78. What fills out the line?

80-82. Compare these lines with I, v, 76-79.

80. Full of bread. Look up Ezekiel, xvi, 49.

81. With all his crimes broad blown. Cf. I, v, 76: "cut off even in the blossoms of my sin." Blown is used as in III, i, 167. Flush= lusty, full of vigor.

83. In our circumstance and course of thought: as we (opposed to heaven) think. Circumstance seems to suggest the ranging abroad, course, the more direct movement, of thought. 85. Purging. See note on III, ii, 318.

96. This physic: this delay in execution. Make clear to yourself just what the reason is that now leads Hamlet to delay. Is it so much a reason as an excuse?

acts.

ACT III. SCENE IV.

In this scene Hamlet, being caught without a chance to think, But by a stroke of tragic irony he kills Polonius, supposing him to be the King. And in killing Polonius he sets in motion the forces that are to lead to his own doom. The interview with his mother gives him an opportunity again to unpack his heart with words, and in the midst of it-at the beginning of the falling, as at the beginning of the rising action-the Ghost appears again. And the scene ends with Hamlet's determination to act-only this time it is defensive action, made necessary by the King's initiative, that he is forced to undertake.

1. Lay home. Cf. III, iii, 29.

4. Much heat: the King's anger. Sconce is Hanmer's emendation (perhaps unnecessary) for silence of the Quartos and Folios.

6. Fear me not. Cf. note on I, iii, 51.

26. Is it the king? That Hamlet thought it was the King is clear from line 32. Why does he no longer feel the scruple of the preceding scene?

29, 30. As kill a king. Does Hamlet think that his mother was privy to his father's murder? Is there any evidence that she was?

38. Proof and bulwark: like tested armor and a rampart. Sense = feeling.

speaks. It is rather the latent possibilities of human nature than his own actual commissions that he has in mind.

133. It is frequently said that at this point Hamlet catches sight of Polonius behind the arras, and that the terrible bitterness of the speeches that follow is due to his knowledge that Ophelia has lied in her answer, and to his intention to speak, now, for the ears of Polonius and the King. And on the stage Polonius is frequently made to peep around the curtain at this moment. But if Shakespeare had meant this, it is unlike him not to have made it clear. It is very possible—even probable— that Hamlet suspects the presence of Polonius, and that is sufficient to explain his attitude.

134. At home, my lord. Much has been made-often rather stupidly-of Ophelia's lie. There are few better comments than Professor Bradley's: "I will not discuss these casuistical problems; but, if ever an angry lunatic [and Ophelia believes Hamlet to be mad] asks me a question which I cannot answer truly without great danger to him and to one of my relations, I hope that grace may be given me to imitate Ophelia. Seriously, at such a terrible moment was it weak, was it not rather heroic, in a simple girl not to lose her presence of mind and not to flinch, but to go through her task for Hamlet's sake and her father's?" (Shakespearean Tragedy, p. 163).

144. You. Hamlet here passes from Ophelia (whom, since line 120, he has been addressing as "thou") to all women, and the bitterness of his next speech is not directed against Ophelia alone. See note on line 115.

151. You amble, and you lisp: you walk and talk affectedly.

151. Nick-name God's creatures: give affected names to whatever God has made.

152. Make your wantonness your ignorance: excuse your wantonness by pretending ignorance. Wantonness, in Elizabethan English, does not necessarily mean unchastity; it may simply mean affectation. Either sense fits the context here, and it is probable that Hamlet means both-i. e., immodesty veiled under the affected phraseology of the day.

153. It hath made me mad. Hamlet expects to be reported-even if he does not actually realize that he is overheard.

156. All but one. A hint let drop for the King's ear.

159. The order of the two groups of three words does not correspond, and the First Quarto reverses the order of "soldier's" and " scholar's." But Shakespeare elsewhere deals freely with similar constructions. Cf. Merchant of Venice, III, i, 6465; Rape of Lucrece, 902.

160. The hope and the flower of this fair kingdom.

161. The mold of form: the model of courtly behavior. 167. Blown youth: youth in its full flower.

169. What I have seen: that is, Hamlet as he was.

171-72. The King is shrewder than the rest, and his diagnosis is perfectly sound.

174. Disclose: the breaking of the shell in hatching. Cf. V, i, 310.

175 ff. Observe the promptness with which the King acts. There is no need to suppose that, at this time, his plan included more than he here states.

182. Puts. Brains is treated as a singular. 193. Find him: detect his secret.

ACT III. SCENP II.

The rising action of the tragedy-that part of its movement in which the hero is the aggressive force-reaches its highest point in this scene and the next. By the splendidly dramatic device of the play, Hamlet has forced the King to virtual confession; in the next scene he has him for a moment absolutely in his power. He refuses the opportunity-and from this point on the King becomes the aggressor, and Hamlet is put more and more on the defensive. The turning point or climax of the play, therefore, comes in Scene II-or, better, in Scenes II and III taken together. What follows constitutes the so-called alling action, in which the hero is forced gradually to the wall. In what scene is the climax of Macbeth? Of Julius Cæsar? Of Romeo and Juliet?

I. The speech. The "dozen or sixteen lines" referred to in II, ii, 566. Hamlet's advice to the players embodies Shakespeare's own mature opinions about the actor's art.

6. Use all: do everything.

44. Sets a blister there. Harlots were branded in the forehead. Cf. Comedy of Errors, II, ii, 138.

46. Contraction: the marriage contract (see “marriagevows" above).

48. Glow: burn with shame.

49. The earth, as the center of the universe.

50. The doom: the last judgment. Cf. “the great doom's image" (Macbeth, II, iii, 83); "the crack of doom" (ibid., IV, i, 117).

52. In the index: in the prologue or prelude. Index is here the table of contents prefixed to a book; cf. Othello, II, i, 263: "an index and obscure prologue to the history"; and especially Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 343-46.

53. Stage tradition has varied greatly in the translation of this line into stage business. Some of the devices have been: two miniatures produced by Hamlet; two full-length portraits on the wall; a miniature of his father drawn from Hamlet's bosom, and either a miniature of Claudius worn by the Queen, or a full-length picture of him on the wall. Many later actors represent both pictures as imagined by Hamlet. The justification of the miniatures is found, of course, in the "pictures in little " of II, ii, 383.

54. Counterfeit presentment: portrayed representation. Counterfeit did not necessarily have its modern connotation. Cf. Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 116: “Fair Portia's counterfeit.” 56. Hyperion's curls. See note on I, ii, 140.

58. Station: attitude in standing. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III, iii, 22: "her motion and her station are as one." Mercury was the messenger of the gods. Note the vividness of Hamlet's description.

64-65. The reference is to the thin and blasted ears that devoured the full ears in Pharaoh's dream. See Genesis, xli, 5-7.

69. Hey-day: a state of exaltation or excitement. Notice again the contrast (in this line and the next) between blood and "judgment," and cf. note on III, ii, 74.

71. Sense: feeling, sensation. In line 74 its meaning is rather reason, common sense; in line 72 there is a mingling of both. Motion (line 72) = impulse, desire.

73. Apoplex'd: paralyzed. Hamlet means that his mother's

faculties must be completely benumbed or stupefied, for even madness would have left her some power of choice. The so of line 74 is understood before err in the preceding line.

80. Sense. The reference here is to one of the "five senses." 91. Leave their tinct: part with their hue.

98. A vice of kings. The Vice was the buffoon in the old morality plays. Cf. Twelfth Night, IV, ii, 134-39. The phrase here means "" a buffoon of a king."

99-101. The King is not even a robber-merely a sneak-thief. 102. A king of shreds and patches: a king in motley. The phrase carries out the idea of "a vice of kings."

[Enter Ghost]. What marked difference between this and the preceding appearances of the Ghost is brought out by the ensuing dialogue? What parallel is there in Macbeth?

107. Lapsed in time and passion: having allowed time to slip by and feeling to grow dull. Important (line 108) = urgent.

110. Do not forget. What was Hamlet's "word"? Cf. I, V, 91-112.

I12. Amazement: utter bewilderment. Cf. III, ii, 339. 114. Conceit: mental impression, imagination. Cf. II, ii, 579, 583.

121. Excrements: that which grows out of the body; here, hairs (used also of nails, feathers). Bedded carries out the idea of sleeping. For an end cf. note on I, v, 19. With the description in lines 119-22 cf. that in I, v, 17-20.

123. Distemper. See note on II, ii, 55, and cf. III, ii, 351. 128-29. Convert my stern effects: transform the stern deeds I have to do.

135. In his habit as he lived. Since habit could scarcely apply to armor, it is probable that the Ghost appears this time in ordinary garb. In the First Quarto the stage direction before line 102 reads: Enter the Ghost in his night gowne-i. e., in his dressing gown.

143. I will repeat in the same words what I have said; madness would keep leaping aside in the attempt.

152. Forgive me this my virtue: forgive this virtue of mine. Hamlet is still addressing his mother-not, as is sometimes said, apostrophizing his virtue. Lines 154-55 are an elaboration of the idea in line 152. Curb bow, bend the knee.

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