Hamlet (43 page)

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Authors: William Shakespeare

BOOK: Hamlet

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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 speech 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

405
follows not
is not logical/is not the next line

408
lot
chance

408
wot
knows

410
like
likely

411
row
line

411
chanson
song

412
my abridgements
things that cut me short/entertainment (in either case, the arrival of the players)

415
valanced
fringed (with a beard)

415
beard
defy, affront (plays on the usual sense)

416
By’r lady
by Our Lady (the Virgin Mary)

417
your ladyship
addressed to a teenage apprentice actor who plays women’s parts

418
chopine
high woman’s shoe with a very thick platform sole

419
uncurrent
not legal tender

419
cracked … ring
i.e. broken, and therefore unfit for women’s roles, with play on the sense of “deflowered” (coins featured the monarch’s head within a ring; if the coin was damaged within the ring it was no longer valid)

420
e’en to’t
go straight to it

422
straight
straightaway

422
quality
skill

427
caviar … general
i.e. wasted on the unappreciative multitude

429
cried … of
was superior to

430
digested
arranged

431
modesty
restraint/propriety

431
cunning
skill, artistry

432
sallets
salads or their components (i.e. spicy parts, vulgar phrases)

432
savoury
highly flavored

433
indict
accuse

434
as … fine
this line is missing from the Folio text, probably due to printer’s error (the same goes for the short line at the end of Hamlet’s speech)

435
handsome than fine
seemly and graceful rather than showy

436
Aeneas’ … Dido
after the Trojan war Aeneas landed at Carthage, where Dido was queen; he told of his experiences and she fell in love with him

437
Priam
king of Troy, killed by
Pyrrhus
during the attack on his city

440
rugged
harsh, severe

440
Pyrrhus
Achilles’ son; after the death of his father in the Trojan war, he took part in the conflict and was noted for his vengeful savagery

440
th’Hyrcanian beast
the tiger of Hyrcania (land bordering the Caspian Sea), known for its ferocity

442
sable
black

444
couchèd
hidden

444
ominous horse
fateful wooden horse by which the Greeks gained access to Troy

446
heraldry more dismal
i.e. blood, imaged as heraldic markings

446
dismal
ominous, fatal

447
total gules
entirely red (
gules
is a heraldic term)