Page 265 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

IS 8 N O T E S 1.4.
29-30. by some habit.. .manners To 'o'er-leaven'
(v. G.) is to have too much of a good thing. The habit
spoken of, therefore, is one that makes pleasing manners
appear excessive, or that allows men to place a sinister
interpretation on what is nothing but personal charm.
The whole passage, 11. 27-30, is applicable to Ham.
himself; but the 'judicious' in an audience of 1601
would, I think, have detected a reference to the popu-
larity of the late Earl of Essex, had the lines been spoken.
32. nature's livery, or fortune's star 'a blemish they
were born with or one wrought by mischance' (Herford).
'Livery'•= badge, and 'star' may also refer quibblingly
to the mark or star on a horse's forehead.
33. His virtues (Qz) Theobald and later edd. read
'Their virtues.' As Ham. is thinking of himself, the
transition from plur. to sing, is natural. MSH. p. 291.
36. evil (Keightley) Q2 'eale.' Dowden prints
'evil.' There can be little doubt, I think, that Sh. wrote
'eule' (=» evil), of which 'eale' would be a. simple a:«
misreading. Cf. MSH. pp. 320—23, and notes 2. 2.
603; 3. 2. 127, which give us 'deule' and 'deale' for
'devil.'
37.* of a doubt With Dowden, I believe the emenda-
tion 'often dout' (=often put out, obliterate), to be the
best solution of this crux. It was first advanced by
Collier, though 'dout' has been proposed by many. For
'of a' as misp. of 'often' v. note 1.3. 74, and Greg
(Aspects), pp. 152-53, 200-201, while for 'doubt' as a
sp. of 'dout' v. note 4.7.190. Cf. also MSH. pp. 3 20-
23 for detailed discussion of the crux, a crux which has
strangely attracted immense critical attention, though
the general sense of the passage is quite clear.
38. S.D. Ham.'s long disquisition has lulled the
audience to rest, so that the apparition takes them all the
more by surprise.
39-42. Angels.. .charitable Ham.'s first words to
his father's spirit express the accepted theory of Pro-