Page 305 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

I9 8 NOTES 3.2.

79. in one speech Cf. notes 3. 2. 1; 2. 2. 544.
/
80. / /J <z damnid ghost v. Introd. p. li.
85-7. /sF*//, »jy /o/y/.. .//&?/* Hor.'s tone is light.
Does Sh. wish to suggest that he is still sceptical about
the Ghost's 'honesty' ?
88. / must be idle i.e. I must assume my antic dis-
position, v. G. 'idle,' 3. 4. 11, and Lear, 1. 3. 16.
Clar., Dowden and Onions agree in this interpretation.
89. S.D. Q 2 'Enter Trumpets and Kettle Drummes,
King, Queene, Polonius, Ophelia.' F i adds 'Rosin-
crance, Guildensterne, and other Lords attendant, with
his Guard carrying Torches. Danish March. Sound a
Flourish.' The 'Danish March' was prob. added after
the accession of Queen Anne of Denmark in 1603.
MSH. p. 40. The 'Torches' mark the scene as
evening (cf. note 3. 2. 269). The 'Guard' are the
'Switzers' (4. 5. 97). If Sh. intended their entry here,
it suggests that the K. prefers (after the Nunnery-scene)
to be guarded in Ham.'s presence.
91-2.* Excellent. ..capons so Ham.'s first 'idle'
speech is an elaborate quibble. He catches up 'fare' by
the wrong end, to harp on the note of thwarted ambition
(already sounded in the K.'s ears with I am very proud,
'
revengeful, ambitious,' 3. I. 125), by referring to the
promise of the succession (v. note 1. 2. 108-9). For
'chameleon' v. G., and cf. Two Gent. 2. I. 164-5
'Though the chameleon, love, can feed on the air,' and
2 Hen. IF, 1.3.28 'Eating the air on promise of supply.'
'Air' is a pun on 'heir' and 'promise-crammed' leads on
to 'capon'; 'capon-crammed' (i.e. stuffed like a capon)
being a common expression for * over-fed' (cf. mod.
slang 'fed up'). In 'capons' Ham. hints that the K. is
plying him with empty promises in preparation for
having him quietly removed frbm his path, since the
word means young cocks stuffed for killing. It also
stands for a type of stupidity. 'Even capons,' he says in
effect, 'are not so stupid as to grow fat on air.'