Page 259 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

i$2 NOTE S 1.2.

M.W.W. 2. i. 102; L.L.L. $. 2. 352; Son. 15. 12,
69.14) with the image, implicit or explicit, of dirt upon
a surface of pure white; and the surface Ham. obviously
has in mind here is snow, symbolical of the nature he
shares with his mother, once pure but now befouled.
132. His canon'gainst self-slaughter Apparently the
sixth commandment is meant. Cf. notes 5. 1. 9, 10-20
below and Cymb. 3.4. 78-80:

Against self-slaughter
There is a prohibition so divine
That cravens my weak hand.

150. discourse of reason v. G. A common expression
in Florio's Montaigne.
157.* incestuous The marriage of a woman with her
deceased husband's brother was so regarded by the
Church, whether Catholic or Protestant. Cf. 1. 5. 42,
2
2
83; 3- 3- 9°> 5- - 3 3' The horror of this 'incest'
haunts Ham. throughout the play.
160. / am glad to see you well; Overcome with the
emotion of the soliloquy, Ham. does not at first see who
has entered. When he does, he throws himself almost
hungrily upon Hor. The £>2 semicolon is noteworthy.
MSH. pp. 200, 202. Edd. ask where Hor. can have
been, and why Ham. had not met him before, if he
arrived for the funeral. The theatre does not give time
for the posing of such questions. Cf. Introd. pp. xlviii—
xlix.
161. self Very emphatic.
163. Ill change.. .with you i.e. 'No talk of
"servant"! the only name between us is "friend."' The
emphatic word is 'that.' Cf. note 1. 254 below.
J67. —good even, sir. Cj2 '(good euen sir).' The
brackets denote a change of voice, and indicate a more
distant form of salutation, to one who is perhaps a junior
officer and personally unknown to the Prince. MSH.
pp. 202-3.