouse overcome in his carousals (i.e. drunk)

  65 Videlicet "that is to say" (Latin)

  67 carp type of fish

  68 we ... reach we who are wise and widely perceptive

  69 windlasses roundabout route

  69 assays of bias indirect ventures

  70 directions the way things are really going

  71 lecture lesson

  72 have understand

  74 buy i.e. be with

  76 Observe ... yourself observe his behavior in person/go along with his inclinations 78 ply his music (literally) practice his musical skills/(metaphorically) go his own way 79 Well very well

  85 doublet close-fitting jacket with buttons down the front

  85 unbraced undone

  86 No hat Elizabethans usually wore hats indoors when in company

  87 Ungartered falling down, untied (garters were bands that held the stockings in place) 87 down-gyved fallen down and resembling fetters (gyves)

  89 purport meaning

  96 goes ... arm he backs away until he stands at arm's length

  99 As as if

  108 bended their light i.e. directed their gaze

  110 ecstasy frenzy, madness

  111 Whose ... itself the violent nature of which causes self-destruction 120 speed profit/promptness

  121 quoted observed

  122 wreck dishonor, ruin sexually

  122 beshrew my jealousy curse my suspicion

  123 proper ... age i.e. typical of old men

  124 cast beyond ourselves miscalculate/miss the mark (anot
her angling metaphor) 127 close secret

  127 move ... love cause more unhappiness by concealment than unpleasantness by coming forward Act 2 Scene 2

  2 Moreover that in addition to the fact that

  10 deem think, discern/judge

  12 neighboured to familiar with

  12 humour temperament

  13 vouchsafe your rest consent to stay

  16 occasions opportunities

  18 opened revealed

  21 more adheres is more attached

  22 gentry courtesy

  24 supply and profit fulfillment and advancement

  28 of over

  29 dread pleasures revered wishes

  32 in ... bent to the utmost

  40 practices actions (perhaps playing on the sense of "schemes")

  45 still always

  47 hold regard/uphold

  50 policy shrewdness/statecraft

  55 fruit i.e. dessert

  56 grace honor (plays on sense of "prayer before a meal")

  58 distemper illness, derangement

  59 doubt suspect

  59 main chief concern

  61 sift him question him (Polonius) closely

  63 desires good wishes

  64 Upon our first as soon as we raised the matter

  66 Polack Polish/King of Poland

  69 impotence frailty, helplessness

  70 borne in hand deluded, taken advantage of

  70 arrests orders to cease military activity

  72 fine conclusion

  74 give ... arms attempt to use force

  76 crowns gold coins (of varying values according to the countries they were used in) 77 commission authority

  80 quiet pass safe passage

  82 On ... allowance i.e. according to conditions regarding the safety of Denmark and your permission for such an enterprise 84 likes pleases

  85 at ... time when we have the time for proper consideration

  91 expostulate discuss/ask

  95 wit intellect/good sense

  98 for ... mad Polonius means that it would be mad to attempt to define madness, but ends up implying, rather nonsensically, that the definition of madness is "being mad"

  104 figure figure of speech

  109 this ... cause this defective behavior (Hamlet's madness) has a cause 110 Thus ... thus this is the current state of affairs, and now for the rest 110 Perpend consider

  113 gather, and surmise collect your thoughts, draw your conclusions (or gather may be a request to Claudius and Gertrude to draw closer and look at the letter) 117 these i.e. this letter/these phrases

  119 faithful i.e. to the letter/in reading the letter fully 122 Doubt in this third line the sense shifts to "suspect"

  124 ill ... numbers poor at writing verse

  125 reckon my groans count my groans/make my groans scan poetically 127 machine is to bodily structure belongs to

  129 more above moreover

  130 fell out occurred

  135 fain willingly

  140 played ... table-book remained silent and withheld the information/assisted in conveying messages between them 141 given ... winking closed the eyes of my heart

  142 with idle sight complacently/without recognizing its significance 143 round roundly, in a forthright manner

  144 bespeak address/speak angrily to

  145 out ... star beyond your reach/outside your destiny

  146 precepts instructions

  147 resort visits

  152 a watch sleeplessness

  153 lightness light-headedness

  153 declension decline (plays on the grammatical sense)

  163 circumstances circumstantial evidence

  165 centre i.e. of the earth

  166 try test

  170 loose set loose (often used of an animal; sometimes with the sense of releasing the female to the male for sex, which would lend sexual connotations to encounter) 171 arras large tapestry wall-hanging

  173 thereon on that account

  174 assistant ... state policy adviser

  175 carters cart drivers

  177 sadly solemnly

  180 board accost

  180 presently immediately

  180 give me leave a polite way of asking to be left alone

  182 God-a-mercy God have mercy (i.e. thank you)

  184 fishmonger plays on slang senses of "lecher" and "pimp"

  192 good kissing carrion good piece of rotting flesh to kiss (carrion also suggests "whore") 194 i'th'sun in public/in the sun (or "son") that causes breeding 194 conception understanding/becoming pregnant

  202 matter content (Hamlet plays on sense of "cause of a dispute") 207 purging discharging

  207 amber ... gum tree resin

  208 hams legs

  210 honesty decent/honorable

  211 old as old

  217 pregnant meaningful/quick-witted (with childbearing connotations, continued in delivered of) 217 happiness fortuitousness

  219 suddenly immediately

  224 withal with

  233 indifferent ordinary, average

  234 Happy fortunate

  235 button i.e. point at the very top of the cap

  239 favours sexual favors (middle has vaginal connotations) 240 privates ordinary citizens/genitals

  242 strumpet prostitute

  245 particular detail

  251 confines places of confinement

  252 wards prison cells

  263 substance ... ambitious material that fuels ambition/stuff ambitious men are made of 267 Then ... shadows i.e. if ambition is nothing but shadow, then only unambitious beggars have bodily substance; their shadows must then be made up of ambitious people such as monarchs and heroes

  268 outstretched reaching out ambitiously/elongated like shadows 269 fay faith

  270 wait upon accompany (Hamlet emphasizes the sense of "serve") 271 No such matter i.e. I'll have no such thing

  271 sort class

  273 dreadfully attended poorly waited upon (with possible play on sense of "haunted by dire visions") 273 beaten way well-trodden path

  277 too ... halfpenny too expensive at a halfpenny (i.e. worthless)/too expensive by a halfpenny (if the visitors are not being honest about the reason for their visit) 282 anything ... purpose anything irrelevant, any lie you wish

  284 modesties decency/sense of shame

  284 colour disguise, excuse

  287 conjure entreat, appeal to

  288 consonancy harmony, friendship

  289 what more dear whatever more precious thing

  290 proposer questioner

  290 charge urge, entreat

  291 even level/honest

  293 of on

  296 my ... discovery my saying it first mean that you are not forced to reveal anything 298 moult no feather remain undiminished

  299 custom of exercise usual pursuits/gentlemanly activities

  300 heavily dejectedly

  301 frame framework, structure (like canopy, may also evoke the physical structure of the theater building) 301 sterile promontory barren point of land jutting out into the sea 302 brave splendid

  303 firmament sky

  303 fretted adorned

  307 express well-designed/expressive/exact

  308 apprehension understanding

  310 quintessence essence/purest form (literally the "fifth essence," of which heavenly bodies were composed and supposedly present in all matter) 316 Lenten entertainment poor reception/meager employment, i.e. appropriate to Lent 317 coted overtook

  320 tribute homage/payment

  321 foil and target sword and shield

  321 gratis for nothing (Latin)

  322 humorous moody or ill-tempered (with an imbalance of the four bodily "humours," fluids thought to control mood) 323 tickled o'th'sear easily triggered (to laughter)

  323 sear part of the mechanism involved in firing a gun

  324 halt limp (if the actor playing the lady is interrupted by heckling from the audience the rhythm of his spe
ech will be lost) 326 wont accustomed

  328 residence remaining in their usual home

  330 inhibition (city) ban on performing plays

  331 late innovation recent political insurrection/new fashion for boy actors 332 estimation reputation

  337 eyrie nest/brood

  337 eyases young hawks

  337 cry ... question shrilly dominate the debate (i.e. the rivalry between child and adult acting companies) 338 tyrannically outrageously/vehemently

  339 berattle ... stages clamor against the public theaters (where the adult acting companies perform) 340 many ... thither many fashionable young men hardly dare attend the public theaters as they are so afraid of being mocked by the playwrights working for the boy actors 343 escoted supported

  343 quality (acting) profession

  343 no ... sing i.e. only until their voices break

  345 common i.e. adult

  345 like likely

  346 means financial resources

  347 succession future professions

  349 tar incite

  350 no ... question the acting companies paid for the plots of no new plays unless they featured the quarrel between the children's dramatists and the adult actors (or "without the playwright and the adult acting company coming to blows over the controversy") 355 carry it away win the day

  356 his load i.e. the world, carried on Hercules' shoulders (possibly a reference to the emblem of the Globe Theatre) 359 mows mouths, grimaces

  360 ducats gold coins

  361 picture in little miniature portrait

  361 more than natural i.e. unnatural

  362 philosophy science

  362.1 Flourish trumpet fanfare

  365 appurtenance appropriate accompaniment

  366 comply observe proper courtesies

  366 garb appropriate manner

  366 my extent the behavior I extend

  367 fairly courteously

  368 entertainment welcome

  371 but mad north-north-west only mad when the wind is in the north-northwest/only slightly mad (like a faulty compass that points north-northwest rather than north) 372 handsaw handheld saw (some editors emend to "hernshaw," a type of heron) 376 swathing-clouts swaddling-clothes in which a newborn baby was wrapped 377 Happily perhaps

  380 You ... indeed Hamlet pretends to Polonius that he is mid-conversation with his friends 384 Roscius a famous Roman actor

  386 Buzz, buzz! dismissive exclamation made in response to idle gossip or old news 388 ass may pun on "arse"

  392 scene individable a play observing the unities of time, place and action/a play whose genre is unclassifiable 392 poem unlimited dramatic verse (a play) that does not observe the unities of time, place and action/a play whose genre is all-inclusive/a play that explores a general rather than a specific question (a rhetorical application of unlimited) 392 Seneca Roman writer of tragedies

  393 heavy sorrowful/weighty

  393 Plautus Roman writer of comedies

  393 For ... liberty for plays written according to the rules and for those that disregard all prescriptions 395 O ... thou! In the Bible, Jephthah vowed to God that if he was successful in war he would sacrifice the first creature he met on his return home; he encountered his daughter but kept his word 399 "One ... well." lines from a well-known ballad

  400 passing surpassingly, exceedingly