Page 257 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

NOTES x.2.

58-60. wrung.. .consent F i omits these 2\ lines.
MSH. pp. 22-3, 33.
60. Upon his will.. .consent A quibble upon 'will,'
the legal document; 'hard consent* (v. G. 'hard')
standing for the signet-ring. Cf. 3. 2. 402 for similar
quibble.
65. A little.. .kind. 'Kin' echoes 'cousin' (= kins-
man beyond the immediate family circle) and 'kind'
'son.' To paraphrase: 'a little more than kinsman, since
you have married my mother, yet hardly your son, since
the marriage is incestuous' (cf. 'kindless' 2. 2. 584).
The audience take ' less than kind' as referring to the
succession. They are not intended to see the yrhole
point until after the First Soliloquy. Ham.'s first
utterance is a riddle, like his character. Cf. Introd.
p. xl, and Tilley Proverbs (1950) K.38.
67. in the 'son' Q 2 'in the sonne,' F 1 'i'th' Sun.'
Another quibble, as the sp. of Q 2 makes clear: 'too
much in the son' refers to the insult of being called 'son'
by Claudius (1. 64); 'too much in the sun' (v. G. 'sun')
refers to the proverbial 'in the sun' which means 'out
of house and home, outlawed, disinherited,' as Ham.
was by the usurpation of Claudius. Cf. A.Y.L. 2. 5. 37;
Lear 2. 2. 168-69 'Thou out of heaven's benediction
comest/To the warm sun,' Tilley, 287 and P. L. Carver
in M.L.R. xxv. 478-81 and xxix. 173-76.
77-84. 'Tis not alone...might play A bitter de-
scription of the mock funeral of his father, and of his
mother's behaviour thereat.
82. modes (Capell) Q 2 'moodes,' F 1 'Moods'—
a common sp. Cf. Lov. Com. 201 'the encrimson'd
mood.'
102. nature v. G. and Introd. p. xxxiii.
105. the first corse Abel, killed by a brother! [J.C.M.]
108-109. for let the world'... our throne An important
political pronouncement, referred to again at 3. 2. 90-2
and 342-44: Ham., in full council, receives 'the voice