Page 321 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

214 NOTE S 3.4.

moment' (cf. 4. 7. 110-13 'love is begun by time' and
148 'convenience both of time and means'). Further,
'lapsed' (v. G.) in the only other place Sh. uses it (Tw.
Nt. 3. 3. 36) means 'arrested' or 'taken prisoner.' Thus
Ham. describes himself as 'the prisoner of circumstance
and of passion,' repeating 'passion's slave' of 3. 2. 70,
and referring to those fits of morbid excitement which so
often take possession of him. Cf. Introd. p. lxiv and
notes 3. 1. 137-52; 3. 4. 180; 5. 1. 278; 5. 2. 230.
Schmidt, also citing Tw. Nt. 3.3.36, interprets the whole
passage: 'who, surprised by you in a time and passion
fit for the execution of your command, lets them go

108. important ~ urgent. A significant admission;
cf. note 3. 2. 372-73.
IIO-II . this visitation Is but to whet etc. i.e. the
only purpose of my appearing is to whet etc. (v. Introd.
p. lxi). His appeal on behalf of the Queen is an after-
thought, due to the pitiable state in which he finds her.
120-22. as the sleeping.. .stand an end The hairs
are compared with soldiers who leap from their beds at
the alarm and stand stiff and erect for action.
121. hairs (Rowe) £>2, F i 'haire.' MSH.p. 300.
125-28. how pale he glares. ..this piteous action
Ham.'s words suggest that he sees some strange agitation
in the Ghost's face and actions; v. note 1. 132.
126-27. preaching to stones.. .capable, v. Luke xix.
40; 'capable' (v. G.) implies softening.
129. effects = outward symptoms (of my stern pur-
pose), v. G.
132. Nothing at all Bradley (p. 140) believes that
the Ghost remains invisible and inaudible to the Queen
in order to spare her. A more plausible reason is fur-
nished by Der bestrafte Brudermord, viz. that she is 'no
longer worthy to look on his form,' (v. Furness, ii.
133); and since in Heywood's Iron Age (Pt. ii) Act 5,
Scene 1, Orestes takes Clytemnestra's blindness to