Page:Hamlet - The Arden Shakespeare - 1899.djvu/155

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122

HAMLET

[ACT III.

Ham. Madam, how like you this play?

Queen. The lady doth protest^{[a 1]} too much, methinks.

Ham. O, but she'll keep her word.

King. Have you heard the argument? Is there no
offence in 't? 245

Ham. No, no; they do but jest, poison in jest; no
offence i' the world.

King. What do you call the play?

Ham. The Mouse-trap. Marry, how? Tropically.^{[a 2]}^{[b 1]}
This play is the image of a murder done in 250
Vienna: Gonzago^{[b 2]} is the duke's name; his
wife, Baptista: you shall see anon; 'tis a
knavish piece of work; but what o'^{[a 3]} that?
your majesty, and we that have free^{[b 3]} souls, it
touches us not; let the galled jade wince,^{[a 4]}^{[b 4]} our 255
withers are unwrung.—

↑ 242. doth protest] Q, protests F.
↑ 249. Tropically] Q, F; trapically Q 1.
↑ 253. o'] F, of Q, a Q 1.
↑ 255. wince] Q 1; winch Q, F.

↑ 249. Tropically] called The Mousetrap (catching the conscience of the king) by way of a trope or figure. The "trapically" of Q 1 suggests that a pun is intended.
↑ 251. Gonzago] In 1538 the Duke of Urbano, married to a Gonzaga, was murdered by Luigi Gonzaga, who dropped poison into his ear. Shakespeare, it is suggested, might have found this writ in choice Italian, might have transferred the name Gonzaga to the murdered man, and formed "Lucianus" from Luigi. "The duke" seems to be an oversight. In Q 1 the murdered man and his wife are Duke and Dutchesse throughout, except in the dumb-show, where they are King and Queen; in the altered form perhaps "duke" was here erroneously retained. It is, however, true, as Walker and Elze point out, that "Duke" and "King are not always differentiated by Elizabethan writers. As to the name "Baptista," Hunter says he has seen a few instances of the name as borne by women in England. "It had a feminine termination; that was enough, Shakespeare has given it to a man in The Taming of the Shrew." It has been shown by A. von Reumont (Allgemeine Zeitung, October 21, 1870) that Baptista was used in Italy as the Christian name of a woman. See Sh. Jahrbuch, xxxi. 169, for another Gonzaga murder.
↑ 254. free] see II. ii. 600.
↑ 255. let the galled jade wince] a proverbial saying; found in Edwards, Damon and Pythias, and Lyly, Euphues.

[1] 242. doth protest] Q, protests F.

[2] 249. Tropically] Q, F; trapically Q 1.

[5] 253. o'] F, of Q, a Q 1.

[7] 255. wince] Q 1; winch Q, F.

[3] 249. Tropically] called The Mousetrap (catching the conscience of the king) by way of a trope or figure. The "trapically" of Q 1 suggests that a pun is intended.

[4] 251. Gonzago] In 1538 the Duke of Urbano, married to a Gonzaga, was murdered by Luigi Gonzaga, who dropped poison into his ear. Shakespeare, it is suggested, might have found this writ in choice Italian, might have transferred the name Gonzaga to the murdered man, and formed "Lucianus" from Luigi. "The duke" seems to be an oversight. In Q 1 the murdered man and his wife are Duke and Dutchesse throughout, except in the dumb-show, where they are King and Queen; in the altered form perhaps "duke" was here erroneously retained. It is, however, true, as Walker and Elze point out, that "Duke" and "King are not always differentiated by Elizabethan writers. As to the name "Baptista," Hunter says he has seen a few instances of the name as borne by women in England. "It had a feminine termination; that was enough, Shakespeare has given it to a man in The Taming of the Shrew." It has been shown by A. von Reumont (Allgemeine Zeitung, October 21, 1870) that Baptista was used in Italy as the Christian name of a woman. See Sh. Jahrbuch, xxxi. 169, for another Gonzaga murder.

[6] 254. free] see II. ii. 600.

[8] 255. let the galled jade wince] a proverbial saying; found in Edwards, Damon and Pythias, and Lyly, Euphues.

[a 1]

[a 2]

[b 1]

[b 2]

[a 3]

[b 3]

[a 4]

[b 4]

Page:Hamlet - The Arden Shakespeare - 1899.djvu/155

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