HamletThis edition of Hamlet represents a radically new text of the best known and most widely discussed of all Shakespearean tragedies. G.R. Hibbard argues, in a substantial introduction, that the presently accepted text is not, in fact, the most authoritative version of the play. Instead, he turns to the First Folio of 1623, Shakespeare's "fair copy" of the play that has been preserved for us in the Second Quarto. This revision of the play is more "theatrical" in the best sense of that word--it provides, as Shakespeare intended, a better, more practical acting script. Such changes as the omission of Horatio's account of the omens preceding Caesar's assassination, and Hamlet's on the drunkenness of Danes, give the play new momentum, and lend credence to Hibbard's claim that the familiar conflated text of Hamlet is a much more "problematic" play than it appears to have been in the First Folio. |
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Page 81
... speech , botched up out of two separate speeches of Hamlet's , ' He that plays the king ... shall halt for't ' ( 2.2.317–23 ) and ' It is not strange ... picture in little ' ( 2.2.359–62 ) which are given in reverse order , the words ...
... speech , botched up out of two separate speeches of Hamlet's , ' He that plays the king ... shall halt for't ' ( 2.2.317–23 ) and ' It is not strange ... picture in little ' ( 2.2.359–62 ) which are given in reverse order , the words ...
Page 83
... speech , as it appears in the good texts , seven lines of ingratiating and orotund expansiveness , disappears without so much as a trace ; and Laertes ' reply to the question marks a fresh departure in the kind of writing Q1 has to ...
... speech , as it appears in the good texts , seven lines of ingratiating and orotund expansiveness , disappears without so much as a trace ; and Laertes ' reply to the question marks a fresh departure in the kind of writing Q1 has to ...
Page 95
... speech , ' I will say so ' , is caught up into and becomes part of the two speeches of Hamlet that lie on either side of it . Then , at 3.4.53 , the speech prefix Ham . is placed one line too early , with the result that the Prince ...
... speech , ' I will say so ' , is caught up into and becomes part of the two speeches of Hamlet that lie on either side of it . Then , at 3.4.53 , the speech prefix Ham . is placed one line too early , with the result that the Prince ...
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Common terms and phrases
Abbott action actors Amleth appears audience BARNARDO Caesar cited Claudius Claudius's Compare compositors copy Coriolanus courtiers Cymbeline dead death Denmark Dent doth E. K. Chambers edition elsewhere in Shakespeare England Enter Claudius Enter Hamlet Exeunt Exit eyes F divides father fear Folio follows Fortinbras foul papers Gertrude Ghost give haste hath heaven Henry i'th Jenkins killed King King's Laertes lines looks lord Love's Labour's Lost madness matter means mind mother murder nature night Ophelia Osric Othello pare passage phrase play Players Polonius Polonius's Prince Q2 divides Q2 reads Queen reason revenge REYNOLDO Richard II Romeo Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sb.¹ scene seems sense Shake Shakespearian soliloquy soul speak speech stage sweet sword tell theatre thee THEOBALD thing thou thought tion tragedy Twelfth Night Ur-Hamlet Voltemand W. W. Greg Wilson word ΙΟ