Page 258 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

i.«. NOTES i$r

of the ling himself for his succession.' It is a bid for
acquiescence in the fait accompli.
112. impart The vb. lacks an object. Johnson
writes I believe "impart" is "impart myself," "com-
'
municate" whatever I can bestow.'
113. school in Wittenberg, i.e. the university of
"Wittenberg, Luther's university, indicating that Ham.
was of Protestant upbringing, v. Introd. p. li.
120. I shall.. .madam Spoken, I suppose, in a tone
of utter weariness. The K. makes the best of it.
125.* No jocund health etc. Referring to the marriage
and coronation feast to follow.
129-59. O, that this.. .holdmy tongue. For the Q2
punctuation of this speech, v. MSH. pp. 197-200*
There are only two stops in Q 2 heavier than a comma,
viz. semi-colons, which make pauses of great dramatic
force before the two climaxes: 'frailty thy name is
woman!' and 'to post/With such dexterity to inces-
tuous sheets.' The second climax reveals the monster
present in Ham.'s mind from the beginning of the
soliloquy; 'a birth, indeed, Which throes him much to
yield' and, when uttered at last, suggesting a brood of
serpents in the hissing of its sibilants.
129.* too too sullied (George Macdonald; Dowden)
Q2 'too too sallied,' Q1 'too much grieu'd and sallied,'
F1 'too too solid.' For a full discussion of the graphical,
linguistic, literary and dramatic issues involved in this
crux, v. MSH. pp. 307-15. Cf. misp. 'sallies' for
'sullies' below, 2. 1. 39, and 'vnsallied' for 'unsullied'
in L.L.L. 5. 2. 352. 'Sullied flesh' is the key to the
soliloquy and tells us that Ham. is thinking of the
'kindless' (v.note 1.65) incestuous marriage as a personal
defilement. Further, 'sullied' fits the immediate context
as 'solid' does not. There is something absurd in
associating 'solidflesh' with 'melt' and 'thaw'; whereas
Sh. always uses 'sully' or 'sullied' elsewhere (cf.
iHen.IFz.\.84; Wint. 1.2.326; \Hen.FI\.\.6\