Authors: William Shakespeare
251
confines
places of confinement
252
wards
prison cells
263
substance … ambitious
material that fuels ambition/stuff ambitious men are made of
267
Then … shadows
i.e. if ambition is nothing but shadow, then only unambitious beggars have bodily substance; their shadows must then be made up of ambitious people such as
monarchs
and
heroes
268
outstretched
reaching out ambitiously/elongated like shadows
269
fay
faith
270
wait upon
accompany (Hamlet emphasizes the sense of “serve”)
271
No such matter
i.e. I’ll have no such thing
271
sort
class
273
dreadfully attended
poorly waited upon (with possible play on sense of “haunted by dire visions”)
273
beaten way
well-trodden path
277
too … halfpenny
too expensive at a halfpenny (i.e. worthless)/too expensive by a halfpenny (if the visitors are not being honest about the reason for their visit)
282
anything … purpose
anything irrelevant, any lie you wish
284
modesties
decency/sense of shame
284
colour
disguise, excuse
287
conjure
entreat, appeal to
288
consonancy
harmony, friendship
289
what more dear
whatever more precious thing
290
proposer
questioner
290
charge
urge, entreat
291
even
level/honest
293
of
on
296
my … discovery
my saying it first mean that you are not forced to reveal anything
298
moult no feather
remain undiminished
299
custom of exercise
usual pursuits/gentlemanly activities
300
heavily
dejectedly
301
frame
framework, structure (like
canopy
, may also evoke the physical structure of the theater building)
301
sterile promontory
barren point of land jutting out into the sea
302
brave
splendid
303
firmament
sky
303
fretted
adorned
307
express
well-designed/expressive/exact
308
apprehension
understanding
310
quintessence
essence/purest form (literally the “fifth essence,” of which heavenly bodies were composed and supposedly present in all matter)
316
Lenten entertainment
poor reception/meager employment, i.e. appropriate to Lent
317
coted
overtook
320
tribute
homage/payment
321
foil and target
sword and shield
321
gratis
for nothing (Latin)
322
humorous
moody or ill-tempered (with an imbalance of the four bodily “humours,” fluids thought to control mood)
323
tickled o’th’sear
easily triggered (to laughter)
323
sear
part of the mechanism involved in firing a gun
324
halt
limp (if the actor playing the
lady
is interrupted by heckling from the audience the rhythm of his speech will be lost)
326
wont
accustomed
328
residence
remaining in their usual home
330
inhibition
(city) ban on performing plays
331
late innovation
recent political insurrection/new fashion for boy actors
332
estimation
reputation
337
eyrie
nest/brood
337
eyases
young hawks
337
cry … question
shrilly dominate the debate (i.e. the rivalry between child and adult acting companies)
338
tyrannically
outrageously/vehemently
339
berattle … stages
clamor against the public theaters (where the adult acting companies perform)
340
many … thither
many fashionable young men hardly dare attend the public theaters as they are so afraid of being mocked by the playwrights working for the boy actors
343
escoted
supported
343
quality
(acting) profession
343
no … sing
i.e. only until their voices break
345
common
i.e. adult
345
like
likely
346
means
financial resources
347
succession
future professions
349
tar
incite
350
no … question
the acting companies paid for the plots of no new plays unless they featured the quarrel between the children’s dramatists and the adult actors (or “without the playwright and the adult acting company coming to blows over the controversy”)
355
carry it away
win the day
356
his load
i.e. the world, carried on Hercules’ shoulders (possibly a reference to the emblem of the Globe Theatre)
359
mows
mouths, grimaces
360
ducats
gold coins
361
picture in little
miniature portrait
361
more than natural
i.e. unnatural
362
philosophy
science
362.1
Flourish
trumpet fanfare
365
appurtenance
appropriate accompaniment
366
comply
observe proper courtesies
366
garb
appropriate manner
366
my extent
the behavior I extend
367
fairly
courteously
368
entertainment
welcome
371
but mad north-north-west
only mad when the wind is in the north-northwest/only slightly mad (like a faulty compass that points north-northwest rather than north)
372
handsaw
handheld saw (some editors emend to “hernshaw,” a type of heron)
376
swathing-clouts
swaddling-clothes in which a newborn
baby
was wrapped
377
Happily
perhaps
380
You … indeed
Hamlet pretends to Polonius that he is mid-conversation with his friends
384
Roscius
a famous Roman actor
386
Buzz, buzz!
dismissive exclamation made in response to idle gossip or old news
388
ass
may pun on “arse”
392
scene individable
a play observing the unities of time, place and action/a play whose genre is unclassifiable
392
poem unlimited
dramatic verse (a play) that does not observe the unities of time, place and action/a play whose genre is all-inclusive/a play that explores a general rather than a specific question (a rhetorical application of
unlimited
)
392
Seneca
Roman writer of tragedies
393
heavy
sorrowful/weighty
393
Plautus
Roman writer of comedies
393
For … liberty
for plays written according to the rules and for those that disregard all prescriptions
395
O … thou!
In the Bible, Jephthah vowed to God that if he was successful in war he would sacrifice the first creature he met on his return home; he encountered his daughter but kept his word
399
“
One … well.”
lines from a well-known ballad
400
passing
surpassingly, exceedingly
405
follows not
is not logical/is not the next line
408
lot
chance
408
wot
knows
410
like
likely
411
row
line
411
chanson
song
412
my abridgements
things that cut me short/entertainment (in either case, the arrival of the players)
415
valanced
fringed (with a beard)
415
beard
defy, affront (plays on the usual sense)
416
By’r lady
by Our Lady (the Virgin Mary)
417
your ladyship
addressed to a teenage apprentice actor who plays women’s parts
418
chopine
high woman’s shoe with a very thick platform sole
419
uncurrent
not legal tender
419
cracked … ring
i.e. broken, and therefore unfit for women’s roles, with play on the sense of “deflowered” (coins featured the monarch’s head within a ring; if the coin was damaged within the ring it was no longer valid)
420
e’en to’t
go straight to it
422
straight
straightaway
422
quality
skill
427
caviar … general
i.e. wasted on the unappreciative multitude
429
cried … of
was superior to
430
digested
arranged
431
modesty
restraint/propriety
431
cunning
skill, artistry
432
sallets
salads or their components (i.e. spicy parts, vulgar phrases)
432
savoury
highly flavored
433
indict
accuse
434
as … fine
this line is missing from the Folio text, probably due to printer’s error (the same goes for the short line at the end of Hamlet’s speech)
435
handsome than fine
seemly and graceful rather than showy
436
Aeneas’ … Dido
after the Trojan war Aeneas landed at Carthage, where Dido was queen; he told of his experiences and she fell in love with him
437
Priam
king of Troy, killed by
Pyrrhus
during the attack on his city
440
rugged
harsh, severe
440
Pyrrhus
Achilles’ son; after the death of his father in the Trojan war, he took part in the conflict and was noted for his vengeful savagery
440
th’Hyrcanian beast
the tiger of Hyrcania (land bordering the Caspian Sea), known for its ferocity
442
sable
black
444
couchèd
hidden
444
ominous horse
fateful wooden horse by which the Greeks gained access to Troy
446
heraldry more dismal
i.e. blood, imaged as heraldic markings
446
dismal
ominous, fatal
447
total gules
entirely red (
gules
is a heraldic term)
447
tricked
adorned/delineated (heraldic term for the sketching of a coat of arms)
449
impasted
dried into a crust
449
parching
scorching (because burning)
450
tyrannous
harsh
452
o’er-sizèd
covered, as if with size (a sticky substance used to treat paper)/rendered larger (through a thick covering of blood)
452
coagulate
coagulated, congealed
453
carbuncles
red gems supposed to emit light in the dark
454
grandsire
grandfather (Priam had fifty sons and numerous grandchildren)
457
discretion
judgment
458
Anon
shortly
459
too short
inadequately (presumably because of his old age)
459
antique
old
461
Repugnant
resistant
463
whiff and wind
i.e. mere slicing through the air
463
fell
fierce
464
Th’unnervèd
the weakened
464
senseless
incapable of feeling
464
Ilium
Troy/the royal palace at Troy