Page 288 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

2.2. NOTES 181

392-93. You say.. .indeed Spoken to Ros. as Pol.
comes within earshot.
395-96. When Roscius.. .Rome i.e. 'Queen Anne is
dead' (as we should now say); cf. G. 'buz.' A reference
to the famous actor of Rome, whom Eliz. and later
writers took for a tragic actor though he was really a comic
one, and with whom E. Alleyn the leading player of the
Admiral's men was often compared (v. Chambers, Eliz.
Stage, ii. 297, citing Nashe, Weever, B. Jonson, Fuller),
would inevitably remind Sh.'s audience of the latter;
and I have strong suspicions that, when the troupe
appeared, 1 Player was 'made up' as Alleyn. Cf. note
2. 2. 332.
400. Tien came... ass Prob. a line from some lost
ballad; also, as Elze pointed out, a rude quibble on
Pol.'s words 'upon my honour.'
401-407. The best actors...the only men The
speech is characteristic of Pol.'s filing-cabinet type of
mind, still found in some public officials. It was also
intended, I suspect, as a satirical epitome of the repertory
and perhaps even of the play-bills of the Admiral's men.
It may be taken as axiomatic that praise from Pol.
implies criticism on Sh.'s part.
404. scene individable i.e. a play which observes the
unity of place, as distinct from 'poem unlimited' which
ignores the unities altogether.
405-407. Seneca...men I preserve in effect the
punct. of Q 2 with which F1 substantially agrees. Most
edd. follow Theobald (v. next note), and thus render
the passage unintelligible. I take 'the law of writ' and
'the liberty' as terms defining the jurisdiction of the
Sheriffs in and about the city of London (a jurisdiction
very important for players), quibblingly applied to
types of drama. 'The law of writ' refers to those
districts where the sheriff's writ ran and where no play-
houses would be erected. Sh. associates these with
Seneca, who was for the Elizabethans a paragon of