References

 

1. ALLUSIONS

2. QUOTATIONS

3. SITUATIONS

4. FIGURES

5. SHAKESPEARE

6. SCENES

7. THE PLAY


8. PERFORMANCES

9. THE AUTHORS

10. SPECIAL


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1. ALLUSIONS

A

1.4.23ff So, oft it chances in particular men That for some vicious mole of nature in them
Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice (1813) New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press:, third edition, 1976. p. 58 (chapter xi).
There is I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.
Allusion: Words uttered by Mr. Darcy; allusion to Hamlet about excessive drinking.
Contributed by Antonia Hesse, 16 Jan 2003

5.2.345f: ... the rest is silence.
Austen, Jane: Emma (1816) London: Oxford University Press, 1971, p.79f (volume I, chapter X).
Ah! Harriet, here comes a very sudden trial of our stability in good thoughts. Well, (smiling,) I hope it may be allowed that if compassion has produced exertion and relief to the sufferers, it has done all that is truly important. If we feel for the wretched, enough to do all we can for them, the rest is empty sympathy, only distressing to ourselves.
Allusion: Emma speaking to Harriet when they encounter Mr. Elton.
Contributed by Antonia Hesse, 21.1.2003

B
 
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1.1.63 He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice
Beckett, Samuel: 'Dante and the Lobster' (1934) In More Pricks than Kicks. London: Calder & Boyars, 1970, p. 12.
This meal that he was at such pains to make ready, he would devour it with a sense of rapture and victory, it would be like smiting the sledded Polacks on the ice.
Allusion: Preparing a lobster for lunch, which requires "real skill", the narrator in Dante and the Lobster echoes Horatio's recollection of Old Hamlet's heroic deeds, "He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice."
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

1.1.139-141 the bird of dawning
Beckett, Samuel: 'Happy Days' (1961) In The Complete Dramatic Works. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1986, p. 155.
No, like the thrush, or the bird of dawning […].
Allusion: After Willie's "brief burst of hoarse song without words", Winnie sympathizes with him for his inability to sing and recalls Marcellus's words to Horatio, "Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes […] | The bird of dawning [i.e. the cock] singeth all night long."
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

1.2.129f. solid flesh would melt
Beckett, Samuel: 'Happy Days' (1961) In The Complete Dramatic Works. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1986, p. 144f.
And if for some strange reason no further pains are possible, why then just close the eyes - [she does so] - and wait for the day to come - [opens eyes] - the happy day to come when flesh melts at so many degrees […].
Allusion: Winnie considers the desirability of death as an escape from this world, which recalls the words of Hamlet, who in a soliloquy looks upon the same possibility ("O that this too too solid flesh would melt, | Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew.").
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

1.2.180f. the funeral baked meats
Beckett, Samuel: 'Fingal' (1934) In More Pricks than Kicks. London: Calder & Boyars, 1970, p. 30.
The tower began well; that was the funeral meats. But from the door up it was all relief and no honour; that was the marriage tables.
Allusion: After making love to Winnie one spring morning in the countryside north of Dublin, Belacqua and his "pretty, hot and witty" girl arrive at a tower which he describes using Hamlet's words.
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

5.2.310 The rest is silence
Beckett, Samuel: Company (1979) London: John Calder, 1980, p. 89.
And how better in the end labour lost and silence.
Allusion: This allusion to Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost is conjoined with an abbreviated echo of Hamlet's last words, "the rest is silence."
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003



1.1.54 you tremble and look pale
Boucicault, Dion: Louis XI (1855) In Forbidden Fruit & Other Plays by Dion Boucicault ed. by Allardyce Nicoll and F. Theodore Cloak Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1940.
[Louis to Nem:] How Now, Sir Count, our presence troubles you; you tremble and look pale.
Allusion
Contributed by Simone Meier 31 Jan 2003

4.5.174 There's rosemary
Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights (1847) ed. by Ian Jack. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 122.
"That's a turkey's," she [Cathy] murmured to herself; "and this is a wild-duck's; and this is a pigeon's. […] And here is a moor-cock's; and this - I should know it among a thousand - it's a lapwing's."
Allusion: Cathy, in her madness, is enumerating the feathers of different birds she has found in her torn cushion. This reminds us of Ophelia, who, in her madness, is enumerating and offering to Laertes different kinds of flowers.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003


5.1.244-6 Dost thou come here to whine …
Brontë, Emily: Wuthering Heights (1847) ed. by Ian Jack. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 288.
"I'll tell you [Nelly] what I [Heathcliff] did yesterday! I got the sexton, who was digging Linton's grave, to remove the earth off her [Cathy's] coffin lid, and I opened it. I thought, once, I would have stayed there, when I saw her face again - it is hers yet - he had hard work to stir me; but he said it would change, if the air blew on it, and so I struck one side of the coffin loose - and covered it up - not Linton's side, damn him! I wish he'd been soldered in lead - and I bribed the sexton to pull it away, when I'm laid there, and slide mine out too - I'll have it made so, and then, by the time Linton gets to us, he'll not know which is which!"
Allusion: In this grave scene as well as in the one in Hamlet, the love of two rivals is measured at the grave of the beloved woman (though in the case of Wuthering Heights one lover/rival is already dead and in the case of Hamlet one rival is the brother of the dead woman).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003

1.1.142 'Tis here! - 'tis here! - 'tis gone...
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XI, 76, 3-6. p. 416.
`Twas there - | I look for it - `tis gone, a globe of glass, | Cracked, shivered, vanished, scarcely gazed on, ere | A silent change dissolves the glittering mass.
Allusion.
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

1.1.142 'Tis here! - 'tis here! - 'tis gone...
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XIV, 2, 1-4, p. 472.
`Tis round him, near him, here, there, everywhere; | And there's a courage which grows out of fear, | perhaps of all most desperate, which will dare | The worst to know it.
Allusion.
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

5.2.192 we defy augury
Byron, George Gordon Lord: 'Letter to John Murray Esqre' In The Complete Miscellaneous Prose ed. by Andrew Nicholson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991, p. 157.
Like "Garrick's Ode to Shakespeare"-"they defy Criticism."
Allusion, "echo[ing] Hamlet V.ii.232: 'we defy augury'." (editor's note)
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003


2.2.97-8 'tis true 'tis true 'tis pity …
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-24) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan, W.W. Pratt. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XII, 38, p. 429.
I for my part (one 'modern instance' more, | 'True 'tis pity, pity 'til, 'tis true') | Was chosen from out an amatory score, …
Allusion
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003

 
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4.5.43 Lord we know what we are …
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-24) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan, W.W. Pratt. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XV, 99, p. 520.
How little do we know that which we are! | How less what we may be! …
Allusion
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003


1.2.188 I shall not look upon his like again
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto VIII, 39, 1-4, p. 326.
By Jove, he was a noble fellow, Johnson, | And though his name, than Ajax or Achilles | Sounds less harmonious, underneath the sun soon | We shall not see his likeness.
Allusion.
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

2.2.286 What a piece of work is a man?
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto I, 172, 1-3, p. 89.
`Had it been for a stout cavalier | Of twenty-five or thirty (Come, make haste), | But for a child, what a piece of work is here!
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 22 Dec 2002

2.2.286 What a piece of work is a man?
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto IX, 64, 1-2, p. 369.
What a strange thing is a man, and what a stranger | Is a woman!
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 22 Dec 2002

3.2.63 in my heart of heart
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Marino Faliero (1820) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, Act III, scene II, 463-465, p. 382.
Ne'er smiled to see them smile, nor claim'd their smile | In social interchange for yours, nor trusted | Nor wore them in your heart of hearts, as I have:
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 18 Jan 2003

3.1.144-155 O What a noble mind is here o'erthrown
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Manfred, a dramatic poem (1817) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, act III, scene II, 160-170, p. 93.
This should have been a noble creature: he | hath all the energy which would have made | A goodly frame of glorious elements, | Had they been wisely mingled; as it is, | It is an awful chaos - light and darkness - | And mind and dust - and passions and pure thoughts, | Mix'd, and contending without end or order, | All dormant or destructive: he will perish, | And yet he must not; I will try once more, | For such are worth redemption; and my duty | Is to dare all things for a righteous end.
Allusion: Echoes Ophelia's monologue after the nunnery scene, where she becomes convinced that Hamlet has gone mad.
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 20 Jan 2003

5.2.192-193 there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto IX, 19, 5-8, p. 357.
`The sparrow's fall | Is special providence`, though how it gave | Offence, we know not; probably it perched | Upon the tree which Eve so fondly searched.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

1.5.53 But virtue, as it never will be moved Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Marino Faliero (1820) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, Act II, scene I, 394, p. 348.
Vice cannot fix, and virtue cannot change.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 18 Jan 2003

3.1.78-80 ... from whose bourne No traveller returns
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto VIII, 41, 1-4, p. 327.
But Johnson only ran off, to return | With many other warriors, as we said, | Unto rather somewhat misty bourn, | Which Hamlet tells us is a pass of dread.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

 
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3.1.147 glass of fashion and the mould of form
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XII, 13, 4-8, p. 446.
Sweet adeline, admidst the gay world's hum, | Was the queen bee, the glass of all that's fair, | Whose charms made all men speak and women dumb; | The last's a miracle and such was reckoned, | And since that time there has not been a second.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

3.2.220 let the galled jade wince
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto VIII, 50, 5-8, p. 329.
The veriest jade will wince whose harness wrings | So much into the raw as quite to wrong her | Beyond the rules of posting; and the mob | At last fall sick of imitating Job.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

3.4.194-197 To try conclusions in the basket creep
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XI, 62, 6-8, p. 412.
Now were I once at home and in good satire, | I'd try conclusions with those Janizaries | And show them what an intellectual war is.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

4.4.59-62 and let all sleep ...
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto VII, 21, 6-8, p. 300.
I think one Shakespeare puts the same thought in | The mouth of some one in his plays so doting, | Which many people pass for wits by quoting.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.


5.1.210 sweets to the sweet
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto II, 17, 3-6, p. 106.
`Sweets to the sweet`(I like so much to quote, |You must excuse this extract; `tis where she, | The Queen of Denmark, for Ophelia brought | Flowers to the grave).
Quotation
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 22 Dec 2002

5.1.259 ... and dog will have his day
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto II, 166, 3-8, p. 143.
Where I, like other `dogs, have had my day`, | Like other men too, may have had my passion, | Buth that, like other things, has passed away, | And all her fools whom I could lay the lash on, | Foes, friends, men, women, now are nought to me | But dreams of what has been, no more to be.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002

2.2.230-232 O most true she is a strumpet
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Marino Faliero (1820) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, Act V, scene I, 265-268, p. 423.
I confess to have fail'd; | Fortune is female: from my youth her favours | Were not withheld, the fault was mine to hope | Her former smiles again at this late hour.
Allusion: Various Renaissance texts declare fortune a strumpet (editor's note).
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 18 Jan 2003

3.1.60-64 To die to sleep
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Epistle to Augusta (1816) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, Stanza 4, 29-32, p. 36.
And at times I have found the struggle hard | And thought of shaking off my bonds of clay - | But now I fain would for a time survive | If but to see what next can well arrive.
Allusion: Echoes Hamlet's thoughts about suicide.
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 18 Jan 2003


2.2.278-292 … how noble in reason how infinite in faculties
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Manfred, a dramatic poem (1817) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, Act I, scene II, 37-47, p. 63-64.
How beautiful is all this visible world! | How glorious in its action and itself; | But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns, we, | Half dust, half deity, alike unfit | To sink or soar, with our mix'd essence make | A conflict of its elements, and breathe | The breath of degradation and of pride, | Contending with low wants and lofty will | Till our mortality predominates, | And men are - what they name not to themselves, | And trust not to each other.
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 20 Jan 2003

 
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C

1.4.40-41 a spirit of health
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 7 I: Biographia Literaria (1817) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, James Engell, W. Jackson Bate. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 229.
Those Who Become Authors | … spirits, "not of health," and with whispers "not from heaven," may not be walking in the twilight of his consciousness.
Allusion
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003

1.5.16 harrow up thy soul
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 7 II: Biographia Literaria (1817) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, James Engell, W. Jackson Bate. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 230.
Critique of Bertram | … and for the fiendish purpose of harrowing up the soul of his wretched accomplice …
Allusion
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003


3.1.56 that is the question
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'On Footnotes, in a Letter' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 16 I.2: Poetical Works, Poems (Reading Text) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer & J.C.C. Mays. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 991.
Digress? Or not digress? That's now no question. | Do it? Yet do it not? See Note I below.
Allusion: Parody of Hamlet's soliloquy (editor's note)
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003

5.1.47 & 5.1.55 Cudgel thy brains no more about it
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Theory of Life' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 I: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 525.
[…] "to cudgel his brains about it, he has no feeling of the business."
Allusion: A conflation of two passages from Hamlet V I (editor's footnote). I.e. conflation of 'Cudgel thy brains no more about it' (5.1.47) with 'Has this fellow no feeling of the business?' (5.1.55).


3.2.338-344 Do you see yonder cloud …
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Mementos for young Snout' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 II: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 963.
[…] The subject [of thoughts] as undefined and diffluent as the Cloud on which Polonius had to deliver his Opinion (*Hamlet: Scene 2, Act 3.)
Allusion: Allusion as a parable.
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003

3.2.311f. the proverb is something musty
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Essay on the Principles of Genial Criticism. Essay III.' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 I: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 367.
… ("the fable is somewhat musty") …
Allusion
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003


1.2.185 In my mind's eye
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'A Couplet Addressed to the Mind's Ear' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 16 I.2: Poetical Works, Poems (Reading Text) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer & J.C.C. Mays. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 993.
A Couplet Addressed to the Mind's Ear (Title)
Allusion: Allusion, perhaps unconsciously so.
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003

1.5.149 you hear this fellow in the cellarage
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 7 I: Biographia Literaria (1817) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, James Engell, W. Jackson Bate. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 192.
Opinions in Religion and Politics | … like the ghost in Hamlet, be heard moving and mining in the underground chambers
Allusion
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003

5.2.194 the readiness is all
Conrad, Joseph: Lord Jim (1900) ed. by Thomas Moser. New York: Norton, 1968, p. 50.
It is all in being ready. I wasn't; not then.
Allusion: Lord Jim to Marlow
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 10 Jan 2003


5.2.10 There's a divinity that shapes our ends
Conrad, Joseph: Selected Literary Criticism and The Shadow-Line (1917) ed. by Allan Ingram. London: Methuen, 1986, p. 132.
Perhaps it was the sidelong glance he gave me; or possibly I was yet under the influence of Captain Giles' mysterious earnestness. Well, it was an impulse of some sort; an effect of that force somewhere within our lives which shapes them this way or that.
Allusion: First-person narrator (a sailor) calls after the Steward.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 10 Jan 2003

 
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D


4.3.19-21 Not where he eats but where 'a is eaten …
Donne John: 'Satyre V: Thou shalt not laugh in this leafe, Muse.' -[ No original text available], quoted from Docherty, Thomas: John Donne, Undone, 1986, p. 232.
… All men are dust; How much worse are Suiters, who to mens lust | Are made preys? O worse then dust, or wormes meat, | For they do eate you now, whose selves wormes shall eate.
Allusion
Contributed by Eftychia Fountoulakis, 17 February 2003

3.2.126-8 Will 'a tell us what this show meant?
Donne John: 'Elegy 8. To his Mistress going to bed.' (1633) In The Variorum Edition of John Donne. Vol.2: The Elegies ed. by Gary A. Stringer & Paul A. Parish, 2000, p. 164.
As liberally as to a Midwife show | Thy selfe.
Allusion: Sexual parallel. "Hunt (1954): this word was an indecent colloquialism for sexual exposure in Donne's time. Shakespeare plays with the word in Ham[let] 3.2.155-59." (editor's note).
Contributed by Eftychia Fountoulakis, 17 February 2003


1.5.71-3 And a most instant tetter barked about …
Donne John: 'Elegy 4. Jealousy.' (1633) In The Variorum Edition of John Donne. Vol. 2: The Elegies ed. by Gary A. Stringer & Paul A. Parish, 2000, p. 98.
If swolne with poyson he lay in his last bed | His body with a sere barke covered; …
Allusion: Medical parallel.
Contributed by Eftychia Fountoulakis, 17 February 2003

 

1.2.146 Frailty thy name is woman
Dryden, John: The Duke of Guise (1682) ed. by Vinton A. Dearing and Alan Roper. Berkeley et al.: University of California Press, 1992, vol. 14, p. 248.
For Conquerors have Charms, and Women Frailty.
Allusion: Indirect quotation, if at all...
Contributed by Stefan Kristmann, 30 Jan 2003.

 

E

 

F

1.1.44 It would be spoke to - Speak to it, Horatio
Fielding, Henry: The History of Tom Jones. A Foundling (1749) The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding ed. by Fredson Bowers. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974, Vol. 2, p. 572.
The other, who, like a Ghost, only wanted to be spoken to, readily answered.
Allusion: Allusion to the Ghost scene in Hamlet. A lady met by the heroine on the street only speaks when spoken to by her. In the Ghost scene, Hamlet's father only speaks when he is spoken to. This led to the common belief that this is so with every ghost.
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 18 Feb 2003

2.2.341 The appurtenance of welcome is fashion and ceremony
Fielding, Henry: Miscellanies Vol. 1. An Essay on Conversation (1743) In The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding ed by Henry Knight Miller. Oxford: Clarendon, 1972, p. 127.
It would be tedious and perhaps impossible, to specify every Instance, or to lay down exact Rules for our Conduct in every minute Particular. However, I shall mention some of the chief which most ordinarily occur, after premising, that the Business of the whole is no more than to convey to others an Idea of your Esteem of them, which is indeed the Substance of all the Compliments, Ceremonies, Presents, and whatever passes between well-bred People.
Allusion: 'Th' appurtenance of welcome is fashion and ceremony.'
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 5 Feb 2003


1.1.73-74 foreign mart for implements of war
Fielding, Henry: Amelia (1752) In The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding ed by Martin C. Battestin. Oxford: Clarendon, 1983, p. 225.
We shall now return to Colonel James an Mr. Booth, who walked together from Colonel Bath's Lodging with much more peaceable Intention that the Gentleman had conjectured, who dreamt of nothing but Swords and Guns, and Implements of Wars.
Allusion: Presumably an allusion to Marcellus' speech: 'And why such daily cast of brazen cannon, | And foreign mart for impliments of war?'
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 5 Feb 2003

 

G

1.2.146 frailty thy name is woman
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 245.
Das zuverlässige Bild, das sich ein wohlgeratenes Kind so gern von seinen Eltern macht, verschwindet; bei dem Toten [Hamlet's father] ist keine Hülfe, und an der Lebendigen [Hamlet's mother] kein Halt. Sie ist auch ein Weib, und unter dem allgemeinen Geschlechtsnamen Gebrechlichkeit ist auch sie begriffen.
Allusion: Wilhelm alludes to this line in his description of the Queen while relating his interpretation of the whole play to Serlo and his sister.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003


2.2.408ff. The rugged Pyrrhus
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 303.
"Gefunden!" rief Wilhelm, "gefunden! Welch eine glückliche Entdeckung! Nun haben wir den Schauspieler, der uns die Stelle vom rauhen Pyrrhus rezitieren soll."
Allusion: Wilhelm is running short of actors to play all the parts in Hamlet. When he discovers that the prompter of his troupe is a passionate person he suggests that he should play the part of the actor in Hamlet reciting the lines on Pyrrhus.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

 
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H

 

5.2.192 we defy augury
Hardy, Thomas: The Hand of Ethelberta. A Comedy in Chapters (1876) ed. by Caroline Hobhouse, Edward Leeson. London: Macmillan, 1975, p. 264.
Ethelberta felt equal to him [Lord Mountclere], or a dozen such, this morning. The looming spectres raised by her mother's information, the wearing sense of being over-weighted in the race, were driving her to a Hamlet-like fantasticism and defiance of augury.
Allusion: Ethelberta's presentiment of coming evil is compared to Hamlet's foreboding before his duel with Laertes.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003.

3.2.11 it out-herods Herod
Hardy, Thomas: The Life and Death of the Mayor of Casterbridge. A Story of a Man of Character (1886) ed. by Bryn Caless. London: Macmillan 1975, p. 325.
Presently Farfrae came round, his exuberant Scotch movement making him conspicuous in a moment. The pair were not dancing together, but Henchard could discern that when ever the changes of the figure made them the partners of a moment their emotions breathed a much subtler essence than at other times. By degrees Henchard became aware that the measure was trod by some one who out-Farfraed Farfrae in saltatory intenseness.
Allusion: "Adaptation of Hamlet's comment on actors who 'out-Herod Herod'" [editor's note].
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 January 2003

1.2.146 frailty thy name is woman
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) ed. by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. München: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 335.
O Appetit, dein Name ist Kater!
Allusion: Murr's apology for having eaten the fish he wanted to give to his mother as a present. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

4.5.42 They say the owl was a baker's daughter
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) ed. by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. München: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 431.
... ob die Geliebte, die in dem Innern des Künstlers lebt, eine Fürstin ist oder eine Bäckerstochter, insofern letztere nur keine Eule.
Allusion: Kreisler talking to the princess Hedwiga about what kind of mistress would be the best inspiration for an artist. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.2.347 Good night, sweet prince
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) ed. by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. München: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 576.
O Bruder Muzius, wo sind nun deine lustigen Sprünge, wo ist deine Heiterkeit, deine gute Laune, dein klares fröhliches Miau! das alle Herzen erfreute, ...?
Allusion: Murr mourning for his dead friend, tomcat Muzius. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.2.146 Frailty thy name is woman
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. Müchen: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 585.
O Schwachheit, dein Name ist Katz!
Allusion: Miesmies excusing herself for her unfaithfulness to Murr. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.1.124/25 What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven?
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 36.
Wozu sollten Gesellen wie er zwischen Himmel und Erde herumkriechen?
Allusion: Thienwiebel lamenting about his situation. Wish to compare his situation to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.4.91-94 ... in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 25 (Reclam Edition 1963).
Ha! Zu leben im Schweiss und Brodem eines eklen Betts, gebrüht in Fäulnis, buhlend und sich paarend über dem garst'gen Nest! Nicht wahr? Du willst damit sagen, dass ich an unserer Lage schuld bin, Amalie!
Quotation: Thienwiebel quarrelling with his wife. Wish to compare his situation to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

2.2.347/48 I am but mad north-northwest …
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 38.
Er war nur toll bei Nordnordwest; wenn der Wind südlich war, konnte er sehr wohl einen Kirchturm von einem Leuchtenpfahl unterscheiden.
Allusion: The narrator commenting about Thienwiebel's state of mind. Wish to create a situation similar to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

 

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4.3.9-11 diseases desperate grown ...
Johnson, Samuel: Political Writings. Observations on the Russian and Hessian Treaties (1756) ed.by Donald J. Greene. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977, 16 vols., p182.
But even those that admit them, can admit them only as pleas of necessity, for they consider the reception of mercenaries into our country as the desperate remedy of desperate distress, and think with great reason, that all means of prevention should be tried to save us from any second need of such doubtful succours.
Allusion: Allusion to the dilemma of having to make a decision which is only a compromise.
Contributed by Dorte Hering, 31 Jan 2003

1.2.229 He wore his beaver up
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 162.
His beaver is up.
Allusion: Misquotation.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

 
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1.5.136 by Saint Patrick
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 163.
[…] by saint Patrick.
Allusion: Allusion to Hamlet swearing by Saint Patrick.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

4.5.23-26 By his cockle hat and staff And his sandal shoon
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 42.
My cockle hat and staff and hismy my sandal shoon.
Allusion: Misquotation.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.5.9-10 I am thy father's spirit …
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 125.
Hamlet, I am thy father's spirit, doomed for a certain term to walk the earth […].
Allusion: Misquotation, walk the 'night' vs. 'earth'
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.5.9 I am thy father's spirit
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 155.
Hamlet, I am thy father's spirit.
Allusion: Misquotation.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


4.5.61 By cock they are to blame
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 157.
By cock, she was to blame.
Allusion: Misquotation.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.2.68-73 cast thy nighted colour off
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 8.
Give up the moody brooding.
Allusion: Allusion to Gertrude when she tells Hamlet to stop mourning.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.2.69 Ay madam it is common
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p.9.
No, mother! Let me be and let me live.
Allusion: Allusion to Hamlet's resistence to his mother's wanting him to stop mourning.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.4.59 To you alone
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p.9.
On me alone.
Allusion: Allusion to the fact that the Ghost wants to speak to Hamlet alone.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.4.71 That beetles o'er his base into the sea
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 15.
That beetles o'er his base into the sea, […].
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

5.2.63-70 He that has killed my king and whored my mother
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 19.
Usurper.
Allusion: Allusion to Claudius.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.5.63 And in the porches of my ears did pour
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 161.
And in the porches of their ears I pour.
Allusion: Misquotation.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.2.112-114 back to school in Wittenberg
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 170.
[…] undergraduate from Wittenberg […].
Allusion: Allusion to Hamlet's education in Wittenberg.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.5.41-42 that incestuous that adulerate beast
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 166.
Two deeds are rank in that ghost's mind: a broken vow and the dullbrained yokel on whom her favour has declined, deceased husband's brother.
Allusion: Allusion to Claudius and to Gertrude's "infidelity".
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

 
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3.4.196-97 Alack I had forgot 'its so concluded on
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 32.
[…] Arius to try conclusions! […].
Allusion: Allusion to the scene in which Hamlet tells his mother that he has to go to England.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.4.69 What if it tempt you toward the flood
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p.37.
[…] in sable silvered, hearing Elsinore's tempting flood.
Allusion: Allusion to Elsinore.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.5.107 My tables
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 40.
My tablets.
Allusion: Misquotation, 'tables' vs. 'tablets'.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

 

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5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Keats, John: [Ah! woe is me! poor silver-wing!]. In Posthumous and fugitive poems, The Poetical Works. London, 1906, line 19.
Alas! poor Queen!
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Keats, John: An Extempore from a Letter to George Keats and his Wife. In Posthumous and fugitive poems, The Poetical Works, London, 1906, page 351, line 25.
The first, alas! poor Dwarf, I understand […]
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Keats, John: Otho the Great. A Tragedy in Five Acts. In Posthumous and fugitive poems, The Poetical Works, London, 1906, act II, scene 2, lines 100-1
Erminia. Alas! poor me! | 'Tis false indeed.
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Keats, John: Otho the Great. A Tragedy in Five Acts. In Posthumous and fugitive poems, The Poetical Works, London, 1906, act V, scene 2, line 28.
Alas! poor Prince, I would you knew my heart.
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

2.2.284 this majestical roof fretted with golden fire
Keats, John: To some Ladies. In The Poems of John Keats (1817) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 18, line 18.
the fretwork of heaven
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

1.2.129-30 O that this too too solid flesh would melt
Keats, John: Endymion: A Poetic Romance, Book I. In The Poems of John Keats (1818) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 124, lines 98-100.
A melancholy spirit well might win | Oblivion, and melt out his essence fine | into the winds.
Allusion: While Keats here talks about the spirit/mind that might forget itself, Hamlet talks about the "solid flesh".
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

1.2.129-30 O that this too too solid flesh would melt
Keats, John: Endymion: A Poetic Romance, Book I. In The Poems of John Keats (1818) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 142, line 501.
Endymion's spirit melt away and thaw
Allusion: Again, the allusion concerns the spirit/mind in Keats, while the body is meant in Hamlet.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

3.1.84f. Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought
Keats, John: On Visiting the Tomb of Burns. In The Poems of John Keats (1848) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 358, lines 10-12.
The real of beauty, free from that dead hue | Sickly imagination and sick pride | Cast wan upon it!
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

2.2.286-89 in form and moving
Keats, John: Hyperion, Book I. In The Poems of John Keats (1820) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 428, lines 209-10.
In form and shape compact and beautiful, | In will, in action free, […]
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

1.4.8-12 kettle-drum and trumpet
Keats, John. The Eve of St. Agnes. In The Poems of John Keats (1820) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 470, 258-9.
The boisterous, midnight, festive clarion, | The kettle-drum and far-heard clarionet
Allusion: In Keats's poem, someone is kept from sleeping by these "festive" sounds in the middle of the night. In the Hamlet text, too, the noise ("kettle-drum") is made at night.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

 
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1.4.8-12 draughts of Rhenish
Keats, John. The Eve of St. Agnes. In The Poems of John Keats (1820) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 477, lines 346 and 349.
The bloated wassailers will never heed, | […] Drowned all in Rhenish and the sleepy mead.
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

1.2.149 Like Niobe all tears
Keats, John: Endymion: A Poetic Romance, Book I. In The Poems of John Keats (1818) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 135, lines 349-43.
Poor, lonely Niobe, when her lovely young/ Were dead and gone, and her caressing tongue/ Lay a lost thing upon her paly lip/ And very, very deadliness did nip/ Her motherly cheeks.
Allusion: Of course, the figure of Niobe appears in other sources as well. According to Allott, Hamlet was one of the sources known to Keats.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

2.2.195 plentiful lack of wit
Keats, John. Letter to Charles Wentworth Dilke. Wed 22 September 1819. In The Letters of John Keats, ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 394.
I think you will see the reasonableness of my plan. To forward it I purpose living in cheap Lodging in Town, that I may be in the reach of books and information, of which there is here a plentiful lack.
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, Jan 17 2003

5.1.12 goodman delver
Keats, John. Letter to George and Georgina Keats. Fri 17 - 27 September 1819. In The Letters of John Keats, ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 420.
I applied to him for payment---he could not---that was no wonder; but goodman Delver, where was the wonder then, why marry, in this, he did not seem to care much about it---and let me go without my money with almost non-chalance when he ought to have sold his drawings to supply me.
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, Jan 17 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Keats, John: Lamia. In: Keats, John: Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes (etc.), London, 1820, part I, p. 20, lines 279-83
Thou art a scholar, Lycius, and must know/ That finer spirits cannot breathe below/ In human climes, and live: Alas! poor youth,/ What taste of purer air hast thou to soothe/ My essence?
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003


5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Keats, John: Letter to Charles Wentworth Dilke and Maria Dilke, Sun 24 Jan 1819. In The Letters of John Keats, ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 280.
Alas! you will say, as you read me, Alas! poor Brown! quite chop fallen!
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003


3.1.71 the proud man's contumely
Keats, John. Otho the Great. In The Poems of John Keats (1848) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, act II scene 2, lines 115-6, p. 575.
For I am sick and faint with many wrongs, | Tired out, and weary-worn with contumelies.
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

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1.5.9 I am thy father's spirit
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 77.
I am thy father's ghost.
Allusion: Allusion to the Hamlet's original 'I am your father's spirit.'
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

2.2.502 What a rogue and peasant slave am I
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 142.
Sono un disgraziato, io.
Allusion: Allusion in Italian to Hamlet's 'What a rogue and peasant slave am I'.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003


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1.4.90 Something is rotten in the state of Denmark
-minu: Zeddel Poesie (2001) ed. By Baslerstab Artikel. Basel: Baslerstab, 7 Mar 2001.
Der Zeddel der Spezi-Clique: Wär het die Bieridee verloore? Do goht e Schliggli Schwyz verloore! Dänemark ischs Land, wo s cool isch und lutt Hamlet ebbis fuul isch. Sott Dir dr Hamlet ehnder stingge, muesch halt emol e Shakes-Bier dringge.[...]
Allusion: Allusion used on a piece of paper during the "Basler Fasnacht"-carnival (in Swiss German dialect)
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7 Jan 2003

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3.1.59 Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
Oelz, Oswald: Das Sicherheitsgefühl opfern. Inakzeptabler Entscheid des Stadtrates zur Sterbehilfe (2000) ed. by Neue Zürcher Zeitung Ag. Zürich, 2 Dec 2000.
Prinz Hamlet fragte sich angesichts eines Sees von Plagen, die den "Übermut der Ämter" explizit einschlossen, ob er sich das Leben nehmen soll. Er tat dies nicht; eine Ambivalenz, die fast alle Suizidwilligen - und wer hat nicht zumindest schon einmal daran gedacht? - teilen. Eine im "Journal of the American Medical Association" im November publizierte Studie untersuchte die Haltung von 988 "terminally ill patients", Patienten mit zum Tode führender Krankheit, bezüglich Euthanasie oder ärztlich assistierten Selbstmords.
Allusion: Allusion to Hamlet as a suicidal figure.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 3 Jan 2003

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5.2.193-94 readiness is all
Peacock, Thomas Love: Margery Daw. Paper Money Lyrics, and other Poems. Volume 7, p. 146. [LION]
'If it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all'
Allusion: This allusion occurs in a footnote. The passage in the text reads as follows: "That Margery's became metal once more, [footnote] and she was as glorious as ever."
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

1.4.54 Making night hideous
Pope, Alexander: 'The Dunciad. In Three Books With Notes Variorum' (1728) In The Poems of Alexander Pope ed. by James Sutherland. London: Methuen, 1943, Vol. V, p. 165.
'Silence, ye Wolves! While Ralph to Cynthia howls, | And makes Night hideous - Answer him ye Owls!'
Quotation: Ralph's address to Night.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 24 January 2003

5.1.156-165 Alas poor Yorick
Pope, Alexander: 'The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-Comical Poem' (1712) In The Poems of Alexander Pope ed. by Geoffrey Tillotson. London: Methuen, 1940, Vol. II, p. 196f..
Oh! if to dance all Night, and dress all Day, | Charm'd the Small-pox, or chas'd old Age away; | Who would not scorn what Huswife's Cares produce, | Or who would learn one earthly Thing of Use? | To patch, nay ogle, might become a Saint, | Nor could it sure be such a Sin to paint. | But since, alas! frail Beauty must decay, | Curl'd or uncurl'd, since Locks will turn to grey, | Since painted, or not painted, all shall fade, | And she who scorns a Man, must die a Maid; | What then remains, but well our Pow'r to use, | And keep good Humour still whate'er we lose? | And trust me, Dear! good Humour can prevail, | When Airs, and Flights, and Screams, and Scolding fail. | Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll; | Charms strike the Sight, but Merit wins the Soul. // Belinda
Allusion: Belinda's realization that beauty is transitory (and that physical decay cannot be stopped by cosmetics) is very similar to Hamlet's reaction in the graveyard where he comes across the skull of Yorick. The remains of the King's jester make him realise that all humans are mortal.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 27 January 2003


1.2.85f. the trappings and the suits of woe
Pope, Alexander: 'Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady' (1717) In The Poems of Alexander Pope ed. by Geoffrey Tillotson. London: Methuen, 1940, Vol. II, p. 344.
Grieve for an hour, perhaps, then mourn a year, | And bear about the mockery of woe | To midnight dances, and the publick show? | What tho' no weeping Loves thy ashes grace, | Nor polish'd marble emulate thy face?
Allusion: Elegy to Mrs Weston and Mrs Cope
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 24 January 2003

4.7.116f. And nothing is at a like goodness still For goodness
Pope, Alexander: 'An Essay on Criticism' (1711) In The Poems of Alexander Pope ed. by E. Audra and Aubrey Williams. London: Methuen, 1961, Vol. I, p. 274.
For Works may have more Wit than does 'em good, | As Bodies perish through Excess of Blood.
Allusion
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 24 January 2003


1.5.32f. the fat weed That roots itself in ease
Pope, Alexander: 'An Essay on Criticism' (1711) In The Poems of Alexander Pope ed. by E. Audra and Aubrey Williams. London: Methuen, 1961, Vol. I, p. 297.
In the fat Age of Pleasure, Wealth, and Ease, | Sprung the rank Weed, and thriv'd with large Increase;
Allusion: cf. also 3.4.152f. ('And do not spread the compost on the weeds | To make them ranker.')
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 24 January 2003


1.5.32f. the fat weed That roots itself in ease
Pope, Alexander: 'An Essay on Man' (1733/34) In The Poems of Alexander Pope ed. by Maynard Mack. London: Methuen, 1950, Vol. III, p. 63.
Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, | To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot;
Allusion: Addressed to Pope's friend H. ST. John L. Bolingbroke
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 24 January 2003

1.2.146 Frailty thy name is woman
Pope, Alexander: 'The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-Comical Poem' (1712) In The Poems of Alexander Pope ed. by Geoffrey Tillotson. London: Methuen, 1940, Vol. II, p. 164.
Whether the Nymph shall break Diana's Law, | Or some frail China Jar receive a Flaw. || The sylph Ariel
Allusion: Pope's "frail" and brittle "China jar" humorously recalls the general view of women exemplified by Hamlet's exclamation.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 24 January 2003


1.4.39-57 Angels and ministers of grace defend us
Pope, Alexander: 'The Dunciad. In Three Books With Notes Variorum' (1728) In The Poems of Alexander Pope ed. by James Sutherland. London: Methuen, 1943, Vol. V, p. 79f.
But high above, more solid Learning shone, | The Classicks of an Age that heard of none; | There Caxton slept, with Wynkin at his side, | One clasp'd in wood, and one in strong cow-hide. | There sav'd by spice, like mummies, many a year, | Old Bodies of Philosophy appear. | De Lyra here a dreadful front extends, | And there, the groaning shelves Philemon bends.
Allusion: According to the critic Maynard Mack, this passage is an allusion to the unexpected and scary appearance of the Ghost in Hamlet.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 27 January 2003

 

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5.1.110 For no man sir
Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) ed. by Bonamy Dobrée. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 369.
'It was no man, lady,' said Launcelot, who stood by.
Allusion: The guard Launcelot speaks these words to Emily after the appearance of the ghost, which is reminiscent of the ghost in Hamlet (I.i). "Launcelot's words also echo those of the First Gravedigger in Hamlet" (editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.231 A countenance more in sorrow than in anger
Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) ed. by Bonamy Dobrée. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 376.
Sometimes, however, she could not avoid musing upon the strange infatuation that had proved so fatal to her aunt and had involved herself in a labyrinth of misfortune, from which she saw no means of escaping, - the marriage with Montoni. But, when she considered this circumstance, it was 'more in sorrow than in anger,' - more for the purpose of indulging lamentation, than reproach.
Quotation: Horatio's description of the attitude of the ghost is used to describe Emily's feelings about her situation.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 17 Jan 2003

1.4.40-44 be thou a spirit of health …
Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) ed. by Bonamy Dobrée. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 569.
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd, | Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell, | Be thy intents wicked, or charitable, // I will speak to thee. HAMLET
Quotation: Direct quotation introducing chapter VIII.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.231 A countenance more in sorrow than in anger
Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) ed. by Bonamy Dobrée. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 1.
Yet, amidst the changing visions of life, his [M. St. Aubert's] principles remained unshaken, his benevolence unchilled; and he retired from the multitude 'more in pity than in anger,' to scenes of simple nature, to the pure delights of literature, and to the exercise of domestic virtues.
Allusion: Horatio's description of the attitude of the ghost is adapted to describe the inner state of M. St. Aubert.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 17 Jan 2003

5.2.195 readiness is all
Reed, Henry: Lessons of the War. Part II. 4 Unarmed Combat. In Collected Poems ed. by Jon Stallworthy, 1991. [LION]
[…] the readiness is all. | The readiness is all. How can I help but feel I have been here before?
Allusion
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

 

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1.1.98 Sharked up a list of lawless resolutes
Scott, Sir Walter: Ivanhoe (1820) ed. by G.Tulloch. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 66.
His own character being light, profligate, and perfidious, John easily attached to his person and faction, not only all who had reason to dread the resentment of Richard for proceedings during his absence, but also the numerous class of "lawless resolutes", whom the crusades had turned back on their country, accomplished in the vices of the east, impoverished in substance, and hardened in character, and who placed their hopes of harvest in civil commotion.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

5.1.118 he galls his kibe
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 252.
All these floated along with the immense tide of population, whom mere curiosity had drawn together; and where the mechanic, in his leathern apron, elbowed the dink and dainty dame, his city mistress; where clowns, with hobnailed shoes, were treading on the kibes of substantial burghers and gentlemen of worship; and where Joan of the dairy, with robust pace, and red sturdy arms, rowed her way onward, amongst those prim and pretty moppets, whose sires were knights and squires.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

2.2.397 caviare to the general
Scott, Sir Walter: The Pirate (1822) ed. by M. Weinstein and A. Lumsden. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 143.
It is upon such occasions that music, though of a simple and even a rude character, finds its natural empire over the general bosom, and produces that strong excitement which cannot be attained by the most learned compositions of the first masters, which are caviare to the common ear, although, doubtless, they afford a delight, exquisite in its kind, to those whose natural capacity and education have enabled them to comprehend and relish these difficult and complicated combinations of harmony.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.4.53 Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon
Scott, Sir Walter: The Pirate (1822) ed. by M. Weinstein and A. Lumsden. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 359.
These immense blocks of stone, all of them above twelve feet, and several being even fourteen or fifteen feet in height, stood around the pirate in the grey light of the dawning, like the phantom forms of antediluvian giants, who, shrouded in the habiliments of the dead, came to revisit, by this pale light, the earth which they had plagued by their oppression and polluted by their sins, till they brought down upon it the vengeance of long-suffering Heaven.
Allusion
Contributed by D. Appel, 15. Jan 2003


5.2.192 Not a whit
Scott, Sir Walter: The Pirate (1822) ed. by M. Weinstein and A. Lumsden. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 364.
"But they have armed men - you may be in danger," said Cleveland. "Not a whit - not a whit," replied Bunce.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.5.46 seeming-virtuous queen
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 307.
I ever distrusted those bookish, hypocritical, seeming-virtuous scholars.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

3.2.15 suit the action to the word the word to the action
Scott, Sir Walter: The Monastery (1820) ed. by P.Fielding. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 261.
Dan of the Howlet-hirst, for he was the gallant who paid Mysie this compliment, suited the word with the action, and the action, as is usual in such cases of rustic gallantry, was rewarded with a cuff, which Dan received as a fine gentleman receives a rap with a fan, but which, delivered by the energetic arm of the Miller's maiden, would have certainly astonished a less robust gallant.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


2.1.76 with his doublet all unbraced
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 171.
Varney replied not, but led the way out of the palace, and towards the river, while his master followed him, as if mechanically, until, looking back, he said in a tone which savoured of familiarity at least, if not of authority, "How is this, my lord? - your cloak hangs on one side, - your hose are unbraced - permit me" -
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.2.158 with such dexterity
Scott, Sir Walter: The Pirate (1822) ed. by M. Weinstein and A. Lumsden. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 99.
"He canna win by it," said the Ranzelman, with a look of the deepest dagcity. "There's whiles, Swertha, that the wisest of us (as I am sure I humbly confess myself) may be little better than gulls, and can no more win by doing deeds of folly than I can step over Sumburgh-head. It has been my own case once or twice in my life. But we will see soon what ill is to come of all this, for good there cannot come."
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

 
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1.1.160 This bird of dawning singeth all night long
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 357.
The bird of summer night had built many a nest in the bowers of the adjacent garden, and the tenants now indemnified themselves for silence during the day, by a full chorus of their own unrivalled warblings, now joyous, now pathetic, now united, now responsive to each other, as if to express their delight in the placid and delicious scene to which they poured their melody.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


3.2.11 it out-herods Herod
Scott, Sir Walter: Ivanhoe (1820) ed. by G.Tulloch. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 70.
Fur and gold was not spared in his garments; and the points of his boots, out-heroding the preposterous fashion of the time, turned up so very far, as to be attached, not to his knees merely, but to his very girdle, and effectually prevented him from putting his foot into the stirrup.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.4.51-53 Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon
Scott, Sir Walter: Ivanhoe (1820) ed. by G.Tulloch. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 376.
"In the name of God!" said Cedric, addressing what seemed the spectre of his departed friend, "if thou art mortal, speak! - if a departed spirit, say for what cause thou dost revisit these towers, of if I may do aught that can set thy spirit at repose. - Living or dead, noble Athelstane, speak to Cedric!"
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

1.2.231 more in sorrow than in anger
Scott, Sir Walter: The Bride of Lammermoor (1819) ed. by J.H.Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 20.
Around stood the relations of the deceased, their countenances more in anger than in sorrow, and the drawn swords which they brandished forming a violent contrast with their deep mourning habits.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.4.70-71 Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his base into the sea
Scott, Sir Walter: The Bride of Lammermoor (1819) ed. by J.H.Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 59.
The roar of the sea had long announced their approach to the cliffs, on the summit of which, like the nest of some sea-eagle, the founder of the fortalice had perched his eyry. The pale moon, which had hitherto been contending with flitting clouds, now shone out, and gave them a view of the solitary and naked tower, situated on a projecting cliff that beetled over the German ocean.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

3.2.345-46 They fool me to the top of my bent
Scott, Sir Walter: The Bride of Lammermoor (1819) ed. by J.H.Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 91.
Craigengelt had his own purposes, in fooling him up to the top of his bent; and having some low humour, much impudence, and the power of singing a good song, understanding besides thoroughly the disposition of his regained associate, he readily succeeded in involving him bumper-deep in the festivity of the meeting.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.2.181 coldly furnish forth the marriage tables
Scott, Sir Walter: The Bride of Lammermoor (1819) ed. by J.H.Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 138.
It was necessary to communicate with Caleb on this occasion, and he found that faithful servitor in his sooty and ruinous den, greatly delighted with the departure of their visitors, and computing how long, with good management, the provisions which had been unexpended might furnish forth the Master's table.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.1.128-39 Speak to me
Scott, Sir Walter: Ivanhoe (1820) ed. by G.Tulloch. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 376.
"In the name of God!" said Cedric, addressing what seemed the spectre of his departed friend, "if thou art mortal, speak! - if a departed spirit, say for what cause thou dost revisit these towers, of if I may do aught that can set thy spirit at repose. - Living or dead, noble Athelstane, speak to Cedric!"
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


2.2.290-91 What a piece of work is a man
Scott, Sir Walter: The Bride of Lammermoor (1819) ed. by J.H.Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 81.
Then, bending gracefully from her horse, she wished him good morning; and attended by one or two domestics, who seemed immediately attached to her service, retired from the scene of action, to which Bucklaw, too much delighted with an opportunity of displaying his wood-craft to care about man or woman either, paid little attention; but was soon stript to his doublet, with tucked-up sleeves, and naked arms up to the elbows in blood and grease, slashing, cutting hacking, and hewing, with the precision of Sir Tristrem himself, wand wrangling and disputing with all around him concerning nombles, briskets, flankards, and raven-bones, then usual terms of the art of hunting, or of butchery, whichever the reader chuses to call it, which are now probably antiquated.
Allusion
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

3.1.78 - 80 from whose bourn No traveller returns
Shelley, Mary: The Essential Frankenstein. The Definitive Annotated Edition of Mary Shelley's Classic Novel (1818) ed. by Leonard Wolf. New York: Penguin Books USA, 1993, p. 209.
I could only think of the bourne of my travels, and the work which was to occupy me whilst they endured.
Allusion: Allusion to travels to unknown countries. The speaker is leaving to spend two years of exile.
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.62 With juice of cursed hebona in a vial
Shelley, Mary: Valperga or the Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1823) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 281.
She put it to the lips of her victim, who drank it eagerly; and immediately a change took place in her appearance; her eyes lighted up, her cheeks were flushed, the heavy chain of mortality seemed to fall from her, she became active and even gay; by degrees a kind of transport seized her, a drunkenness of spirit, which made her lose all constraint over her words and actions, although it did not blind her to what was passing around.
Allusion. It's about henbane which is the principal ingredient in these intoxicating draughts. They had the property of producing madness.
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 18 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Shelley, Percy Bysshe: The Cenci. A Tragedy in five acts. In The Complete Poetical Works (1904). Act V, scene 4, lines 41-3.
Alas! poor boy! | A wreck-devoted seaman thus might pray | To the deaf sea.
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. St. Irvyne; or, The Rosicrucian: A Romance. By A Gentleman Of The University Of Oxford (1811), chapter IX, p. 171.
Alas! poor Eloise believed him.
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Shelley, Percy Bysshe: The Cenci. A Tragedy in five acts. In The Complete Poetical Works (1904). Act II, scene 1, line 11.
Lucretia. Alas! Poor boy, what else couldst thou have done?
Allusion
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.167 Dost thou think Alexander looked a' this fashion i'th earth?
Sterne, Laurence: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 112.
Good God! said I, you might as well confound Alexander the Great with Alexander the Copper-smith, my lord - (…)
Allusion: Because the dialog is about Yorick and the graveyard scene in Hamlet, Sterne might refer to this line.

Contributed by Sebstian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

3.2.99 Lady, shall I lie in your lap?
Sterne, Laurence: Continuation of the Bramines' Journal (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 188.
O Eliza! That my weary head was now laid upon thy Lap - (…)
Allusion: Eva C. van Leeven, Sterne's "Journal to Eliza": A Semiological and Linguistic Approach to the Text (Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 1981), 162-63, argues that the phrasing alludes to Hamlet's bawdy suggestiveness about putting his head on Ophelia's lap.
Contributed by Sebstian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

 
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T

5.1.207-09 She should in ground unsanctified have lodged Till the last trumpet
Tennyson, Alfred: 'To -. With the following poem' (1832) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 435.
15-16: Shut out from Love, and on her threshold lie | Howling in outer darkness. … |
Editor's note: 'he that shuts Love out' suggests the priest's 'She should in ground unsanctified have lodged' (Hamlet 5.1.196)
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.32-33 And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That roots itself in ease on Lehte wharf
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The two voices' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 578.
142: 'At least, not rotting like a weed, | But, having sown some generous seed, | Fruitful of further thought and deed |
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.32-33 And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That roots itself in ease on Lehte wharf
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The two voices' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 584.
280: 'Why, if man rot in dreamless ease, | Should that plain fact, as taught by these, | Not make him sure that he shall cease? |
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

4.4.38-39 That capability and god-like reason To fust in us unused
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Ulysses' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 617.
22-23: How dull is it to pause, to make an end, | To rust unburnished, not to shine in use! | -
[Editor's note:] Association contributed by D. Bush, JLR XXXVIII (1943) 38.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

4.7.177 Which time she chanted snaches of old lauds
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Youth' (1833) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 635.
38: Still humming snatches of old song
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.1.157-60 It faded on the crowing of the cock
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The Epic Morte d'Arthur' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 19.
282-83: The cock crew loud; as at that time of year | The lusty bird takes every hour for dawn
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

5.2.10-11 There's a divinity that shapes our ends Rough-hew them how we will
Tennyson, Alfred: 'I loving freedom for herself' (Unpublished). In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 46.
55-56: There lives a power to shape our ends | Rough-hew them as we will! |
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.63 And in the porches of my ears did pour ...
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The devil and the lady' (1823) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 26.
1.4.103: Unto the gaping portals of thine ears
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

3.1.62-63 The heart-ache and the thousand shocks That flesh is heir to
Tennyson, Alfred: 'In memoriam A. H. H.' (1850) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. By Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 435.
113.17: With thousand shocks that come and go
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

3.4.76-77 What devil was't That thus hath cozened you at hoodman-blind?
Tennyson, Alfred: 'In memoriam A. H. H.' (1850) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 391.
78.9-12: As in the winters left behind, | Again our ancient games had place, | The mimic picture's breathing grace, | And dance and song and hoodman-blind. - [Editor's note:] Reference to Allusion: Hamlet noted by Hallam Lord Tennyson.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

3.1.79-80 The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveller returns
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Crossing the bar' (1889) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. III, p. 254.
13-14: For though from out our bourne of Time and Place | The flood may bear me far
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.172 To put an antic disposition on
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The devil and the lady' (1823) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 33.
1.5.191: And put that ugly disposition on
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.19 And each particular hair to stand an end
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The devil and the lady' (1823) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscript ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 43.
2.4.11: My nose, my ears, and each particular toe
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.19 And each particular hair to stand an end
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The devil and the lady' (1823) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 57.
3.1.27: And each particular hair upon his skull
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.1.142 'Tis here! 'Tis here! 'Tis gone!
Tennyson, Alfred: 'St Simeon Stylites' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 603.
205: 'Tis gone: 'tis here again; the crown! the crown! [Editor's note:] The association with Hamlet has been made by Jim McCue.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

3.4.115-16 That you do bend your eye on vacancy
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Hark! The dogs howl!' (Unpublished) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 609.
25f.: He bends his eyes reproachfully | And clasps his hands, as one that prays. | - [Editor's note:] Allusion contributed by B. Richards.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

4.4.35 Be but to sleep and feed? A beast no more
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Ulysses' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 615.
5: That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. - [Editor's note:] The passage not only echoes 'sleep and feed', but is also apt to the theme of the poem.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

3.1.79-80 The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveller returns
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Ulysses' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 617.
20-21: Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades | For ever and for ever when I move. | - [Editor's note:] Association contributed by M. Alexander.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.90 and 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Armageddon' (1828) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 76.
1.39: His ineffectual, intercepted beams
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

 
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3.4.59 New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The old chieftain' (1827) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 140.
15: When, all martialled in arms on the heaven-kissing towers
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

3.1.67 When we have shuffled off this mortal coil
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Sonnet (Could I outwear my present state of woe)' (1830) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 264.
4: The wan dark coil of faded suffering
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.40 argal, the gallows may do well to thee
Tennyson, Alfred: 'All thoughts, all creeds' (1830) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. I, p. 281.
Tennyson's footnote to the poem: Argal - this very opinion is only true relatively to the flowing philosophers. Editor's note: Association of 'Argal' with 'the clownish logic in Hamlet 5.1.40 noted by Turner (Turner, Paul. Tennyson. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1976, p. 52).
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.1.166-67 But look the morn in russet mantle clad Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastward hill
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The princess' (1847) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 286.
188-89: Or foxlike in the vine; nor cares to walk | With Death and Morning on the silver horns - [Editor's note:] Reference to Hamlet made by Hallam Lord Tennyson.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.72 Thou know'st 'tis common all that lives must die
Tennyson, Alfred: 'In memoriam A. H. H.' (1850) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 323.
6.1-8: One writes, that 'Other friends remain,' | That 'Loss is common to the race'- | And common is the commonplace, | And vacant chaff well meant for grain. // That loss is common would not make | My own less bitter, rather more: | Too common! Never morning wore | To evening, but some heart did break.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

3.1.79-80 The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveller returns
Tennyson, Alfred: 'In memoriam A. H. H.' (1850) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 358.
40.31-32: My paths are in the fields I know, / And thine in undiscovered lands.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.50-52 Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor To those of mine
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Locksley Hall' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 122.
43-44: Is it well to wish thee happy? - having known me - to decline | On a range of lower feelings and a narrower heart than mine! |
Allusion: According to the editor, reminiscences of Hamlet were apt to an attack on a corrupt society and to dealing with an unhappy love-affair: compare T.'s description of 'Maud', a poem similar in many ways to 'Locksley Hall', as 'a little Hamlet'.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.208-09 A minist'ring angel shall my sister be When thou lies howling
Tennyson, Alfred: 'In memoriam A. H. H.' (1850) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 359.
41.16: The howlings from forgotten fields
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.70-71 Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The last tournament' (1871) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. III, p. 513.
150: He looked but once, and vailed his eyes again.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.98-99 Yea from the table of my memory I'll wipe away all trivial fond records
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Locksley Hall' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 123.
69: Where is comfort? in division of the records of the mind?
Allusion: According to the editor, reminiscences of Hamlet were apt to an attack on a corrupt society and to dealing with an unhappy love-affair: compare T.'s description of 'Maud', a poem similar in many ways to 'Locksley Hall', as 'a little Hamlet'.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.189-90 The time is out of joint O cursed spite That ever I was born to set it right
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Locksley Hall' (1842) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 145.
133: Eye, to which all order festers, all things here are out of joint
Allusion: According to the editor, reminiscences of Hamlet were apt to an attack on a corrupt society and to dealing with an unhappy love-affair: compare T.'s description of 'Maud', a poem similar in many ways to 'Locksley Hall', as 'a little Hamlet'.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003


3.3.72 All may be well
Tennyson, Alfred: 'Maud' (1855) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 557.
18.8.683: Let all be well, be well. - [Editor's note:] Reference noted by Turner (p. 139): "ominously echoes Claudius's "All may be well" before praying to be forgiven for "a brother's murther""
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003


5.1.183 Should patch a wall t'expel the winter's flaw
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The marriage of Geraint' (1859) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. III, p. 347.
764: Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.186-87 'A was a man, to take him all in all
Tennyson, Alfred: 'The princess' (1847) In The poems of Tennyson in three volumes. Second edition incorporating the Trinity College Manuscripts ed. by Christopher Ricks. Burnt Mill: Longman, 1987, vol. II, p. 255.
192-93: But whole and one: and take them all-in-all, | Were we ourselves but half as good, as kind - [Editor's note:] Reference to Hamlet by Jim McCue.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.11 with an auspicious and a dropping eye
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World; Shewing Who Robbed Him, Who Helped Him, and Who Passed Him by. By W. M. Thackeray ... In Three Volumes (1861-1862) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1862, p.273.
Philip looked at them with a flashing eye and a distended nostril , according to his swaggering wont.
Allusion; irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

3.4.95 these words like daggers ...
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Denis Duval' (1864) In The Cornhill Magazine. Vol. IX, London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1864, p. 529.
The apprentice looked daggers at me as he came up through a trap-door from the cellar with a string of dip-candles; and my charming Miss Susan was behind the counter tossing up her ugly head.
Allusion
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

3.2.15 suit the action to the word
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p.203.
[...] which had shocked and displeased Laura. Not that he ever offended her by rudeness, or addressed to her a word which she ought not to hear, for Mr. Pen was a gentleman, and by nature and education polite to every woman high and low; but he spoke lightly and laxly of women in general; was less courteous in his actions than in his words.
Allusion
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

3.4.95 these words like daggers
Thackeray, William Makepiece: Lovel the Widower . By W. M. Thackeray, with Illustrations (1860) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1861, p 171.
And I am confident, if Bessy's breast had not been steel, the daggers which darted out from my eyes would have bored frightful stabs in it.
Allusion: The Narrator's comment on his mood. Irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

1.2.226 armed ... from top to toe
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p 77.
And he flung open the door and entered with the most severe and warlike expression, armed cap-à-pié as it were, with lance couched and plumes displayed, and glancing at his adversary, as if to say, "Come on, I'm ready."
Allusion: Allusion to 'armed ... from top to toe', French version (from head to foot). Irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

 
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1.5.189 the time is out of joint
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p.179.
Ah me! it is pity, too. I knew, for instance, that Maria Esmond had lost her heart ever so many times before Harry Warrington found it; but I liked to fancy that he was going to keep it; that, bewailing mischance and times out of joint, she would yet have preserved her love, and fondled it in decorous celibacy.
Allusion: general lament, 'bewailing mischance'.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

5.1.210 sweets to the sweet
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Letter to Mrs. Irvine, 16 December 1859' In The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. and coll. by Gordon N. Ray. In four volumes. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1946, Vol 4, p. 169.
Dear Mrs. Irvine // We sent St. John [i.e. "Francis St. John Thackeray", editor's footnote] away yesterday with a box of sweets to the sweet - and here I find, on my study table, A Pie presented to me by the same indefatigable giver of good things (an American) who brought us the sweetmeats. [...] It is pisonous to me this pie is. // But St. John is young, has I hope a fine appetite, and a good digestion, and mayn't be afraid of foie gras for breakfast: (I suppose he breakfasts?).
Quotation. Irony: Thackeray asserts that "it is pisonous to me this pie is" and relies on St John's good digestion. Compare the original context in Hamlet: the Queen scatters flowers on Ophelia's grave.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

3.2.15 suit the action to the word
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'The Story of King Canute'. [from Ballads And Verses And Miscellaneous Contributions To 'Punch' By William Makepeace Thackeray: With Illustrations by the Author, John Leech, etc. (1904)], III, p.95, l. 40-44.
'Nay, I feel,' replied King Canute, | 'that my end is drawing near.' | 'Don't say so,' exclaimed the courtiers | (striving each to squeeze a tear); | 'Sure your Grace is strong and lusty | and will live this fifty year!' // 'Live these fifty years!' the Bishop | roar'd (with action made to suit); |'Are you mad, my good Lord Keeper | thus to speak of King Canute?
Allusion
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002


3.2.15 suit the action to the word
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Catherine. A Story. By Ikey Solomons, Esq. Junior' (1839-1840) In Fraser's Magazine For Town And Country, Volumes XlX-XXl, London:James Fraser, 1839-1840, p. 102.
"'Faugh! I shpit on ye all,' cries my gallant ally, Macshane; and sure enough he kept his word, or all but---suiting the action to it at any rate.
Allusion
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

1.2.11 with an auspicious and a dropping eye
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Catherine. A Story. By Ikey Solomons, Esq. Junior' (1839-1840) In Fraser's Magazine For Town And Country, Volumes XlX-XXl, London:James Fraser, 1839-1840, p. 699.
We shall not say, after the fashion of the story-books, that Mr. Brock listened with a flashing eye, and a distended nostril; that his chest heaved tumultuously, and that his hand fell down mechanically to his side, where it played with the brass handle of his sword.
Allusion
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

3.2.15 suit the action to the word
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World; Shewing Who Robbed Him, Who Helped Him, and Who Passed Him by. By W. M. Thackeray ... In Three Volumes (1861-1862) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1862, p.184.
But, you see, if you commit a crime, and break a seventh commandment let us say, or an eighth, or choose any number you will---you will probably have to back the lie of action by the lie of the tongue, and so you are fairly warned, and I have no help for you.
Allusion, irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002


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2.2.501 Now I am alone
Woolf, Virginia: Orlando. A biography (1928) ed by J. H. Stape. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, p. 106.
"Heaven be praised!" cried Orlando still laughing. She heard the sound of chariot wheels driven at a furious pace down the courtyard. She heard them rattle along the road. Fainter and Fainter the sound became. Now it faded away altogether. // "I am alone," said Orlando, aloud since there was no one to hear.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003


1.5.25-28 Murder most foul

Woolf, Virginia: Orlando. A biography (1928) ed by J. H. Stape. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, p. 44.
And so he found his way back to his own rooms; and Mrs. Grimsditch, seeing the light in the window, put the tankard from her lips and said Praise be to God, his Lordship was safe in his room again; for she had been thinking all this while that he was foully murdered.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003


3.2.339-344 yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?
Woolf, Virginia: Orlando. A biography (1928) ed by J. H. Stape. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, p. 131.
He looked upwards into the sky. Did not heaven itself, or that great frontispiece of heaven, which is the sky, indicate the assent, indeed, the instigation of the heavenly hierarchy? For there, winter or summer, year in year out, the clouds turned and tumbled, like whales, he pondered, or elephants rather; but no, there was no escaping the simile which was pressed upon him from a thousand airy acres; the whole sky itself as it spread wide above the British Isles was nothing but a vast feather bed; and the undistinguished fecundity of the garden, the bedroom and the henroost was copied there.
Allusion
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

1.4.43 Thou com'st in such a questionable shape
Wordsworth, William: The Fourteen-Book Prelude (1850) ed. by W. J. B. Owen. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985, p. 242-243.
And afterwards, the wind and sleety rain | And all the business of the Elements, | The single Sheep, and the one blasted tree, | And the bleak music of that old stone wall, | The noise of wood and water, and the mist | That on the line of each of those two Roads | Advanced in such indisputable shapes;
Allusion: Greater context: Book 12.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

4.5.88-89 and wants not buzzers to infect his ear
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 106.
My poor babe | Was crying, as I thought, crying for bread | When I had none to give him, whereupon | I put a slip of foxglove in his hand | Which pleased him so that he was hushed at once; | When into one of those same spotted bells | A Bee came darting, which the child with joy | Imprisoned there, and held it to his ear- | And suddenly grew black as he would die.
Allusion: Greater context: The Beggar tells her dream (Act 1, Scene 3).
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


5.2.10 There's a divinity that shapes our ends
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 162.
I have learned | That things will work to ends that slaves of the world | Do never dream of.
Allusion: Greater context: A boy has saved Rivers' life, the monologue is about guilt, murder and death (Act 2, Scene 3).
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


5.1.77-78 Mine ache to think on't
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 178.
Yes, my friends, | His coutentance is meek and venerable, | And by the mass, to see him at his prayers- | I am of flesh and blood, and my I perish | When my heart does not ache to think of it!
Allusion: Greater context: Act 2, Scene 3.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


2.2.282-286 This goodly frame the earth …
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 192.
A pretty prospect this, a master-piece | Of nature-finished with most curious skill:
Allusion: Greater context: Mortimer talks about love and death and nature (Act 3, Scene 3).
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


1.1.115-116 squeak and gibber in the Roman streets
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 194.
Do you believe | In ghosts?-the spirit of a murder'd man | Might habe fine room to ramble about here, | A grand domain to squeak and gibber in.
Allusion: Greater context: Mortimer talks about the death of his comrade (Act 3, Scene 3).
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

3.2.351 now could I drink hot blood
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 202.
Mercy! | What, me! would you destroy me? drink the blood | Of such a wretch as I am!
Allusion: Greater context: Herbert believes Mortimer wants to kill him. Mortimer will be merciful and gives Herbert another 3 days to live (Act 3, Scene 4).
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

 
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1.5.63-64 in the porches of mine ears did pour the leperous distilment
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 262.
What damning fiend has poisoned thee i'th'ear?
Allusion: Greater context: Robert tells Mortimer at the top of his lungs what happened. Mortimer believes he just needs to calm down (Act 5, Scene 2).
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


4.5.89 And wants no buzzers to infect his ear
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 262.
What damning fiend has poisoned thee i'th'ear?
Allusion: Greater context: Robert tells Mortimer at the top of his lungs what happened. Mortimer believes he just needs to calm down (Act 5, Scene 2).
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


1.5.58 methinks I scent the morning air
Wordsworth, William: Benjamin the Waggoner ed. by Paul F. Betz. Ithaca and New York: Cornell University Press, 1981. p. 93.
-Blithe Spirits of her own impel | The Muse, who scents the morning air, | To take of this transported Pair | A brief and unreproved farewell; | To quit the slow-paced Waggon's side, | And wander down yon hawthorn dell, | With murmuring Grata for her guide.
Allusion: Greater context: Fourth Canto.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

2.2.360 Buz buz
Wordsworth, William: The Borderers (1842) ed. by Robert Orborn. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982, p. 286.
Thou wilt redeem the worst of all the cimes | Thou hast to answer for Buzz, buzz, ye fools!
Allusion: Greater context: Act 5, Scene 3.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


3.2.20 body of the time his form and pressure
Wordsworth, William: The Fourteen-Book Prelude (1850) ed. by W. J. B. Owen. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985, p. 145.
Here too were "forms and pressures of the time," | Rough, bold, as Grecian Comedy displayed | When Art as young, dramas of living Men; | And recent things yet warm with life-a Sea-fight, | Ship-wreck, or some domestic incident | Divulged by Truth, and magnified by Fame, | Such as the daring Botherhood, of late, | Set forth, too serious theme for that light place!
Allusion: The passage alluded to is marked off as a quotation. However, it lacks precision. Greater context: Book 7.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


1.1.167 dew of yon high eastward hill
Wordsworth, William: The Fourteen-Book Prelude (1850) ed. by W. J. B. Owen. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985, p. 172.
Once, while in that shade | Loitering, I watched the golden beams of light | Flung from the setting sun, as they reposed | In silent beauty on the naked ridge | Of a high eastern hill.
Allusion: Greater context: Book 8.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

1.4.75-76 toys of desperation
Wordsworth, William: Descriptive Sketches by William Wordsworth ed. by Eric Birdsall. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1984. p. 84.
Hang from the rocks that tremble o'er the steep, | And tempt the icy valley yawning deep, | O'er-walk the chasmy torrent's foam-lit bed, | Rock'd on the dizzy larch's narrow tread, | Whence Danger leans, and pointing ghastly, joys | To mock the mind with "desperation's toys";
Allusion
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

 

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2. QUOTATIONS

 

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3.1.56 To be or not to be
Blake, William: 'An Island in the Moon' (1784) In The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake ed. by David V. Erdman. New York [et al.]: Anchor Books Doubleday, 1988, p.460.
Then Quid called upon Obtuse Angle for a Song & he wiping his face & looking on the corner of the ceiling Sang | To be or not to be | Of great capacity | Like Sir Isaac Newton | Or Locke or Doctor South | Or Sherlock upon death | Id rather be Sutton.
Quotation: The song thus starts with 'to be or not to be'.
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

3.1.148 The observed of all observers
Brontë, Anne: Agnes Grey (1846) ed. by Jan Jack. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988, p. 133.
[Rosalie] "Humph! my beau must be an Adonis indeed, Matilda, the admired of all beholders, if I am to be contented with him alone. I'm sorry to lose Hatfield, I confess; but the first decent man, or number of men, that come to supply his place, will be more than welcome."
Quotation: Ophelia's description of Hamlet is adapted by Rosalie to describe her ideal beau, contrasting him with her lost admirer Hatfield.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003


3.2.346 they fool me to the top of my bent
Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) ed. by Herbert Rosengarten. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, p. 177.
[Helen] "the more I long to deliver him [Huntingdon] from his faults - […] to do my utmost to help his better self against his worse, and make him what he would have been if he had not, from the beginning, had a bad, selfish, miserly father […] and a foolish mother who indulged him to the top of his bent"
Quotation: Hamlet feels forced to keep playing the madman in his conversation with Polonius. Helen adapts Hamlet's statement to Huntingdon, who was indulged so much by his mother that he could play the fool without restraints.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003


5.1.162 to set the table on a roar
Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) ed. by Herbert Rosengarten. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, p. 354.
To see such things done with the roguish naïveté of that pretty child and hear such things spoken by that small infantile voice, was as peculiarly piquant and irresistibly droll to them as it was inexpressibly distressing and painful to me [Helen Huntingdon, the child's mother]; and when he had set the table in a roar, he would look round delightedly upon them all, and add his shrill laugh to theirs.
Quotation: Helen Huntingdon uses Hamlet's words to describe the reaction provoked by her little son's behaviour.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003


1.1.154 th 'extravagant and erring spirit
Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) ed. by Herbert Rosengarten. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, p. 456.
But thank God I [Helen Huntingdon] have hope - not only from a vague dependence on the possibility that penitence and pardon might have reached him [Mr. Huntingdon] at the last, but from the blessed confidence that, through whatever purging fires the erring spirit may be doomed to pass - whatever fate awaits it, still, it is not lost, and God, who hateth nothing that He hath made, will bless it in the end!
Quotation: The ghost in Hamlet is evoked by this description of Helen's late husband.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003

1.5.40 o my prophetic soul
Brontë, Charlotte: Shirley (1849) ed. by Herbert Rosengarten and Margaret Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979, p.537.
Her uncle's prophetic soul anticipated a splendid future.
Allusion: Miss Keeldar's uncle hopes Shirley is going to marry his niece and make a baroness of her. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

2.2.189 words, words, words
Brontë, Charlotte: Shirley (1849) ed. by Herbert Rosengarten and Margaret Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979, p.537.
Words - words - words.
Quotation: Mr. Yorke commenting upon his son's sophisticated way of speaking. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.4.146 that flattering unction to your soul
Brontë, Charlotte: Jane Eyre (1847) ed. by Jane Jack and Margaret Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969, p. 332.
...for I lay that pleasant unction to my soul, Jane, a belief in your affection.
Quotation: Rochester hopes Jane is in love with him. Self-irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

2.2.200 though this be madness, there is method in't
Brontë, Charlotte: The Professor (1857) ed. by Margaret Smith and Herbert Rosengarten. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987, p.239.
There's a method in my madness.
Quotation: Frances and Hunsden quibbling over what kind of love is madness. Self-justification by allusion to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.5.16 harrow up thy soul
Brontë, Charlotte: Shirley (1849) ed. by Herbert Rosengarten and Margaret Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979, p.70.
Instead, then, of harrowing up my reader's soul....
Allusion: The narrator reassuring his readers. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.2.129 O That this too too solid flesh would melt
Brontë, Charlotte: Villette (1853) ed. by Herbert Rosengarten and Margaret Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984, p. 411.
No! It is of too - too solid flesh.
Quotation: The countess claims her father to be the greatest and most solid obstacle to her being taught by the governess Madame Beck. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.4.15/16 More honoured in the breach than the observance
Brontë, Charlotte: Villette (1853) ed. by Herbert Rosengarten and Margaret Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984, p. 602.
...his better nature pronounced the vow "more honoured in the breach than in the observance".
Quotation: Paul breaking his promise never to address Miss Lucy anymore. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.2.87 'Tis sweet and commemorable ...
Brown, Ashley Ashford: A little brown notebook, Scenes from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The tempest (1994) ed. by Sterling Publishing Company. London: Indigo Press, 1994, no page numbers.
'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature Hamlet, | To give these mourning duties to your father: | But you must know, your father lost a father, | That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound | In filial obligation, for some term | To do obsequious sorrow.
Quotation: From a little notebook.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen. 13 Jan 2003

 
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2.2.195 words word words
Beckett, Samuel: 'Waiting for Godot' (1955) In The Complete Dramatic Works. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1986, p. 48.
"Words, words."
Quotation: In Waiting for Godot Vladimir twice echoes Hamlet's "Words, words, words."
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

3.1.58 that is the question
Beckett, Samuel: 'Waiting for Godot' (1955) In The Complete Dramatic Works. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1986, p. 73.
What are we doing here, that is the question.
Quotation: In Waiting for Godot Vladimir varies Hamlet's most celebrated line.
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

3.1.163f. O woe is me …
Beckett, Samuel: Happy Days (1961) The Complete Dramatic Works. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1986, p. 140.
[…] what are those wonderful lines - [wipes one eye] - woe woe is me - [wipes the other] - to see what I see […].
Quotation: Winnie tries to remember Ophelia's "wonderful lines", that is "O woe is me, | T'have seen what I have seen, see what I see!"
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

3.4.79 Thou turn'st my eyes into my very soul
Beckett, Samuel: Watt (1953) London: John Calder, 1976, p. 183.
His eyes coil into my very soul, said Mr. Fitzwein. His very what?, said Mr. O'Meldon.
Quotation: In Watt Mr Fitzwein echoes Hamlet's mother, who interrupts her son by saying "Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul."
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

1.1.1 Who's there?
Brown, Ashley Ashford: A little brown notebook, Scenes from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The tempest (1994) ed. by Sterling Publishing Company. London: Indigo Press, 1994, no page numbers.
Who's there?
Quotation: From a little notebook.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 13 Jan 2003

1.1.21 What, has this thing appeared again tonight?
Brown, Ashley Ashford: A little brown notebook, Scenes from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The tempest (1994) ed. by Sterling Publishing Company. London: Indigo Press, 1994, no page numbers.
What, has this thing apper'd again tonight?
Quotation: From a little notebook.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 13 Jan 2003

1.1.21 I have seen nothing.
Brown, Ashley Ashford: A little brown notebook, Scenes from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The tempest (1994) ed. by Sterling Publishing Company. London: Indigo Press, 1994, no page numbers.
I have seen nothing.
Quotation: From a little notebook.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 13 Jan 2003

1.1.142-3 'Tis here
Brown, Ashley Ashford: A little brown notebook, Scenes from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The tempest (1994) ed. by Sterling Publishing Company. London: Indigo Press, 1994, no page numbers.
'Tis here.
Quotation: From a little notebook.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 13 Jan 2003

1.1.144 'Tis gone.
Brown, Ashley Ashford: A little brown notebook, Scenes from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The tempest (1994) ed. by Sterling Publishing Company. London: Indigo Press, 1994, no page numbers.
'Tis gone.
Quotation: From a little notebook.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 13 Jan 2003

1.1.2 Nay answer me…
Brown, Ashley Ashford: A little brown notebook, Scenes from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The tempest (1994) ed. by Sterling Publishing Company. London: Indigo Press, 1994, no page numbers.
Nay answer me. Stand and unfold yourself
Quotation: From a little notebook.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 13 Jan 2003

1.1.3 Long live the king.
Brown, Ashley Ashford: A little brown notebook, Scenes from Shakespeare, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The tempest (1994) ed. by Sterling Publishing Company. London: Indigo Press, 1994, no page numbers.
Long live the king.
Quotation: From a little notebook.

1.1.116 squeek and gibber
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XII, 5, 3-4, p. 421.
Who rouse the shirtless patriots of Spain, | that make old Europe's journals squeak and gibber all?
Quotation
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 22 Dec 2002

1.5.4 alas poor ghost
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XIII, 97, 7-8, p. 467.
`Alas, poor Ghost!` What unexpected woes | await those who have studied their bon mots!
Quotation
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 22 Dec 2002

2.2.103 for this effect defective comes by cause
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XVI, 2, 1-4, p. 522.
The cause of this effect or this defect - | `For this effect defective comes by cause`- | Is what I have not leisure to inspect, | But this I must say in my own applause:
Quotation
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.

3.1.56 To be or not to be that is the question
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto IX, 16, 1-2, p. 357.
`To be or not to be'` Ere I decide, | I should be glad to know that which is being.

3.2.345 they fool me to the top of my bent
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XV, 94, 1-3, p. 520.
And now I will give up all argument | And positively henceforth no temptation | Shall `fool me to the top up of my bent`.
Quotation
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 27 Dec 2002.


1.5.60 my custom always of the afternoon
Byron, George Gordon Lord: 'Observations upon Observations' In The Complete Miscellaneous Prose ed. by Andrew Nicholson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991, p. 181.
… because it was "my custom in the afternoon" …
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003

3.4.58-59 a station like the herald Mercury
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto IX, 66, 1-4, p. 369.
Shakespeare talks of `the herald Mercury | New lighted on a heaven-kissing hill`; | And some such visions crossed Her Majesty, | While her young herald knelt before her still.
Quotation
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 22 Dec 2002

1.5.166-167 The are more things in heaven and earth ...
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Manfred, a dramatic poem (1817) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, p. 51.
'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, | Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'
Quotation: Used as an epigraph to the poem.
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 18 Jan 2003

 
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5.1.19 crowner's quest law
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Don Juan (1819-1824) ed. by T.G. Steffan, E. Steffan and W.W. Pratt. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1973, Canto XI, 18, 3-8, p. 401.
As soon as `crowner's quest` allowed, pursued | His travels to the capital apace, | Esteeming it a little hard he should | In twelve hours' time and very little space | Have been obliged to slay a freeborn native | In self-defence.
Quotation
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 22 Dec 2002

3.1.56-87 To be or not to be …
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Manfred, a dramatic poem (1817) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, Act I, scene II, 23-29,
p. 63.
There is a power upon me which withholds | And makes it my fatality to live; | If it be life to wear within myself | this barrenness of spirit, and to be | My own soul's sepulchre, for I have ceased | To justify my deeds unto myself - | The last infirmity of evil.
Allusion to Hamlet's thoughts about suicide
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 18 Jan 2003


1.2.129-132 O that this too too solid flesh would melt …
Byron, George Gordon Lord: Manfred. A dramatic poem (1817) In The complete poetical works IV ed. by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford: Clarendon Place, 1986, Act I, scene II, 51-55,
p. 64.
Oh, that I were | The viewless spirit of a lovely sound, | A living voice, a breathing harmony, | a bodiless enjoyment - born and dying | With the blest tone which made me!
Allusion
Contributed by Claudia Biedert, 18 Jan 2003

 

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1.4.5-6 it then draws near the season …
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: "The Landing-Place, Essay ii: 'Luther'" In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 4 I: The Friend (1818) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, Barbara E. Rooke. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 140.
… which is the true witching time, […] the season | Wherein the spirits hold their wont to walk, …
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003

1.2.150 discourse of reason
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: "The Landing-Place, Essay v: 'Reason and Understanding'" In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 4 I: The Friend (1818) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, Barbara E. Rooke. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, 156
… under the name discourse of reason.
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003

1.2.150 a beast that wants discourse of reason
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'On Noumena and Phaenomena' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 I: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 431f.
… (… "Discourse of Reason") …
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003


5.2.4-26, 31-55 Sir in my heart there was a kind of fighting …
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Treatise on Method' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 I: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 651f.
Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting | […] | Thou knowest already.
Quotation: Large quotation; Coleridge quotes 46 lines!
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003


1.2.185 In my mind's eye
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Treatise on Method' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 I: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 666.
… to couch the "mind's eye;" …
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003


1.2.185 In my mind's eye
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: "The Landing-Place, Essay v: 'Reason and Understanding'" In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 4 I: The Friend (1818) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, Barbara E. Rooke. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 157.
… the outward sense, and "the mind's eye" which is reason : …
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003

3.1.83 Thus conscience makes cowards of us all
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: "Section the first On the Principles of Political Knowledge, Essay I" in: The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 4 I: The Friend (1818) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, Barbara E. Rooke. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 168.
" 'Tis Conscience that makes Cowards of us all," - …
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003

1.2.150 discourse of reason
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Essay on Faith' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 II: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 840.
… becomes what our Shakespear [sic] with happy precision entitles "Discourse of Reason".
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003

 
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1.3.42 Contagious blastments
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 II: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 1120.
… "the contagious blastments" …
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003


1.2.150 discourse of reason
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'The Forms of Knowledge' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 11 II: Shorter Works and Fragments ed. by Kathleen Coburn, H.J. Jackson, J.R. de J. Jackson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 1498.
[…] & in this sense we must interpret Shakespeare's "Discourse of Reason", […]
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003

3.3.21 Each small annexment
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Tenets Peculiar to Wordsworth' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 7 II: Biographia Literaria (1817) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, James Engell, W. Jackson Bate. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 42.
… accidental and "petty annexments," …
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003


5.2.4-26; 5.2.31-62; 5.1.191-202; II ii Sir, in my heart there was akind of fighting …
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'Section the second, Essay iv, Essays on the Principles of Method' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 4 I: The Friend (1818) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer, Barbara E. Rooke. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 451-6.
Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting | […] | Ham. Here's the commission.-Read it at more leisure | […] | I sat me down; | […] | Of mighty opposites. | […] Imperial Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay, | Might stop a hole to keep the wind away!" | […] | My liege and madam! to expostulate | […] Perpend!
Quotation: Quotations to exemplify and illustrate.
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 13 Feb 2003

3.1.74 That patient merit of th' unworthy takes
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: 'To A Young Ass, Its Mother Being Tethered Near It' In The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 16 I.1: Poetical Works, Poems (Reading Text) ed. by Kathleen Coburn, Bart Winer & J.C.C. Mays. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 147.
Meek Child of Misery! Thy future fate?- | The starving meal, and all the thousand aches | "Which patient Merit of th' Unworthy takes?"
Quotation
Contributed by Jan Grössinger, 5 Feb 2003

3.1.57 that is the question
Conrad, Joseph: Lord Jim (1900) ed. by Thomas Moser. New York: Norton, 1968, p. 129.
'Ja! Ja! In general, adapting the words of your great poet: That is the question…' He went on nodding sympathetically…'How to be! Ach! How to be.'
Quotation: Stein to Marlow, also allusion to To-Be-Or-Not-To-be.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 10 Jan 2003


1.2.180 funeral baked meats
Conrad, Joseph: The Secret Agent. A simple Tale (1907) ed. by Bruce Harkness and S.W. Reid. Cambridge: University Press, 1990, p. 190.
The sensation of unappeasable hunger, not unknown after the strain of a hazardous enterprise to adventurers of tougher fibre than Mr Verloc, overcame him again. The piece of roast beef, laid out in the likeness of funereal baked meats for Stevie's obsequies, offered itself largely to his notice.
Quotation: The third-person narrator about Mr. Verloc's table manners. While the quotation is used metaphorically in Hamlet, it is used in its literal sense in The Secret Agent.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 10 Jan 2003


3.1.79 The undiscovered country
Conrad, Joseph: Selected Literary Criticism and The Shadow-Line (1917) ed. by Allan Ingram. London: Methuen, 1986, p. 116.
One closes behind one the little gate of mere boyishness - and enters an enchanted garden. Its very shades glow with promise. Every turn of the path has its seduction. And it isn't because it is an undiscovered country.
Quotation: First-person narrator (a sailor) talks about the fact of getting older at the very beginning of the story.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 10 Jan 2003

3.1.67 shuffled off this mortal coil
Conrad, Joseph: Selected Criticism and The Shadow-Line (1917) ed. by Allan Ingram. London: Methuen, 1986, p. 169.
But I was glad to catch along the main deck a few smiles on those seamen's faces at which I had hardly had time to have a good look as yet. Having thrown off the mortal coil of shore affairs, I felt myself familiar with them and yet a little strange, like a long-lost wanderer among his kin.
Quotation: First-person narrator (a sailor) about his feelings to be back on board of a ship.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 10 Jan 2003

 

D

1.1.54 you tremble and look pale
Dennis, John: A Plot and No Plot. A Comedy, As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal, in Drury-Lane. London: Printed for R. Parker, P. Buck, R. Wellington [etc.], 1697, p.70.
Bulls: Gadsbud, I am a dead man | Rum: You tremble and look pale, Mr. Bull.
Quotation
Contributed by Simone Meier 31 Jan 2003

1.5.9 thy father's spirit
Donne John: 'Satyre III: Of Religion.' (1593) In The Metaphysical Poets ed. by Helen Gardner, 1972, p. 48. (Penguin Classics)
… and shall thy father's spirit / Meet blinde Philosophers in heaven …
Quotation.
Contributed by Eftychia Fountoulakis, 17 February 2003

 

E
 
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F

 

5.1.228-30 splenative and rash
Fielding, Henry: The History of Tom Jones. A Foundling (1749) ed by Fredson Bowers. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974, Vol. 1, p. 186. (The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding)
Black George was, in the main, a peacable kind of Fellow, and nothing choleric, nor rash, yet did he bear about him some thing of what the Antients called the Irascible, and which his Wife, if she had been endowed with much wisdom, would have feared.
Quotation: cf. Hamlet to Laertes: 'For, though I am not splenitive and rash, | Yet have I in me something dangerous, | which let thy wisdom fear.'
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 18 Feb 2003

1.5.108 That one may smile and smile and be a villain
Fielding, Henry: Miscellanies Vol. 1. An Essay on Knowledge of Characters of Men (1743) ed by Henry Knight Miller. Oxford: Clarendon, 1972, p. 159. (The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding)
If this be allowed, I believe we may admit that glavering Smile, whose principal Ingredient is Malice, to the Symptom of Good-Humour. And here give me Leave to define this Word Malice, as I doubt whether it be not in common Speech so often confounded with Envy, that common Readers may not have very destinct Ideas between them. But as Envy is a Repining at the Good of Others, compared with our own, so Malice is a rejoicing at their Evil, on the same Comparison. And thus it appears to have a very close Affinity to that malevolent Disposition, which I have above described under the Word Good-Humour: for nothing is truer than the Observation of Shakespear; - A Man may smile, and smile, and be a Villain.
Quotation: Quotation to emphasise the author's view on malice in the characters of men.
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 5 Feb 2003

1.5.125-126 There needs no Ghost ...
Fielding, Henry: The True Patriot and Related Writings. Appendix VII Uncertain Attributions from the True Patriot (1745) ed by W. B. Coley. Oxford: Clarendon, 1987, p. 374. (The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding)
On Friday Night the same EXTRAORDINARY Ghost appeared again at the same Places, but uttered little or nothing. Are we to conclude that the Powers above do in Reality know nothing of what is doing here on Earth, or that they keep their Knowledge to themselves, and send this Ghost abroad with such Tidings as must make us all cry out with Horatio in Hamlet, | There needs no Ghost, my Lord, come from the Grave | To tell us this.
Quotation: Satire by Fielding on The London Gazette Extraordinary had no true news concerning the Rebellion despite its phony advertisment. Unworthy publications like advertisments in newspapers Fielding called "Ghosts."
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 5 Feb 2003

3.1.79-80 from whose bourn No traveller returns
Fielding, Henry: Miscellanies Vol. 1. Of the Remedy of Affliction for Loss of Friends (1743) ed by Henry Knight Miller. Oxford: Clarendon, 1972, p. 222. (The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding)
Were the Sentences of Fate capable of Remission; could our Sorrows or Sufferings restore our Friends to us, I would commend him who out-did the fabled Niobe in weeping: but since no such Event is to be expected; since from that Bourne no Traveller returns, surely it is the Part of a wise Man, to bring himself to be content in a Situation which no Wit or Wisdom, Labour or Art, Trouble or Pain, can alter.
Quotation
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 5 Feb 2003

3.1.56 To be or not to be…
Fritsch, Herbert. " hamlet_X". 2001. [http://www.lupi.ch/ex/hamlet.htm]. (2 Dec 2002).
(2b) ^\ (2b) | to be or not to be | Ich will eine Hamletisierung des Internets.
Quotation: A virtual representation of a Quotation.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7 Jan 2003

1.2.147 Frailty thy name is woman
Fuller, Margret: Woman in the nineteenth century (1845) In The portable Margret Fuller ed. by Mary Kelley. New York: Penguin Books, 1994. p. 230.
Frailty thy name is woman.
Quotation
Contributed by Chantal Morand, 2 Feb 2003

G

1.1.54 you tremble and look pale
Garrick, David: Every Man in his Humour. A Comedy, As it is Performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. London: Printed for J. & R. Tonson & S. Draper, [etc.], 1752, p.60.
Cash: You tremble and look pale! Let me call Assistance
Quotation
Contributed by Simone Meier 31 Jan 2003

1.4.40-45 O answer me
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 321f.
Seine Übersetzung dieser Stelle kam ihm sehr zustatten. Er hatte sich nahe an das Original gehalten, dessen Wortstellung ihm die Verfassung eines überraschten, erschreckten, von Entsetzen ergriffenen Gemüts einzig auszudrücken schien. "Sei du ein guter Geist, sei ein verdammter Kobold, bringe Düfte des Himmels mit dir oder Dämpfe der Hölle, sei Gutes oder Böses dein Beginnen, du kommst in einer so würdigen Gestalt, ja ich rede mit dir, ich nenne dich Hamlet, König, Vater, o antworte mir!"
Quotation: Wilhelm quotes these lines during the performance of Hamlet in his own translation, which only slightly deviates from the original text, as the narrator points out.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

2.2.502-512 That he should weep for her
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 303f.
[Wilhelm] "Shakespeare führt die ankommenden Schauspieler zu einem doppelten Endzweck herein. Erst macht der Mann, der den Tod des Priamus mit so viel eigner Rührung deklamiert, tiefen Eindruck auf den Prinzen selbst; er schärft das Gewissen des jungen, schwankenden Mannes: und so wird diese Szene das Präludium zu jener, in welcher das kleine Schauspiel so grosse Wirkung auf den König tut. Hamlet fühlt sich durch den Schauspieler beschämt, der an fremden, an fingierten Leiden so grossen Teil nimmt; und der Gedanke, auf eben die Weise einen Versuch auf das Gewissen seines Stiefvaters zu machen, wird dadurch bei ihm sogleich erregt. Welch ein herrlicher Monolog ist's, der den zweiten Akt schliesst! Wie freue ich mich darauf, ihn zu rezitieren: ‚O! welch ein Schurke, welch ein niedriger Sklave bin ich! - Ist es nicht ungeheuer, dass dieser Schauspieler hier nur durch Erdichtung, durch einen Traum von Leidenschaft, seine Seele so nach seinem Willen zwingt, dass ihre Wirkung sein ganzes Gesicht entfärbt: - Tränen im Auge! Verwirrung im Betragen! Gebrochene Stimme! Sein ganzes Wesen von einem Gefühl durchdrungen! und das alles um nichts! - um Hekuba! - Was ist Hekuba für ihn oder er für Hekuba, dass er um sie weinen sollte?'"
Quotation: Wilhelm is quoting these lines while explaining to Serlo and Aurelie the important part which the actor reciting the lines on the death of Priam is playing in Hamlet's decision to find out whether Claudius is guilty while he is watching the performance of a play.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

1.5.111 remember me
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 245.
[Wilhelm] "Die schreckliche Anklage wider seinen Oheim ertönt in seinen Ohren, Aufforderung zur Rache und die dringende, wiederholte Bitte: ‚Erinnere dich meiner!'"
Quotation: Wilhelm is quoting these words while relating his interpretation of the whole play to Serlo and his sister.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003


1.4.39 Angels and ministers of grace defend us
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 321.
[Wilhelm/Hamlet] erschrak wirklich, als Horatio ausrief: "Seht her, es kommt!" Er fuhr mit Heftigkeit herum, und die edle grosse Gestalt, der leise, unhörbare Tritt, die leichte Bewegung in der schwerscheinenden Rüstung machten einen so starken Eindruck auf ihn, dass er wie versteinert dastand und nur mit halber Stimme: "Ihr Engel und himmlischen Geister, beschützt uns!" ausrufen konnte.
Quotation: These lines are quoted during the performance of Hamlet when the Ghost appears; Wilhelm and his friends have feared that the actor playing the Ghost would not appear. Therefore, their surprise is real when he finally enters the scene.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003


1.5.189-90 That ever I was born to set it right
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 245.
[Wilhelm] "Staunen und Trübsinn überfällt den Einsamen; er wird bitter gegen den lächelnden Bösewicht, schwört, den Abgeschiedenen nicht zu vergessen, und schliesst mit dem bedeutenden Seufzer: ‚Die Zeit ist aus dem Gelenke; wehe mir, dass ich geboren ward, sie wieder einzurichten.'"
Quotation: Wilhelm is quoting these lines while relating his interpretation of the whole play to Serlo and his sister.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

 
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H

5.1.117f. he galls his kibe
Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891) ed. by Juliet Grindle, Simon Gatrell. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 6.
So densely is the world thronged that any shifting of positions, even the best warranted advance, galls somebody's kibe. Such shiftings often begin in sentiment, and such sentiment sometimes begins in a novel.
Quotation: Hardy quotes this expression in the preface to the fifth and later editions. Hamlet means "the peasant forms a blister on the courtier's heel. The implication is that Hardy is the peasant galling the kibe of the reviewer or courtier" (editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003

2.2.324f. exclaim against their own succession
Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891) ed. by Juliet Grindle, Simon Gatrell. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 168.
"Some of the wise even among themselves 'exclaim against their own succession' as Hamlet puts it, but lyrically, dramatically, and even historically, I [Angel] am tenderly attached to them."
Quotation: Angel refers to Hamlet's discussion with Rosencrantz on "the War of the Theatres (1599-1602), the rivalry between troupes of child and adult actors. The children declaim on stage against the adults, so Hamlet asks whether, when they are adult actors themselves, they will not say that 'their writers do them wrong, to exclaim against their own succession' […]. According to Angel, wise members of old families like the d'Urbervilles are sceptical of the value of their own lineage" (editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003


2.2.239-240 there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so
Hardy, Thomas: Two on a Tower (1882) ed. by Caroline Hobhouse, Edward Leeson. London: Macmillan, 1975, p. 125.
"The disposition of the wind is as vicious as ever," she [Lady Constantine] answered, looking into his [Swithin's] face with pausing thoughts on, perhaps, other subjects than that discussed. "It is your mood of viewing it that has changed. 'There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.'"
Quotation: While Rosencrantz and Hamlet disagree on whether Denmark is a prison or not, Lady Constantine and Swithin have different views on the strength of the winds blowing around the tower.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003


5.2.188-189 it is such a kind of gaingiving as would perhaps trouble a woman
Hardy, Thomas: Two on a Tower (1882) ed. by Caroline Hobhouse, Edward Leeson. London: Macmillan, 1975, p. 245.
He [Louis] thought her [Viviette's] conduct sentimental foolery, the outcome of mistaken pity and 'such a kind of gain-giving as would trouble a woman'; and he decided that it would be better to let this mood burn itself out than to keep it smouldering by obstruction.
Quotation: Hamlet describes his presentment of evil as typical for a woman. Louis uses Hamlet's words to describe and explain a woman's (Viviette's) misgivings.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003


4.3.9-10 Diseases desperate grown By desperate appliance are relieved
Hardy, Thomas: Two on a Tower (1882) ed. by Caroline Hobhouse, Edward Leeson. London: Macmillan, 1975, p. 252.
Louis, who was now greatly disturbed about her, went up to his sister and took her hand. "Aux grands maux les grands remèdes," he said gravely. "I have a plan."
Quotation: "[translation:] 'Great evils (setbacks) demand great remedies.' >From the works of Michel de Montaigne, the French essayist (1533-92)" (editor's note). Louis quotes Montaigne who in turn quotes Shakespeare.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003


2.2.300 sigh gratis
Hardy, Thomas: Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891) ed. by Juliet Grindle, Simon Gatrell. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1991, p.176.
That she had already permitted him to make love to her he read as an additional assurance, not fully trowing that in fields and pastures to "sigh gratis" is by no means deemed waste; love-making being here more often accepted inconsiderately and for its own sweet sake than in the carking anxious homes of the ambitious, where a girl's craving for an establishment paralyses her healthy thought of a passion as an end.
Quotation: "Speaking of the players who have come to perform at the court, Hamlet says 'the lover shall not sigh gratis' - that is, the actors shall be paid […]. The narrator's point (which Tess doesn't understand) is that love-making is of value quite apart from the reward of marriage" (editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003

1.3.51 And recks not his own rede
Hardy, Thomas: Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) ed. by Christine Winfield. London: Macmillan 1975, p. 208f.
She [Bathsheba] could show others the steep and thorny way, but 'reck'd not her own rede'.
Quotation: "i.e. ignored her own counsel. An allusion to Ophelia's plea to Laertes" [editor's note].
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003


1.3.48 Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven
Hardy, Thomas: Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) ed. by Christine Winfield. London: Macmillan 1975, p. 208f.
She [Bathsheba] could show others the steep and thorny way, but 'reck'd not her own rede'.
Quotation: Hardy uses the same image as Ophelia uses in order to describe a life of virtue.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003


2.2.220 Happy in that we are not over-happy
Hardy, Thomas: Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) ed. by Christine Winfield. London: Macmillan 1975, p. 170.
Like Guildenstern, Oak was happy in that he was not over happy. He had no wish to converse with her [Bathsheba]: that his bright lady and himself formed one group, exclusively their own, and containing no others in the world, was enough.
Quotation: Oak's feelings when alone with Bathsheba are compared to Guildenstern's feelings.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003

5.1.115 We must speak by the card
Hardy, Thomas: Two on a Tower (1882) ed. by Caroline Hobhouse, Edward Leeson. London: Macmillan, 1975, p. 116.
[Lady Constantine] "Am I not a fearful deal older than you?" "At first it seems a great deal," he [St Cleeve] answered, musing. "But it doesn't seem much when one gets used to it." "Nonsense!" she exclaimed. "It is a good deal." " Very well, then, sweetest Lady Constantine, let it be," he said gently. "You should not let it be! A polite man would have flatly contradicted me. … O I am ashamed of this!" she added a moment after, with a subdued, sad look upon the ground. "I am speaking by the card of the outer world, which I have left behind utterly; no such lip service is known in your sphere."
Quotation: In Hamlet, the expression "by the card" means "with the precision of a sailor", the card referring to "the seaman's chart, or the face of the compass" (notes to Hamlet). In Lady Constantine's use a slight shift of meaning has taken place; here the expression rather means "in exactly the manner [of the outer world]" (editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 20 Jan 2003

1.2.133 How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable
Hardy, Thomas: Under the Greenwood Tree or The Mellstock Quire. A Rural Painting of the Dutch School (1872) ed. by Geoffrey Grigson. London: Macmillan 1975, p.134.
Enter the single-minded Dick, whose only fault at the gipsying, or picnic, had been that of loving Fancy too exclusively and depriving himself of the innocent pleasure the gathering might have afforded him, by sighing regretfully at her absence, - who had danced with the rival in sheer despair of ever being able to get through that stale, flat, and unprofitable afternoon in any other way; but this she would not believe.
Quotation: Hardy uses Hamlet's disillusioned description of 'all the uses of this world' to describe the quality of the afternoon in Fancy's view.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003


3.2.56 As one in suffering all that suffers nothing
Hardy, Thomas: The Woodlanders (1887) ed. by David Lodge. London: Macmillan 1975, p. 238.
There was, further, that never-ceasing pity in her [Grace's] soul for Giles as a man whom she had wronged - a man who had been unfortunate in his worldly transactions; who notwithstanding these things, had, like Hamlet's friend, borne himself throughout his scathing 'As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing'.
Quotation: Hardy expresses Grace's esteem of Giles in the words Hamlet uses to describe the merits of Horatio.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003


4.5.161 Nature is fine in love …
Hardy, Thomas: The Woodlanders (1887) ed. by David Lodge. London: Macmillan 1975, p. 345.
[A letter to Grace from her former husband:] For the sake of being present in your mind on this lovers' day, I think I would almost rather have you hate me a little than not think of me at all. You may call my fancies whimsical; but remember, sweet, lost one, that 'nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine it sends some instance of itself'.
Quotation: Laertes explains Ophelia's condition after Polonius's death with these words, meaning that she has lost a part of herself by loosing her father. Grace's husband uses the same words to refer to his loss, as Grace is now separated from him.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 January 2003

3.2.245 lights lights lights
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) ed. by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. München: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 312.
"Licht - Licht" - rief der Fürst wie der König in Hamlet.
Quotation / Situation: The prince demanding the place in front of the theatre to be lighted. Wish to create an atmosphere similar to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

 
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2.2.520-521 So as a painted tyrant Pyrrus stood And like a neutral to his will and matter Did nothing
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) ed. by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. München: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 388.
... so dass, wie es in jenem Trauerspiel heisst, der zum Schlagen aufgehobene Stock in der Luft gehemmt schien, und sie dastand, ein gemalter Wütrich, parteilos zwischen Kraft und Willen!
Quotation: Murr telling how he defended himself against an enraged lady. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.5.92/93 ... O earth What else? And shall I couple hell?
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) ed. by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. München: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 472.
O Himmel - Erde! - was sonst noch? - nenn ich die Hölle mit!
Quotation: Murr being outraged about his mistress' unfaithfulness. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 20.
Armer Yorick!
Quotation: Thienwiebel feeling sorry for himself. Use of Hamlet to describe his own situation.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.1.59/60 ... sea of troubles ... To die to sleep ...
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 21.
oder... sich waffend gegen eine See von Plagen, durch Widerstand sie enden. Sterben - schlafen - nichts weiter!
Quotation: Thienwiebel looking for a solution to his desperate situation. Wish to find an answer to his problems in Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

2.2.286-291 What a piece of work is a man ...
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 28.
Welch ein Meisterwerk war der Mensch! Wie edel durch Vernunft! Wie unbegrenzt an Fähigkeiten! In Gestalt und Bewegung wie ähnlich einem Engel; im Begreifen wie ähnlich einem Gotte; die Zierde der Welt! Das Vorbild des Lebendigen! Und doch: was war ihm diese Quintessenz vom Staube? Er hatte keine Lust am Manne - und am Weibe auch nicht.
Quotation: Thienwiebel is desperate because he has not yet received an offer for a job as an actor. Use of Hamlet to describe his own situation.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.5.189 the time is out of joint
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 28.
Die Zeit war aus den Fugen!
Quotation: Thienwiebel is desperate because he has not yet received an offer for a job as an actor. Use of Hamlet to describe his own situation/ slight irony from the narrator's point of view.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.2.129-135 O that this too too solid flesh would melt
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 29.
Oh, schmölze doch dies allzu feste Fleisch, zerging' und löst' in einen Tau sich auf! Oder hätte nicht der Ew'ge sein Gebot gerichtet gegen Selbstmord! O Gott! O Gott! Wie ekel, schal und flach und unerspriesslich scheint mir das ganze Treiben dieser Welt! Pfui! Pfui darüber!
Quotation: Thienwiebel reading Hamlet aloud. Use of Hamlet to describe his own situation.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.1.83-88 Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ...
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 31f.
Ja! So macht Gewissen Feige aus uns allen. Der angebornen Farbe der Entschliessung wird des Gedankens Blässe angekränkelt, und Unternehmungen voll Mark und Nachdruck, durch diese Rücksicht aus der Bahn gelenkt, verlieren so der Handlung Namen!
Quotation: Thienwiebel declaiming Hamlet to his young son. Use of Hamlet to describe his own situation.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.2.331-335 O I die Horatio The potent poison quite o'ercrowes my spirit ...
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 32 (Reclam Edition 1963).
Ich weiss ... Ich weiss, ich werde sterben, Freund! - Das starke Gift bewältigt meinen Geist! Ich kann von England nicht die Zeiung hören; doch prophezei ich, die Erwählung fällt auf Fortinbras....
Quotation: Thienwiebel declaiming Hamlet to his young son. Use of Hamlet to describe his own situation.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.2.318-320 Thou livest report me and my cause aright To the unsatisfied.
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 32.
Du lebst, erkläre mich und meine Sache den Unbefriedigten!
Quotation: Thienwiebel declaiming Hamlet to his young son. Use of Hamlet to describe his own situation.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.2.174 But what is your affair in Elsinor?
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 42.
...was macht Ihr auf Helsingör?
Quotation: Thienwiebel asks Ole what he is currently doing. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.2.304/05 Here thou incestuous murderous damned Dane Drink off this potion
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 45.
Ha, mördrischer, blutschändrischer, verruchter Däne! Trink diesen Trank aus!
Quotation: Thienwiebel talking to his crying baby-son. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.1.115-118 How absolute the knave is. …
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 46.
Wie keck der - e - Bursch ist! Wahrhaftig, Horatio! Ich habe seit diesen drei Jahren darauf geachtet. Das Zeitalter wird so spitzfindig, dass der Bauer dem Hofmann auf die Fersen tritt!
Quotation: Thienwiebel talking to Ole about his son. Wish to create a context similar to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.2.337 The rest is silence
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 48.
Der Rest war Schweigen...-.
Quotation: The narrator describing the end of the meal Mrs. Wachtel has invited her tenants to. Irony.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.5.167 There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio Than are dreamt of in our philosophy
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 34.
Du weißt: es gibt mehr Ding' im Himmel und auf Erden, als unsere Schulweisheit sich träumt, Amalie!
Quotation: Thienwiebel trying to convince his wife that their three-months-old son is able to learn to speak. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.2.211 His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 36.
Sein Wahnsinn war des armen Hamlet Feind.
Quotation: Thienwiebel declaiming Hamlet in his despair. Wish to create an atmosphere similar to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

5.2.153/54 I will walk here in the hall if it pleases his majesty 'tis the breathing time of day with me.
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 37.
Ich will hier im Saale auf und ab gehen, wenn es seiner Majestät gefällt; es ist bei mir jetzt die Stunde, frische Luft zu schöpfen. Lasst die Rapiere bringen!
Quotation: Thienwiebel talks to Ole Nissen in Shakespeare's language when walking on the neighbours' roof. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

 
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3.4.40-44 Such an act That blurs the grace and blush of modesty Calls virtue hypocrite ..
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 52.
Solch eine Tat, die Huld der Sittsamkeit entstellt, die Tugend Heuchler schilt, die Rosen wegnimmt von unschuldvoller Liebe schöner Stirn und Beulen hinsetzt... .
Quotation: Thienwiebel talking to his landlady about Ole who has disappeared without paying his rent. Wish to create an atmosphere similar to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.1.60-64 To die to sleep
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 52.
Sterben - schlafen - nichts weiter! Und zu wissen, dass ein Schlaf das Herzweh und die tausend Stösse endet, die unsres Fleisches Erbteil - 's ist ein Ziel, aufs innigste zu wünschen!
Quotation: Thienwiebel despairing because he cannot pay his rent. Wish to find a solution to his problems in Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.1.56-59 To be or not to be ...
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 20.
Sein oder Nichtsein, das ist hier die Frage, ob's edler im Gemüt, die Pfeil' und Schleudern des wütenden Geschicks erdulden, oder....
Quotation: Thienwiebel reflecting about his rather desperate situation. Wish to find consolation or an answer to his problems in Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

1.1.150 The cock that is the trumpet to the morn
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 53.
Bevor nicht "der Hahn, der als Trompeter dient dem Morgen", bereits mehrere Male nachdrücklich gekräht hatte, kam er jetzt selten mehr die Treppen in die Höhe gestolpert.
Quotation: The narrator describing Thienwiebel coming home very late. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.1.56/57 To be or not to be …
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 21.
Sein oder Nichtsein, das ist hier die Frage: Ob's edler im Gemüt... Ae, Quatsch!
Quotation: Thienwiebel looking for a solution to his desperate situation. Wish to find an answer to his problems in Hamlet (but failing to do so).
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.4.82 O shame where is thy blush?
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 38.
Scham, wo war dein Eröten!
Quotation: Ole Nissen is embarrassed because Thienwiebel calls him a "Fischhändler". Wish to create a situation similar to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

3.1.64/65 To die to sleep
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 28.
Sterben, schlafen... vielleicht auch träumen?
Quotation: Thienwiebel is desperate because he has not yet received an offer for a job as an actor. Wish to find an answer to his problems in Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

 

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J

3.2.249 so runs the world away
Johnson, Samuel: . 'Letter to Hester Thrale from 30 Sep 1773' In The letters of Samuel Johnson ed. by Bruce Redford. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, 5 vols., p. 90.
Sic rerum volvitur orbis.
Quotation: Translation of Hamlet's "Thus runs the world away"
Contributed by Dorte Hering, 31 Jan 2003


3.2.249 so runs the world away
Johnson, Samuel: 'Letter to Hester Thrale from 5 Aug 1771' In The letters of Samuel Johnson ed. by Bruce Redford. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, 5 vols., p. 381.
So rolls the world away.
Quotation
Contributed by Dorte Hering, 31 Jan 2003


1.2.187-88 take him for all in all
Johnson, Samuel: 'Letter to Hester Thrale from 19 Jun 1775' In The letters of Samuel Johnson ed. by Bruce Redford. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, 5 vols., p 229.
I always told you that Mr. Thrale was a man take him for all in all, you ne'er will look upon his like.
Quotation
Contibuted by Dorte Hering, 31 Jan 2003

1.4.46-48 Let me not burst in ignorance ...
Johnson, Samuel: 'Letter to Hester Thrale from 9 Mar 1773' In The letters of Samuel Johnson ed. by Bruce Redford. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992, 5 vols., p. 17.
You will not let me burst in ignorance of your transaction with Alexander.
Quotation
Contributed by Dorte Hering, 31 Jan 2003

4.5.83 in hugger-mugger
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 72.
Huggermugger.
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.4.2 it is a nipping and an eager air
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 32.
[…] nipping and eager airs.
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.5.15 I could a tale unfold
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 133.
[…] could a tale unfold […].
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.5.22 List list O list
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 154.
List! List! O list!
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


1.5.23 If thou didst ever …
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 154.
If thou didst ever …
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.2.135 unweeded garden
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 82.
[…] unweeded garden […].
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

3.2.350 When churchyards yawn
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 89.
[…] when churchyards yawn […].
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.5.63 And in the porches of my ears did pour
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 114.
And in the porches of mine ear did pour.
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

3.1.71 the proud man's contumley
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 116.
[…] the proud man's contumely […]
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

 
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1.5.150 Art thou there truepenny
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 155.
Art thou there, truepenny?
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

2.2.360 Buz, buz!
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 156.
Buzz. Buzz.
Quotation.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

1.4.53 glimpses of the moon
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 68.
Glimpses of the moon.
Quotation
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

 

K

3.1.70-1 the proud man's contumely
Keats, John: 'Letter to Benjamin Bailey, Mon 3 Nov 1817' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 60.
I repeat this word for the offence appears to me most especially impertinent---and a very serious return would be the Rod---Yet doth he sit in his Palace. Such is this World ---and we live---you have surely in a continual struggle against the suffocation of accidents---we must bear (and my Spleen is mad at the thought thereof) the Proud Mans Contumely.
Quotation
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Nov 2003

3.1.76 bare bodkin
Keats, John: 'Letter to Leigh Hunt, Sat 10 May 1817' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 27.
When I consider that so many of these Pin points go to form a Bodkin point (God send I end not my Life with a bare Bodkin, in its modern sense) and that it requires a thousand bodkins to make a Spear bright enough to throw any light to posterity---I see that nothing but continual uphill Journeying!
Quotation
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

3.1.63 That flesh is heir to
Keats, John: 'Letter to John Hamilton Reynolds, Sun 3 May 1818' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 141.
It is impossible to know how far Knowledge will console us for the death of a friend and the ill "that flesh is heir to".
Quotation, clearly marked.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.185 mind's eye
Keats, John: 'To Hope'. In The Poems of John Keats (1817) ed. by Miriam Allott. London: Longman, 1970, p. 12, line 3.
When no fair dreams before my 'mind's eye' flit
Quotation, clearly marked.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 9 Jan 2003

3.1.56 To be or not to be ...
Keats, John: 'Letter to George and Georgiana Keats, Sunday 14 Feb - Monday 3 May 1819' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters,1931, p. 308.
[…] these are trifles but I require nothing so much of you as that you will give me a like description of yourselves, however it may be when you are writing to me---Could I see the same thing done of any great Man long since dead it would be a great delight: As to know in what position Shakspeare [sic] sat when he began "To be or not to be"---such thing‹s› become interesting from distance of time or place.
Quotation
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

3.2.349 witching time of night
Keats, John: 'Letter to George and Georgina Keats, Wed 14-31 October 1818' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters, 1931, p. 236.
'Tis 'the witching time of night' | Orbed is the Moon and bright | And the Stars they glisten, glisten | Seeming with bright eyes to listen | For what listen they?
Quotation, clearly marked, though not entirely accurate ('Tis now the very witching time of night')
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

4.2.17-8 like an ape an apple in the corner of his jaw …
Keats, John: 'Letter to George and Georgina Keats, Sun 14 February - Monday 3 May 1819' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters, 1931, p. 307.
They keep you as an ape does an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouth'd to be at last swallow'd ---You are by appointment literary toadeater to greatness and taster to the court---You have a natural aversion to whatever differs from your own pretensions, and an acquired one for what gives offence to your superiors.
Quotation
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

3.4.146 That flattering unction to your soul
Keats, John: 'Letter to George and Georgina Keats, Sun 14 February - Monday 3 May 1819' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters, 1931, p. 308.
[…] you lay the flattering unction of venal prose and laurell'd verse to their souls---You persuade them that there is neither purity of morals, nor depth of understanding except in themselves and their hangers on; and would prevent the unhallow'd names of Liberty and humanity from ever being whispered in years ‹sic› polite!
Quotation
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.9-10 to act to do and to perform
Keats, John: 'Letter to Charles Wentworth Dilke. Wed 22 September 1819' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters, 1931, pp. 393-4.
You must agree with me how unwise it is to keep feeding upon hopes, which depending so much on the state of temper and imagination, appear gloomy or bright, near or afar off just as it happens---Now an act has three parts---to act, to do, and to perform---I mean I should do something for my immediate welfare---Even if I am swept away like a Spider from a drawing room I am determined to spin---home spun any thing for sale.
Quotation
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

2.2.184 Still harping on my daughter
Keats, John: 'Letter to George and Georgina Keats. Fri 17 - 27 September 1819' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters, 1931, p. 403.
I intend to w‹r›ite a letter to you‹r› Wifie and there I may say more on this little plump subject---I hope she's plump. 'Still harping on my daughter'.
Quotation, clearly marked.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, Jan 17 2003

 
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3.1.119-143 to a nunnery go
Keats, John: 'Letter to Fanny Brawne, August 1820' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters, 1931, p. 503.
Hamlet's heart was full of such Misery as mine is when he said to Ophelia "Go to a Nunnery, go, go!"
Quotation, clearly marked. Keats compares his feelings with those of Hamlet.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

 

L

1.2.129 that this too too solid flesh would melt
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 149.
O, that is too, too solid flesh would melt!
Quotation
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

1.2.65 A little more than kin, and less than kind
Lawrence, David Herbert: Reflection on the death of a porcupine and other essays (1934) ed. by Michael Herbert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 219.
A little less than kin, and more than kind.
Quotation: However, Lawrence reverses more and less.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

3.1.56 to be or not to be
Lawrence David Herbert: Women in Love (1920) ed. by Lindeth Vasey, John Worthen and David Farmer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, p. 351.
To be or not to be
Quotation
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

3.1.126 Get thee to a nunnery
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume IV (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton and Andrew Robertson.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, p. 243.
Get thee to a nunnery.
Quotation
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 27 Jan 2003

2.2.290 Man delights not me
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume IV (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton and Andrew Robertson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, p. 253.
L'uomo non mi piace.
Quotation in Italian. Lawrence refers to Australia.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 27 Jan 2003

5.1. 210 Sweets to the sweet
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume IV (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton and Andrew Robertson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, p. 90.
Sweets for the sweet.
Quotation: Lawrence refers to the editors' reluctance to publish his novels
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 27 Jan 2003

1.4.39 ministers of grace
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume VIII, (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, p. 24.
Ministers of grace
Quotation
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

1.3.49 the primrose path
Lawrence, David Herbert: England my England and other stories (1922) ed. by Bruce Steele. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 123.
The primrose path.
Quotation
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

3.1.67 this mortal coil
Lawrence, David Herbert: England my England and other stories (1922) ed. by Bruce Steele. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 169.
The mortal coil.
Quotation
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

3.1.56 To be or not to be ...
Lawrence, David Herbert: Reflection on the death of a porcupine and other essays (1934) ed. by Michael Herbert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 154.
To be or not to be
Quotation
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

3.1.56 To be or not to be ...
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 95.
To be or not to be
Quotation
Cntributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003








M

3.3.73 Now might I do it pat
MacLeish, Archibald: 'From these Night Fields and Waters do Men Raise' In Collected Poems 1917 - 1982. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.
Now might I do it pat…
Quotation
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003


3.4.7 SD: Polonius hides behind the arras
Milton, John: An Apology, & c. (1642) ed. by Don M. Wolfe. New Haven/London: Oxford UP/Yale UP, 1953, vol. 1, p. 914.
This Champion from behind the Arras cried out that those toothlesse Satyrs were of the Remonstrants making.
Quotation: Indirect quotation reffering to the stage direction having Polonius hide behind the arras. Milton uses this in the greater context of an attack against prelacy.
Contributed by Stefan Kristmann, 30 Jan 2003.

 

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P

1.2.157 It is not nor it cannot come to good
Powell, Neil: Distons Lane [LION]
'It is not, nor it cannot come to good'? I understand I am not understood.
Quotation
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

 

Q

 

R

1.3.59 give thy thoughts no tongue
Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) ed. by Bonamy Dobrée. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 572.
Give thy thoughts no tongue. SHAKESPEARE
Quotation: Direct quotation introducing chapter IX.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 17 Jan 2003

3.4.40-44 And sets a blister there
Richardson, Samuel: Clarissa or The History of a Young Lady (1747-8) ed. by Angus Ross. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985, p. 893.
[Letter 261, Paper X] - Oh! you have done an act | That blots the face and blush of modesty; | Takes off the rose | From the fair forehead of an innocent love | And makes a blister there! -
Quotation: One of the "scraps of verse that Clarissa's delirium has assembled from her recollection" (editor's note) quotes Hamlet's words to Gertrude. However, Clarissa does not remember the exact words.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003.


1.5.15-16 harrow up thy soul
Richardson, Samuel: Clarissa or The History of a Young Lady (1747-8) ed. by Angus Ross. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985, p. 893.
[Letter 261, Paper X] I could a tale unfold- | Would harrow up thy soul! -
Quotation: One of the "scraps of verse that Clarissa's delirium has assembled from her recollection" (editor's note) quotes the words the Ghost is speaking to Hamlet, though a few phrases are missing.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003.


3.3.92 That has no relish of salvation in't
Richardson, Samuel: Clarissa or The History of a Young Lady (1747-8) ed. by Angus Ross. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985, p. 1184.
[Letter 396] the first vengeance I shall take will be to set fire to that den of serpents. Nor will there be any fear of taking them when they are in any act that has the relish of salvation in it, as Shakespeare says - so that my revenge, if they perish in the flames I shall light up, will be complete as to them.
Quotation: Hamlet refrains from killing Claudius while he is praying because he then would go to heaven. Like Hamlet, Mr Lovelace takes care to take revenge on his enemies in a moment that will not grant them salvation.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003.

1.4.39 Angels and ministers of grace defend us
Richardson, Samuel: The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753-4) ed. by Jocelyn Harris. London: Oxford University Press, 1972, Vol. 2, p. 191.
Good God! said she [Clementina]. - Then in English breaking out into that line of Hamlet, which she had taken great notice of, when we read that play together - Angels, and ministers of grace, defend us!
Quotation. Clementina uses Hamlet's words at the sight of the ghost when she recognises Grandison, whose presence she has not noticed before.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003.

 
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3.2.229-30 the croaking raven doth bellow for revenge
Robinson, Mary: Walsingham or the Pupil of Nature. A Domestic Story. Vol. II, p. 246. [LION]
Begin, begin - 'the croacking raven doth bellow for revenge!' Well, Mr. Doleful unfolded a small paper, and with a low tremulous voice, began to read the following SONNET […]
Quotation
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

 

S

3.4.82 O shame where is thy blush
Sawyer, Lemuel: Blackbeard. A Comedy in Four Acts (1824) [LION]
Powell: O shame! Where is thy blush. The Country is disgraced.
Quotation
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

5.2.36 It did me yeoman's service
Scott, Sir Walter: Ivanhoe (1820) ed. by G.Tulloch. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 355.
"Say as thou list, Wamba," replied the Knight, "these yeomen did thy master Cedric yeomanly service at Torquilstone."
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.4.48 Have burst their cerements
Scott, Sir Walter: Ivanhoe (1820) ed. by G.Tulloch. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 376.
The ghost of Athelstane himself would burst his bloody cerements, and stand before us to forbid such dishonour to his memory.
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


5.1.174 'Twere to consider too curiously to consider so
Scott, Sir Walter: Ivanhoe (1820) ed. by G.Tulloch. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 401.
He lived long and happily with Rowena, for they were attached to each other by the bonds of early affection, and they loved each other the more, from recollection of the obstacles which had impeded their union. Yet it would be enquiring too curiously to ask, whether the recollection of Rebecca's beauty and magnanimity did not recur to his mind more frequently than the fair descendant of Alfred might altogether have approved.
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

1.5.164 but this is wondrous strange
Scott, Sir Walter: The Pirate (1822) ed. by M. Weinstein and A. Lumsden. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 115.
The sisters linked their arms together. Halcro in vain endeavoured to stop them, making, at the same time, a theatrical gesture, and exclaiming, "Now, Day and Night, but this is wondrous strange!"
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

1.5.150 Art thou there truepenny
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 207.
"Aha! And thou wouldst spice it for me, old Truepenny, wouldst thou not?
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


3.2.97 here's metal more attractive
Scott, Sir Walter: The Pirate (1822) ed. by M. Weinstein and A. Lumsden. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 20.
The hand of welcome was indeed received as eagerly as it was sincerely given, while the ancient udaller, raising himself in his huge chair, whereof the inside was lined with well-dressed seal-skins, and the outside composed of massive oak, carved by the rude graving-tool of some Hamburg carpenter, shouted forth his welcome in a tone which might have, in ancient times, hailed yet more of Iol, the highest festival of the Goths. There was metal yet more attractive, and younger hearts, whose welcome, if less loud, was as sincere as that of the jolly udaller.
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


3.4.53-54 Look here upon this picture …
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander and G.A.M. Wood. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 23.
Look here upon this picture, and on this, | The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. | Hamlet
Quotation: The quotation is used as motto of the novel.
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


5.1.79-82 (Age…) Hath clawed me in his clutch
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 247.
But age has clawed me somewhat in his clutch, as the song says;
Quotation: The original song by Sir Thomas Vaux, 'The aged louer renounceth loue', appeared posthumously in Trottel's Miscellany (1557-87), ed. by Hyder Edward Rollins, 2 vols (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1965), 1.165. One of the gravediggers sings a stanza from it in Hamlet.
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.4.53 Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon
Scott, Sir Walter: The Pirate (1822) ed. by M. Weinstein and A. Lumsden. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 288.
"I am glad you spoke first," answered the stranger, carelessly; "I was determined to know whether you were Clement Cleveland, or Clement's ghost, and they say ghosts never take the first word, so I now set it down for yourself in life and limb; and here is a fine old hurly-house you have found out for an owl to hide himself in at mid-day, or a ghost to revisit the pale glimpses of the moon, as the divine Shakespeare says."
Quotation: The scene - very similar to the ghost-scene in Hamlet - is made explicit by quotation and the mentioning of Shakespeare.
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


3.1.65 there's the rub
Scott, Sir Walter: The Pirate (1822) ed. by M. Weinstein and A. Lumsden. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 323.
"Look ye, Captain," said the Provost, "I thirst for no man's blood. You are a pretty fellow, as there was many among the buccaneers in my time - but there is no harm in wishing you a better trade. You should have the stores and welcome, for your money, so you would make these seas clear of you. But then, here lies the rub. The Halcyon frigate is expected in these parts immediately; when she hears of you she will be at you; for there is nothing the White Lapelle loves better than a rover - you are seldom without cargo of dollars. Well, he comes down, gets you under his stern," -
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

3.1.59 ... sea of troubles
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 246.
"Ay, but the lady?" answered Flibbertigibbet; "credit me, I think she is one, and thou art in a sea of troubles about her at this moment, as I can perceive by thy fidgetting.
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


2.2.389 by the altitude of a chopine
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 259.
He was a man whose huge stature, thewes, sinews, and bulk in proportion, would have enabled him to enact Colbrand, Ascapart, or any other giant of romance, without raising himself nearer to heaven even by the altitude of a chopin.
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

 
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1.5.14 the secrets of my prison-house
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander and G.A.M. Wood. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 286.
Louis asked no further questions, for no man was more bound than he to respect the secrets of a prison-house.
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


3.4.207-8 For 'its the sport to have the engineer Hoist with his own petard
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander and G.A.M. Wood. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 352.
"My lord, my lord," said Charles, breaking in so soon as the King paused, "for your being here at a time so unluckily coinciding with the execution of your projects, I can only account by supposing, that those who make it their trade to impose on others, do sometimes egregiously delude themselves. The engineer is sometimes killed by the springing of his own petard. - For what is to follow, let it depend on the event of this solemn inquiry. - Bring hither the Countess Isabelle of Croye!"
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


1.1.65 at this dead hour
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 380.
"Had'st thou told me in broad day," said Forster, "I had rejoiced - but at this dead hour, and by this dim light, and looking on thy pale face, which is a ghastly contradiction to thy light words, I cannot but rather think of the work that is to be done, than the guerdon to be gained by it."
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

1.5.150 Art thou there truepenny
Scott, Sir Walter: The Monastery (1820) ed. by P.Fielding. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 132.
At length he was obeyed, and old Martin made his appearance. "Ha!" said Christie, "art thou there, old True-penny? - here, stable me these steeds, and see them well bedded, and stretch thine old limbs by rubbing them down; and see thou quit not the stable till there is not a turned hair on either of them."
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


5.1.186 with such maimed rites
Scott, Sir Walter: The Abbot (1820) ed. by C. Johnson. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 101 f.
With hasty and maimed rites, the few remaining brethren stepped forward alternately to give their new Abbot the kiss of peace, in token of fraternal affection and spiritual homage.
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003


5.2.36 It did me yeoman's service
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 28.
"Nor what yeoman's service they were to do me," quoth Anthony Forster - "the cook hath used them for scouring his pewter, and the groom hath had nought else to clean my boots with this many a month past."
Quotation
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

1.2.185 In my mind's eye, Horatio
Shelley, Mary: Falkner. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1842) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 15.
It would be best to present his appearance and manner to the mind's eye of the reader.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.231 A countenance more in sorrow than in anger
Shelley, Mary: Falkner. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1842) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 86.
[...] more in sorrow than in anger.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

3.2.121 miching mallecho
Shelley, Percy Bysshe: 'Peter Bell the third by Miching Mallecho, Esq.' In The Complete Poetical Works (1904), p. 379.
Ophelia. ---What means this, my lord? | Hamlet. ---Marry, this is Miching Mallecho; it means mischief.
Quotation, clearly marked. The quotation stands as an introduction to Shelley's text (after a quotation from Wordsworth's Peter Bell) just before the prologue. Shelley claims, as the title shows, that his piece was written by one "Miching Mallecho" - a name from this scene in Hamlet.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

1.5.15-20 I could a tale unfold whose slightest word
Shelley, Percy Bysshe: The Wandering Jew (1887), Canto II, p. 18.
"I could a tale unfold, whose slightest word | Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, | Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres; | Thy knotted and combined locks to part, | And each particular hair to stand on end, | Like quills upon the fretful porcupine." | --- Hamlet.
Quotation, clearly marked. These lines of the ghost in Hamlet serve as the heading to the second canto of Shelley's poem.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003


1.4.41 or blasts from hell
Shelley, Mary: Falkner. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1842) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 258.
I came here - only to see you; to gaze on you afar, was to purify the world of the blasts from hell.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003


1.4.41 or blasts from hell
Shelley, Mary: Rambles in Germany and Italy. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1840 - 43) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 191.
I remember Wordsworth theory, that we enter this world bringing with us airs from heaven, [...].
Quotation: Quotation from Wordsworth's Ode "Intimations of Immortality", but who quotes Hamlet.
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

1.2.185 in my mind's eye
Shelley, Mary: Rambles in Germany and Italy. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1840 - 43) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 269.
Gathered into myself, with my mind's eye I saw those before me long departed [...].
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

3.4.58 A station like the herald Mercury
Shelley, Mary: Rambles in Germany and Italy. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1840 - 43) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 310.
There is the model of the glorious statue of John of Bologna, which Shakespeare we might think had seen when he spoke of the herald Mercury; [...].
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003


1.4.90 something rotten in the state of Denmark
Shelley, Mary: Rambles in Germany and Italy. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1840 - 43) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 372.
We feel deeply that there is something rotten in the state.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

 
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2.2.289 how like a god
Shelley, Mary: Lodore. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1835) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 34.
Sometimes he conversed with her, and then how like a god he seemed.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

3.1.79 bourn
Shelley, Mary: Lodore. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1835) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 192.
[...] she was about to enter, without any certain bourn.
Quotation. Revival of the word in the 18th century as a poetic or archaic expression, derived from its use in Hamlet.
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003


1.5.77 unhousled disappointed unaneled
Shelley, Mary: The Fortunes of Perkin and Warbeck. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1830) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 112.
[...] a man precipitated in the very act of crime unhouseled, unanointed, unannealed into the life-quenching waters.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 18 Jan 2003


5.2.10 Rough-hew them how we will
Shelley, Mary: The Fortunes of Perkin and Warbeck. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1830) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 239.
For good or ill, we are in the hands of a superior power: There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how he will.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 18 Jan 2003

3.2.325 it will discourse most eloquent music
Shelley, Mary: The Last Man. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1826) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 37.
Does that voice no longer discourse excellent music.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 18 Jan 2003


2.2.282 sterile promontory
Shelley, Mary: The Last Man. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1826) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 66.
[...] they were brought forth to beautify and enlighted this sterile promontory, than were this angelic pain to my lowly dwelling and grateful heart.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 18 Jan 2003


2.2.289f. paragon of animals … quintessence of dust
Shelley, Mary: The Last Man. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1826) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 309.
We had called ourselves the paragon of animals, and, lo! We were a quintessence of dust.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 18 Jan 2003


1.2.142 Visit her face too roughly
Shelley, Mary: Reviews and Essays. On Ghosts. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1823) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 221.
[...] and man will commune with his Maker, and feel the influences of nature, when not so cradled by luxury that the wind is not permitted to visit him too roughly.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 18 Jan 2003


3.1.147 glass of fashion
Shelley, Mary: Lodore. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1835) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 73.
She was the glass of fashion - the imitated by a vast sect of imitations.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003


1.2.133 stale flat and unprofitable
Shelley, Mary: Lodore. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1835) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 117.
[...] she had to began to think all things stale and unprofitable [...].
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003


1.4.65 at a pin's fee
Shelley, Mary: Lodore. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1835) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 160.
[...] our lives are a mere blank, not worth a pin's fee [...]
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003


3.2.20 his form and pressure
Shelley, Mary: Lodore. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1835) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 15.
There was an affectionateness of disposition kneaded up in the very texture of her soul, which gave its very form and pressure.
Quotation
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Sterne, Laurence: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 65.
Alas, poor Yorick! cried I, what art thou doing here?
Quotation: The protagonist quotes Hamlet when arriving in a hotel in Paris.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

1.5.95-99 Remember thee? ...
Sterne, Laurence: Continuation of the Bramines' Journal (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 192.
Alas! poor Yorick! - "remember thee! Pale Ghost - remember thee - whilst Memory holds a seat in this distracted World - Remember thee," - Yes, from the Table of her Memory, shall just Eliza wipe away all trivial men - (…)
Quotation: The author, fearing that his love Eliza might forget him, combines two quotations.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick
Sterne, Laurence: Tristram Shandy: an authoritative text, backgrounds and sources, criticism (1759-67) ed. by Howard Anderson. N.Y. & London: Norton & Company, 1980, p. 22.
Alas, poor YORICK! Ten times in a day has Yorick's ghost the consolation to hear his monumental inscription read over with such a variety of plaintive tones, as denote a general pity and esteem for him; - a foot-way crossing the church-yard close by the side of his grave, - not a passenger goes by without stopping to cast a look upon it, - and sighing as he walks on, Alas poor YORICK!
Quotation: Chain of Quotations: After his death, the Yorick-Figure in TS gets an inscription on his tombstone which quotes Hamlet's words to Yorick's skull.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

5.1.157 a fellow of infinite jest
Sterne, Laurence: Tristram Shandy: an authoritative text, backgrounds and sources, criticism (1759-67) ed. by Howard Anderson. N.Y. & London: Norton & Company, 1980, p. 227.
This, as the reader has seen from one end to the other, was as groundless as the dreams of philosophy: Yorick, no doubt, as Shakespear said of his ancestor - "was a man of jest," but it was temper'd with something which withheld him from that, and the blame; (…)
Quotation: The author describes the character of his Yorick, who is a descendant of Shakespeare's figure with the same name, with words similar to those in Hamlet.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

 
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3.1.65 ay there's the rub
Sterne, Laurence: Tristram Shandy: an authoritative text, backgrounds and sources, criticism (1759-67) ed. by Howard Anderson. N.Y. & London: Norton & Company, 1980, p. 467.
I am going down to write a world of Nonsense - if possible like a man of Sense - but there is the Rub.
Quotation: In a letter to Elizabeth Montagu, the author uses Hamlet with the intention to be humorous.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

1.5.167 There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy
Sterne, Laurence: Tristram Shandy: an authoritative text, backgrounds and sources, criticism (1759-67) ed. by Howard Anderson. N.Y. & London: Norton & Company, 1980, p. 227.
This, as the reader has seen from one end to the other, was as groundless as the dreams of philosophy: Yorick, no doubt, as Shakespear said of his ancestor - "was a man of jest," but it was temper'd with something which withheld him from that, and the blame; (…)
Allusion: Sterne's "dreams of philosophy" are surely influenced by the famous words Hamlet speaks to Horatio.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

1.3.55-81 Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement
Sterne, Laurence: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 87.
What the old French officer had deliver'd upon travelling, bringing Polonius's advice to his son upon the same subject into my head - and that bringing in Hamlet; and Hamlet, the rest of Shakespeare's works, I stopp'd at the Quai de Conti in my return home, to purchase the whole set.
Allusion:If Sterne had any particular line in mind, it might have been line 69: Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

1.3.78 to thine own self be true
Sterne, Laurence: Continuation of the Bramines' Journal (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 185.
Be true my dear girl, to thy self - & the rights of Self preservation which nature has given thee!
Quotation: The author, writing to his love Eliza.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

2.2.290-291 Man delights not me ....
Sterne, Laurence: Continuation of the Bramines' Journal (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 189.
Man delights not me - nor Woman.
Quotation.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

5.1.156 Alas poor Yorick in 5.1. AND Remember thee! (Ham to the Ghost in 1.5.)
Sterne, Laurence: Continuation of the Bramines' Journal (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 192.
Alas! poor Yorick! - "remember thee! Pale Ghost - remember thee - whilst Memory holds a seat in this distracted World - Remember thee," - Yes, from the Table of her Memory, shall just Eliza wipe away all trivial men - (…)
The author, fearing that his love Eliza might forget him, combines two quotations.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

 

T

3.2.15 suit the action to the word
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p.269.
I hope the dear ladies are well, sir?" and here Harry rose, greeting his friend the Colonel very kindly, who had come to pay him a morning-visit, and had entered the room followed by Mr. Gumbo (the latter preferred walking very leisurely about all the affairs of life) just as Harry---suiting the action to the word---was tweaking the nose of Calumny. // "The ladies are purely. Whose nose were you pulling when I came in, Mr. Warrington?" says the Colonel, laughing.
Quotation
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

3.2.15 suit the action to the word
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p. 102.
The Captain suited the action to the word, and his blood-shot eyes were suffused with water, as he addressed the Major.
Quotation
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

1.5.189 the time is out of joint
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p.232.
I say, I take the world as it is, and being of it, will not be ashamed of it. If the time is out of joint, have I any calling or strength to set it right?"
Quotation
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

1.5.189 the time is out of joint
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p. 49.
[...]Had you been the elder, you would have had the best cellar, and ridden the best nag, and been the most popular man in the country, whereas I have not a word to say for myself, and frighten people by my glum face: I should have been second son, and set up as lawyer, or come to England and got my degrees, and turned parson, and said grace at your honour's table. The time is out of joint, sir. O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!" // "Why, Georgy, you are talking verses, I protest you are!" says Harry. // "I think, my dear, some one else talked those verses before me," says George, with a smile. // "It's out of one of your books. You know every book that ever was wrote, that I do believe!" cries Harry;[...]
Direct quotation: George quotes in order to impress Harry. The latter protests against this behaviour. Irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

 

U

 

V

 

W

1.2.147 A little month
Wordsworth, William: The Fourteen-Book Prelude (1850) ed. by W. J. B. Owen. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985, p. 198.
I thought of those September massacres, | Divided from me by one little month, | Saw them and touched; the rest was conjured up | From tragic fictions, or true history, | Remembrances and dim admonishments.
Quotation: Greater context: Book 10.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003


1.4.41 blasts from hell
Wordsworth, William: The Fourteen-Book Prelude (1850) ed. by W. J. B. Owen. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985, p. 205.
Tyrants, strong before | In wicked pleas, were strong as Demons now; | And thus, on every side beset with foes. | The goaded land waxed mad; the crimes of few
Spread into madness of the many, blasts | from hell came sanctified like airs from heaven;
Quotation: Greater context: Book 10.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

3.4.180 and worse remains behind
Wordsworth, William: 'Letter to the Reverend Francis Wrangham on 27 Feb 1797' In The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth. The early years 1787-1805 ed. by Ernest De Selincourt [rev. by Chester L. Shaver]. London: OUP, 1967. p. 173.
The theme is fruitful nor can sorrow find | Shame of such dye but worse remains behind | My Lord can muster (all but honour spent) | From his wife's Faro-bank a decent rent | The glittering rabble housed to [ ] and swear | Swindle and rob-is no informer there | Or is the painted staffs avenging host | By sixpenny sedition shops engrossed | Or rather skulking for the common weal | Round fire-side treason parties en famille | How throngs the crowd to yon theatric school | To see an english lord enact a fool | What wonder?
Quotation
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

2.1.100 This is the very ecstasy of love
A New Leaf. "Quotations: World's Greatest Lovers & Poets of Love. 1998. [http://www.anewleaf.com/florist/quote_page31.htm]. (26.11.2002).
This is the very ecstasy of love.
Quotation: From a Web page with quotations for lovers.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7.Jan 2003

2.1.100 This is the very ecstasy of love
Wendy's Florist&Gifts. "Quotations: World's Greatest Lovers". [http://www.reddingflorist.com/Quotations/WorldsGreatestLovers.html]. (09.Dec 2002)
This is the very ecstasy of love.
Quotation: From a Web page with quotations for lovers.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7 Jan 2003

3.3.56-58 To be or not to be…
[www.eecs.umich.edu/~pverma/funstuff/philo.txt] (15.12.2002).
to be or not to be: that is the question, whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrow of outrageous fortune.
Quotation: >From a Web page with numerous quotations.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7. Jan 2003

1.5.166-167 There are more things in heaven and earth…
[www.eecs.umich.edu/~pverma/funstuff/philo.txt] (15.12.2002).
there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Quotation: From a Web page with numerous quotations.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 07. Jan 2003

 
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Z

 

 




3. SITUATIONS

Situation
Beckett, Samuel: 'Endgame' (1958) In The Complete Dramatic Works. London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1986, p. 93.
And yet I hesitate, I hesitate to … to end. Yes, there it is, it's time it ended and yet I hesitate to - [he yawns] - to end.
Similar to Hamlet, Beckett's Hamm, who is blind and crippled, "hesitate[s] to … to end" too.
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

Situation
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World; Shewing Who Robbed Him, Who Helped Him, and Who Passed Him by. By W. M. Thackeray ... In Three Volumes (1861-1862) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1862, p. 245.
[...] but when treacheries in love affairs are in question, she [my wife] fires up at once [...] The idea of a man or woman trifling with that holy compact awakens in her a flame of indignation. In curtain confidences (of which let me not vulgarize the arcana), she had given me her mind about some of Miss Twysden's behaviour with that odious blackamoor, as she chose to call Captain Woolcomb, who, I own, had a very slight tinge of complexion; and when, quoting the words of Hamlet regarding his father and, mother, I asked, "Could she on this fair mountain leave to feed, and batten on this Moor?" Mrs. Pendennis cried out that this matter was all too serious for jest, and wondered how her husband could make word-plays about it.
Alluison to adultery / incest in Othello ('that odious blackamoor') and Hamlet. Irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Situation
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. a Colonel in the Service of Her Majesty Q. Anne. Written By Himself. In Three Volumes (1852) London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1852, p. 94.
'Tis true Mr. Esmond often boasted of republican principles and could remember many fine speeches he had made at College and elsewhere, with worth and not birth for a text: but Tom Tusher, to take the place of the noble Castlewood---faugh! 'twas as monstrous as King Hamlet's widow taking off her weeds for Claudius. Esmond laughed at all widows, all wives, all women;
Allusion to incest and moral, misogynist statement about the 'all women's' behaviour.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

Situation
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p. 178f.
Now stop before you condemn her utterly. Because Lady Maria had had, and overcome, a foolish partiality for her young cousin, was that any reason why she should never fall in love with anybody else? Are men to have the sole privilege of change, and are women to be rebuked for availing themselves now and again of their little chance of consolation? No invectives can be more rude, gross, and unphilosophical than, for instance, Hamlet's to his mother about her second marriage. The truth, very likely, is, that that tender, parasitic creature wanted a something to cling to, and, Hamlet senior out of the way, twined herself round Claudius. Nay, we have known females so bent on attaching themselves, that they can twine round two gentlemen at once. Why, forsooth, shall there not be marriage-tables after funeral baked-meats?
Allusion to incest: Gertrude marrying Claudius; moral statement, misogynist generalization.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

Situation: A play within a play
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett: Aurora Leigh. (1856) ed. by Kerry McSweeney. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 132.
He takes it up, and dresses it,| And acts a play with it, as Hamlet did, | To show what cruel uncles we have been, | And how we should be uneasy in our minds | While he, Prince Hamlet, weds a pretty maid | (Who keeps us too long waiting, we'll confess) | by symbol, to instruct us formally | to fill the ditches up 'twixt class and class, | and live together in phalansteries. | What then? - he's mad, our Hamlet! Clap his play, | And bind him.[…] | To make us merry on his marriage-morn, | The fable's worse than Hamlet's I'll concede. […] Editor's Footnote: as Hamlet used a play within Shakespeare's play to determine the guilt of his uncle the king, so Romney is using his marriage to Marian Erle to make his social equals aware of their responsibility to the lower classes.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 07. Jan 2003

Situation
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) ed. by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. München: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 408.
Abraham erwiderte, dass Kreisler zwar ebensowenig verrückt sei, als er selbst, jedoch sich zunehmend etwas seltsam gebärde, und in einen Zustand gerate, der beinahe dem des Prinzen Hamlet zu vergleichen, ... .
Comparison of Kreisler to Hamlet. Wish to create an atmosphere similar to Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.


Situation
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 80.
Found in the riverbed clutching rushes.
Recalls Ophelia's drowning.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

 
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Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence (1952) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, Vol. I, p. 207.
I shall never die unless I fling wide my arms and say, Hamletian-'Come death etc' ; or unless some stilettoed sickness steal behind me and stick me unaware: which is unlikely, being well trained as I am in the habits of these bravados.
Allusion to Lawrence's illness.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence (1952) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, Vol. I, p. 269.
No, but I am so Hamletty- I am so confoundedly and absurdly Hamletty it's enough to make you sick. When I begin to rant in the ' to be or not to be ' style, you should say ' Hello, he's off again '.
Allusion to Lawrence's instable character.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: Study of Thomas Hardy and other Essays (1923) ed. by Bruce Steele. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985, p. 216.
It is funny that maids only seem to do it for these narcissistic young gentlemen who, looking in the pool for their own image, desire the added satisfaction of seeing the face of a drowned Ophelia.
Allusion to human relationships
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 10 Feb 2003

 

Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume VI (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, p. 147.
The old Weekley grandmother died, aged 86, and the Weekleys are making as much tragedy over it as if she'd been a young Ophelia.
Allusion to the Weekly family members who mourn the death of their old grandmother as if she had been as young as Ophelia when she died.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 28 Jan 2003

Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume V (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton and Lindeth Vasey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989, p. 423.
It's worse than Oedipus and Medea, and Hamlet and Lear and Macbeth are spinach and eggs in comparison.
Allusion to a book called 'Memoirs of a Born American'.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 27 Jan 2003

Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume III (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton and Andrew Robertson.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984, p. 156.
Let me mix my metaphors thoroughly, let me put gravy-salt into the pudding, and pour vanilla essence over the beef, for the world is mad, yet won't cry ' Willow, Willow ', and drown itself like Ophelia.
Allusion to editors' reluctance to publish Lawrence's novel Women in Love. Lawrence is angry about this decision and considers the world as mad as Ophelia.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 27 Jan 2003

Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume I (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, p. 546.
It's no good- Hamlet and Oedipus were published now, they wouldn't sell more than 100 copies, unless they were pushed: I know that Duckworth can wait till my name is made, for his money.
Allusion to Lawrence's editor.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume I (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, p. 504.
We are Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark 'to be or not to be ' it is the question with us now by Jove.
Allusion to Lawrence's decision to live in Italy.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003


Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume I (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, p. 508.
We have a box at the theatre - no it's not like Teddy Rayners - and we see Amleto - who is Hamlet with an Eyetalian hat on - and nearly die.
Allusion to Italian life-style.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

 

Situation
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 77.
They played Hamlet once a fortnight. My mother would let me go to see Hamlet, but not 'Maria Martin , or the Murder in the Red Barn'.
Allusion to the author's personal relation to theatre and especially to Hamlet.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003


Situation: The players (cf 2.2.481-83)
Scott, Sir Walter: Kenilworth. A Romance (1821) ed. by J.H. Alexander and G.A.M. Wood. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, p. 285.
"In this small matter," said the King, "I trust you will allow my command to outweigh his, even with you his liege subjects. - I am something indisposed, my lords - something fatigued; great pleasure hath its toils as well as pain - I trust to enjoy your society better tomorrow - Yours especially, noble Hymbercourt, whom I have known such a faithful friend in peace, so stout an opponent in war - And yours too, Seignior Philip of Argenton - I am told you are the annalist of the time - we that desire to have a name in history, must speak you fair, for men say your pen hath a sharp point, when you will - Good night, my lords and gentles, to all and to each of you."
The sentiment alludes to Hamlet's description of the players.
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

 

 

 



4. FIGURES

 

Hamlet

Figure: Hamlet
Browning, Robert: "Waring". Plagiarist.com. [http://www.plagiarist.com/poetry/?wid=58764]. (10 Dec 2002)
Oh, Waring, what's to really be? | A clear stage and a crowd to see! | Some Garrick - say - out shall not he | The heart of Hamlet's mystery pluck | Or, where most unclean beasts are rife, | Some Junius - am I right? - shall tuck | His sleeve, and out with flaying-knife!
Reference to Hamlet as a figure who acts.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Browning, Robert: A Critical Edition of the Major Works (1855) ed. by Adam Roberts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, p.224.
Take another case; | Fit up the cabin yet another way. | What say you to the poets? Shall we write | Hamlet, Othello - make the world our own, | Without the risk to run of either sort?
Reference to Hamlet as a figure. From the poem Bishop Blougram's Apology, first published in Men and Women (1855).
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 3 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Browning, Robert: A Critical Edition of the Major Works (1855) ed. by Adam Roberts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, p.236.
But you, - you're just as little those as I - | You, Gigadibs, who, thirty years of age, | Write statedly for Blackwood's Magazine, | Believe you see two points in Hamlet's soul | Unseized by the Germans yet - which view you print -
Reference to Hamlet as a figure. The poem Bishop Blougram's Apology, first published in Men and Women (1855). Footnote: "you have a critical perspective on Hamlet that even the painstaking German scholars have not chanced upon."
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 3 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 216f.
[Wilhelm addressing the actors] "[…] Ihr kennt Shakespeares unvergleichlichen Hamlet aus einer Vorlesung, die euch schon auf dem Schlosse das grösste Vergnügen machte. Wir setzten uns vor, das Stück zu spielen, und ich hatte, ohne zu wissen, was ich tat, die Rolle des Prinzen übernommen."
Wilhelm is juxtaposed to Hamlet as a hero by choosing to play his role. At the same time he is characterised by his interpretation of Hamlet. But his interpretation also illustrates Shakespeare's educational influence in the late 18th century (cf. editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003.

Figure: Hamlet
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 19.
Niels Thienwiebel, der grosse, unübertroffene Hamlet aus Trondhjem.
The main character calls himself "Hamlet" in his thoughts. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

Figure: Hamlet
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 125.
Hamlet.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 153.
Khaki Hamlets don't hesitate to shoot.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


Figure: Hamlet
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 40.
[…] my Hamlet hat.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

 
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Figure: Hamlet
Keats, John: 'Letter to John Hamilton Reynolds, Sun 3 May 1818' In The Letters of John Keats ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 142.
We read fine things but never feel them to the full until we have gone the same steps as the Author.---I know this is not plain; you will know exactly my meaning when I say, that now I shall relish Hamlet more than I ever have done---Or, better---You are sensible no Man can set down Venery as a bestial or joyless thing until he is sick of it and therefore all philosophizing on it would be mere wording.
Allusion to Hamlet as a stage figure, Shakespeare, and the play.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Keats, John: 'Letter to Miss Jeffrey, Wed 9 June 1819' In The Letters of John Keats, ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 347.
The middle age of Shakespeare was all c‹l›ouded over; his days were not more happy than Hamlet's who is perhaps more like Shakspeare himself in his common every day Life than any other of his Characters---Ben Johnson was a common Soldier and in the Low countries, in the face of two armies, fought a single combat with a french Trooper and slew him---For all this I will not go on board an Indiaman, nor for example's sake run my head into dark alleys: I dare say my discipline is to come, and plenty of it too.
An interesting drawing of parallels between Shakespeare the author, Hamlet the figure, Ben Johnson, and Keats himself.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Keats, John: 'Letter to Benjamin Bailey, Fri 13 March 1818' In The Letters of John Keats, ed. by Maurice Buxton Forman; Third Edition; With Revisions and Additional Letters (1931), p. 111.
Homer is very fine, Achilles is fine, Diomed is fine, Shakspeare is fine, Hamlet is fine, Lear is fine, but dwindled englishmen are not fine.
A list of fine people - interestingly, the figure of Hamlet (and Lear, Achilles) has the same status as the real persons mentioned.
Contributed by Gabriel Brönnimann, 17 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H Lawrence. Volume V (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton and Lindeth Vasey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989, p. 464.
The Strike has left a hole in somewhere in the social fabric, I feel: but I don't feel, like Hamlet, called upon to darn it up.
Allusion to Hamlet as a symbol against social injustice.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 60.
Poor Hamlet stands with his back to the sun, and his darkness falls on everything he approaches.
Allusion to Hamlet's melancholy.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 75.
Hamlet in the book seems to me a very messy person, but the Hamlets I have seen on the stage have been positively nasty. [....] Hamlet's eyes met mine. He looked a sad fool, a sad fool.
Allusion to both the figure of Hamlet in Shakespeare's play and to a real performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003


Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 75.
The Queen was a burly little boy in pink satin. She tried her best to be stately, but she looked anxiously sideways at the audience, to see if she carried conviction. She was rather hoarse with a cold, and her excess of pink satin annoyed her. She dared not for her life move in any direction but straight forward, unless she had savagely kicked and twitched her skirt. I liked her. She was a straightforward woman.
Allusion to a real Hamlet performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 76.
But Hamlet had no neighbour, and no bond held him to anybody. He could not love, he could only judge. [.... ] It seemed to me Hamlet was not mad, only deseased. He had no feelings. He never had any. [...] When a living creature begins to question whether man ought to live, or ought not to live, he is like a rotten fungus, giving off light by phosphorescence. And the whole of Hamlet seemed to me like this gleam of decay.
Allusion to Hamlet's lack of feelings.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet
Lawrence, David Herbert: Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) ed. by Michael Squires. London: Penguin Books, 1994, p. 286.
Duncan was a rather short, broad, dark- skinned, taciturn Hamlet of a fellow with straight black hair and a weird celtic conceit of himself.
Allusion to Hamlet's appearance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003



Figure: Hamlet
Thackeray, William Makepiece: Lovel the Widower . By W. M. Thackeray, with Illustrations (1860) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1861, p. 41.
Fred Lovel's heart was so very much broken by this intelligence, that he gave himself airs of Hamlet, dressed in black, wore his long fair hair over his eyes, and exhibited a hundred signs of grief and desperation:
Allusion to traditional costume/stage business and the display of dispair
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger,19 Dec 2002

Figure: Hamlet
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'The Idler' [from Ballads And Verses And Miscellaneous Contributions To 'Punch' By William Makepeace Thackeray: With Illustrations by the Author, John Leech, etc. (1904)], p. 85, l. 57-68.
Counting on to-morrow's | 'Oirish.' Whither tendeth | He who simply borrows, | He who simpler lendeth; | If we give or take, | Where remains the profit? | Sold or wide awake | All will go to Tophet. // To Tophet---shady club | Where no one need propose ye, | Where Hamlet hints 'the rub,' | Is not select or cosy.
Allusion.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Figure: Hamlet
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p. 50.
"What was that he was talking about, the madness of Hamlet, and the theory of the great German critic [i.e. Kozebue] on the subject?" Emily asked of her father. // "'Deed then I don't know, Milly dear," answered the Captain. "We'll ask Bows when he comes."
Allusion to Hamlet's madness. 19th century reception of Hamlet and Hamlet
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Figure: Hamlet
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p.231.
'Twas surprising how quickly the young Virginian adapted himself to the habits of life of the folks amongst whom he lived. His suits were still black, but of the finest cut and quality. "With a star and ribbon, and his stocking down, and his hair over his shoulder, he would make a pretty Hamlet," said the gay old Duchess Queensberry, "And I make no doubt he has been the death of a dozen Ophelias already, here and amongst the Indians," she added, thinking not at all the worse of Harry for his supposed successes among the fair.
Allusion to Hamlet in traditional costume, who is interpreted as having caused the death of Ophelia.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Figure: Hamlet
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World; Shewing Who Robbed Him, Who Helped Him, and Who Passed Him by. By W. M. Thackeray ... In Three Volumes (1861-1862) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1862, p. 23.
Over the sideboard was the doctor [i.e. a painting of him], in a black velvet coat and a fur collar, his hand on a skull, like Hamlet.
Comparison with Hamlet, the stage figure, in traditional costume, skull in his hands.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

Figure: Hamlet
Wordsworth, William: 'Letter to Sir George Beaumont on 1 May 1805' In The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth. The early years 1787-1805 ed. by Ernest De Selincourt (1935) [rev. by Chester L. Shaver] London: OUP, 1967. p. 587.
I wish much to hear your further opinion of the young Roscius, above all of his Hamlet it is certainly impossible that he should understand the character, that is the composition of the character. But many of the sentiments which are put into Hamlet's mouth, he may be supposed to be capable of feeling, and to a certain degree of entering into the spirit of some of the situations. I never saw Hamlet acted my self nor do I know what kind of play they make of it. I think I have heard that some parts which I consider as among the finest are omitted; in particular, Hamlet's wild language after the Ghost has disappeared.[…] Hamlet I suppose is treated by them [players] with more reverence; they are both [Hamlet and Richard III] characters far, far above the abilities of any actor whom I have ever seen.
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

 
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Ophelia

Figure: Ophelia
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 246f.
"[…] lassen Sie mich Ihre Gedanken über Ophelien hören!" "Von ihr lässt sich nicht viel sagen", versetzte Wilhelm, "denn nur mit wenig Meisterzügen ist ihr Charakter vollendet. Ihr ganzes Wesen schwebt in reifer, süsser Sinnlichkeit. Ihre Neigung zu dem Prinzen, auf dessen Hand sie Anspruch machen darf, fliesst so aus der Quelle, das gute Herz überlässt sich so ganz seinem Verlangen, dass Vater und Bruder beide fürchten, beide geradezu und unbescheiden warnen. Der Wohlstand, wie der leichte Flor auf ihrem Busen, kann die Bewegung ihres Herzens nicht verbergen, er wird vielmehr ein Verräter dieser leisen Bewegung. Ihre Einbildungskraft ist angesteckt, ihre stille Bescheidenheit atmet eine liebevolle Begierde, und sollte die bequeme Göttin Gelegenheit das Bäumchen schütteln, so würde die Frucht sogleich herabfallen."
Wilhelm's characterisation of Ophelia is not very favourable. He stresses her sensuality which causes her to be completely overcome by her feelings of love and desire for Hamlet.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

Figure: Ophelia
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 26.
Amalie rauchte tapfer mit. Ihre alten Opheliajahre waren wieder lebendig in ihr geworden.
Thienwiebel compares his wife to Ophelia. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

Figure: Ophelia
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 160.
Ophelia.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

Figure: Ophelia
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 73.
This lady at our theatre - I shall call her Lucia, because it gives me a pleasant sensation, and she will never know -.is rather plump, it is true, but she is She, Desdemona, Lucia, Margherita, Gretchen, Ophelia, Iphigenia, Antigone.
Allusion to tragic heroines in novels who suffer or die for love.
Contributed by Kalliopi. Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Figure: Ophelia
Richardson, Samuel: The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753-4) ed. by Jocelyn Harris. London: Oxford University Press, 1972, Vol. 2, p. 155.
[Clementina:] You find, Sir, I have been talkative enough with you. - Shall we go thro' your Shakespeare's Hamlet tonight? - Farewel, Chevalier. I will try to be chearful at table: But let not your eye, if I am not, reproach me.
"An economical hint at Clementina's affinity with Ophelia" (editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003.

 

Ophelia and Hamlet

Figure: Ophelia and Hamlet
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p. 50.
Pen tried to engage the Fotheringay in conversation about poetry and about her profession. He asked her what she thought of Ophelia's madness, and whether she was in love with Hamlet or not? "In love with such a little ojous wretch as that stunted manager of a Bingley?" She bristled with indignation at the thought. Pen explained it was not of her he spoke, but of Ophelia of the play. "Oh, indeed; if no offence was meant, none was taken: but as for Bingley, indeed, she did not value him---not that glass of punch."
Allusion to Ophelia and Hamlet as a stage figures. 19th century reception of Shakespeare performances: identification with stage characters (cf. 'whether she was in love with Hamlet or not'). Prototypical for this reception of Hamlet is A.C. Bradley's Lecture Shakespearean Tragedy (first publ. 1904).
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

 

Claudius

 

Gertrude

Figure: Hamlet and Gertrude
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p. 64.
"You saw how beautiful she was," he said to his mother, with a soothing, protecting air, like Hamlet with Gertrude in the play. "I tell you, dear mother, she is as good.
Allusion to stage figures.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

 

Polonius

Figure: Polonius
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 305.
Besonders war Serlo eines Abends sehr lustig, als er von der Rolle des Polonius sprach, wie er sie zu fassen gedachte. "Ich verspreche", sagte er, "diesmal einen recht würdigen Mann zum besten zu geben; ich werde die gehörige Ruhe und Sicherheit, Leerheit und Bedeutsamkeit, Annehmlichkeit und geschmackloses Wesen, Freiheit und Aufpassen, treuherzige Schalkheit und erlogene Wahrheit da, wo sie hingehören, recht zierlich aufstellen […]."
Serlo's characterisation of Polonius shows him as an ambiguous figure. His traits of character are tranquillity, security, meaningfulness and liberty on the one hand, and emptiness, tastelessness and untruthfulness on the other hand.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

 
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Laertes

Figure: Laertes
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 92.
Während des Zuges hatte sich auch die schöne Nachbarin [Philine] wieder am Fenster sehen lassen, und Wilhelm hatte nicht verfehlt, sich bei seinem Gesellschafter nach ihr zu erkundigen. Dieser, den wir einstweilen Laertes nennen wollen, erbot sich, Wilhelmen zu ihr hinüber zu begleiten.
It is the narrator who is naming Laertes. Goethe also uses this technique elsewhere. The "einstweilen" is never cleared up; Laertes never receives another name. Later, in the production of Hamlet, he is playing the role of Laertes. By naming him Laertes at this early stage in the novel the narrator anticipates the future (cf. editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003.

 

Horatio

Figure: Hamlet and Horatio
George, Eliot: 'A College Breakfast Party' (1874) In G. E.: Collected Poems ed. by Lucien Jenkins. London: Skoob Books Publishing, 1989, p. 160.
Young Hamlet, not the hestitating Dane, | But one named after him, who lately strove | For honours at our English Wittenberg […] Young Hamlet sat | A guest with five of somewhat riper age | at breakfast with Horatio, a friend | with few opinions […]
This poem is a parody of Shakespeare's play. All characters are present.
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

Figure: Horatio
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 19.
He! Horatio!
Thienwiebel uses to call his friend Ole Nissen "Horatio". Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

 

Fortinbras

Figure: Fortinbras
Holz, Arno: Papa Hamlet (1889) Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963, p. 30.
Der grosse Thienwiebel hatte es sich nicht versagen können, ihn auf den Namen Fortinbras taufen zu lassen.
Thienwiebel has called his son after Fortinbras. Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet.
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Figure: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p.177.
Was ever a man angry at such a reason? He would not have been so well pleased, perhaps, had he known all; and that he was only one of the performers in the comedy, not the principal character by any means; Rosenkrantz and Gildenstern in the Tragedy, the part of Hamlet by a gentleman unknown.
Allusion to stage figures: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the (almost proverbial) minor parts in the play or any play (as opposed to Hamlet as the major part).
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

 

(Ghost of) Hamlet's Father

Figure: Ghost of Hamlet's Father
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 155.
[…] I am the murdered father: your mother is the guilty queen, Ann Shakespeare, born Hathaway?
Allusion to Gertrude's "guilt".
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

Figure: Hamlet's Father
Shelley, Mary: Lodore. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1835) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 150.
It was after the custom of Aunt Bessy, like the father of Hamlet, to sleep after dinner; [...].
Allusion to Hamlet's father whose custom is to sleep in the afternoon.
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

Figure: Ghost of Hamlet's father
Sterne, Laurence: Tristram Shandy. An authoritative text, backgrounds and sources, criticism (1759-67) ed. by Howard Anderson. N.Y. & London: Norton & Company, 1980, p. 76.
He stood like Hamlet's ghost, motionless and speechless, for a full minute and a half, at the parlour door, (Obadiah still holding his hand) with all the majesty of mud.
The figure of Dr. Slop is compared to the ghost of Hamlet's father.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

 

 
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5. SHAKESPEARE

 

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B

Shakespeare
Blake, William: 'Descriptions of Illustrations to Milton's L'Allero and Il Penseroso' (1812) In The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake ed. by David V. Erdman. New York [et al.]: Anchor Books Doubleday, 1988, p.684.
Such sights as Youthful Poets dream | on Summers Eve by haunted Stream | Then lo the well trod Stage anon | If Johnsons learned Sock be on | Or Sweetest Shakespeare Fancys Child | Warble his naïve wood notes wild.
The illustration shows a youthful poet who is dreaming about the sun of imagination under the auspices of Shakespeare and Johnson.
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

Shakespeare
Blake, William: 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell' (1790-1793) In The Complete Poetry & Prose of William Blake ed. by David V. Erdman. New York [et al.]: Anchor Books Doubleday, 1988, p.43.
Have now another plain fact: Any man of mechanical talents may from the writings of Paracelsus or Jacob Behmen, produce ten thousand volumes of equal value with Swedenborg's. and from those of Dante or Shakespeare, an indefinite number.
Blake argues that alchemists and theosophists like Paracelsus and Behmen are much more imaginative than Swedenborg but in comparison with the two poets Dante and Shakespeare they are but little candles in the sunshine.
Contributed by Simone Meier 31 Jan 2003

Shakespeare
Blake, William: 'Letter to John Flaxman, 12 Sept 1800' In The Letters of William Blake ed. by Geoffrey Keynes. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980, p. 20.
Ezra came with Isaiah the Prophet, but Shakespeare in riper years gave me this hand; | Paracelsus & Behmen appear'd to me, terrors appear'd in the Heavens above | And in Hell beneath & a mighty & awful change threatened the Earth.
This part of the letter is composed as a poem dedicated to John Flaxman. Blake refers to a paragraph of his satire "Marriage of Heaven and Hell".
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

Shakespeare
Blake, William: 'Letter to William Hayley, 26 Oct 1803' In The Letters of William Blake ed. by Geoffrey Keynes. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980, p. 70.
I have got to work after Fuseli for a little Shakespeare. Mr. Johnson, the bookseller, tells me that there is not want of work.
Blake refers to the cover of The Plays of William Shakespeare, ed. Alexander Chalmers, 10 vols, London, 1805, which was designed by Fuseli. Blake made two plates, namely "Queen Katherine's Dream " and "Romeo and the Apothecary" after Fuseli's design. Later on Blake sent those two plates, to William Hayley and asked him for his opinion.
Contributed by Simone Meier 31 Jan 2003

 

C

 

D

 

E

 

F

Shakespeare
Fielding, Henry: The History of Tom Jones. A Foundling. (1749) ed. by Fredson Bowers. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974, Vol. 2, p. 523. (The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding)
Reader, it is impossible we should know what Sort of Person thou wilt be: For, perhaps, thou may'st be as learned in Human Nature as Shakespear himself was, and, perhaps, thou may'st be no wiser than some of his Editors.
Satire. Fielding addressing the reader.
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 18 Feb 2003

 

G

 

H

 

I
 
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J

Shakespeare
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 79.
Like Shakespeare's face.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


Shakespeare
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 153.
Pièce de Shakespeare.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


Shakespeare
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 154.
Stratford appears in the text.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

Shakespeare
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 174.
[…] or all three in one is to Shakespeare, […].
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


Shakespeare
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 163.
Shakespeare?
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003


Shakespeare
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 165.
[…] and how Shakespeare […].
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

 

K

 

L


Shakespeare
Lawrence, David Herbert: Reflection on the death of a porcupine and other essays (1934) ed. by Michael Herbert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 380.
Shakespeare is, in his dual self, Gertrude and Hamlet, Duncan and Banquo on the one hand, and Lady Macbeth and Macbeth on the other, Lear and Lear's fool and Cornelia, and then Goneril and Regan.
Allusion to the opposite features of Hamlet and Gertrude characters.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 10 Feb 2003

M

 

N

 

P

 

Q

 

R

 

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T

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Newcomes. Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family. Edited by Arthur Pendennis, Esq. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by Richard Doyle. (1848-1850) London: Bradbury and Evans, 1854, p.197.
But with Newcome the admiration for the literature of the last century was an article of belief: and the incredulity of the young men seemed rank blasphemy. "You will be sneering at Shakspeare next," he said: and was silenced, though not better pleased, when his youthful guests told him, that Doctor Goldsmith sneered at him too; that Dr. Johnson did not understand him, and that Congreve, in his own day and afterwards, was considered to be, in some points, Shakspeare's superior. "What do you think a man's criticism is worth, sir," cries Mr. Warrington, "who says those lines of Mr. Congreve, about a church?---
Allusion to Shakespeare reception; comparison with Johnson and Congreve.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p. 323.
What was that after-supper duel at the Shakespeare's Head in Covent Garden, between your grandfather and Colonel Tibbalt: where they drew swords and engaged only in the presence of Sir John Screwby, who was drunk under the table?
Shakespeare's presence: a pub named 'Shakespeare's Head'; moral statement on duels and drinking.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

 
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Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p. 323.
So, if Harry Warrington rides down to Newmarket to the October meeting, and loses or wins his money there; if he makes one of a party at the Shakespeare or the Bedford Head; if he dines at White's ordinary, and sits down to Macco and lansquenet afterwards; if he boxes the watch, and makes his appearance at the Roundhouse; if he turns out for a short space a wild, dissipated, harum-scarum young Harry Warrington; I, knowing the weakness of human nature, am not going to be surprised; [...]
Shakespeare's presence: a pub named 'Shakespeare's Head'; moral statement: drinking, human weaknesses.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century. By W. M. Thackeray ... With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1857-1859) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858, p.44
George cast down his eyes, and thought of his own melancholy youth. [...] "I quite comprehend you, sir, though you hold your tongue," the Baroness continued. "A sermon in the morning: a sermon at night: and two or three of a Sunday. That is what people call being good. Every pleasure cried fie upon; all us worldly people excommunicated; a ball an abomination of desolation; a play a forbidden pastime; and a game of cards perdition! What a life! Mon Dieu, what a life!" // "We played at cards every night, if we were so inclined," said George, smiling; "and my grandfather loved Shakspere so much, that my mother had not a word to say against her father's favourite author." // "I remember. He could say whole pages by heart; though, for my part, I like Mr. Congreve a great deal better.
Shakespeare reception, comparison with Congreve.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Great News! Wonderful News!' [from Ballads And Verses And Miscellaneous Contributions To 'Punch' By William Makepeace Thackeray: With Illustrations by the Author, John Leech, etc. (1904)], II, Poem section, p. 65f, l. 1-24.
Wonderful news from the Court, | Old Will's at the palace a guest, | The Queen and her Royal Consort | Have received him 'a little compressed.' // Who'll venture to whisper henceforth | Her Grace loves the Opera best? | Our Queen has acknowledged to the worth | Of Shakspeare a little compress'd. // Who'll talk of Van Amburgh again? | No more are his beasts in request; | They're good but for poor Drury Lane, | At home She has Shakspeare compressed. // Away with the tiny Tom Thumb, | Like mighty Napoleon dress'd: | For Shakspeare a courting has come, | Like Tommy 'a little compressed.' // The Court in its splendour assembles | (The Play gives its dulness a zest), | And the last of the Royal old Kembles | Reads Shakspeare a little compressed. // Behold them all diamonds and jewels, | Our Queen and our Prince, and the rest; | As they sit upon gilded fauteuils, | And listen to Shakspeare compress'd.
Allusion to a fictional perfomance of Shakespeare: an actor ('the last of the Royal Kembles') reads Shakespeare excerpts (Sh. 'compressed') before the Court.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Letter to Mrs. Procter, "Leamington. Friday. 23 May"' [mistake! Correct date: 22 May 1840] In The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. A Supplement to Gordon N. Ray, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. By Edgar F. Harden. New York & London: Garland, 1994, p. 77.
If you could but see how wonderful the country is - the country of Shakespeare - THE OLD HOMES OF ENGLAND standing pleasantly in smiling cowslipped lawns whence spring lofty elms through or rather I should say amidst wh. the breeze whispers melodious, the birds singing ravishing concerts, the sheep browsing here and there and waddling among fresh pastures like walking door-mats, [...], - I am sure you would excuse me for asking permission to pass a few days in this paradise of a place.
Shakespeare's presence: good old England as idyllic countryside landscape, named as "the country of Shakespeare".
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Letter to Mary Graham, Feb 12-14,1841' In The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. A Supplement to Gordon N. Ray, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. By Edgar F. Harden. New York & London: Garland, 1994, p. 92.
As for your husband, you will begin to blush I suppose if I praise him to you, but he is the noblest fellow I ever heard of in my life, and you are a lucky woman Madam to draw such a prize - How proud you will be of the man. & how you will cherish him to be sure! Such apersonage, between ourselves, Miss, is agreat deal cleverer than Shakespeare & greater than Napoleon, and I swear I respect him as much as either: but that is for your private ear.
Shakespeare's greatness and praise: Mary Graham's husband is compared to Shakespeare and Napoleon.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Letter to Miss Dobson, 25. February 1852' In The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. A Supplement to Gordon N. Ray, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. By Edgar F. Harden. New York & London: Garland, 1994, p. 459.
By the last post, he [Mr. Brookfield] and Spring Rice were reading Shakespeare together to a delighted audience - a proof that his that his [sic] Reverences's lungs are restored to free action.,
Shakespeare's presence: public readings of Shakespeare texts before a "delighted audience".( Context: the Brookfields staying in Madeira for the improvement of Mr. Brookfield's health.)
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Letter to Mrs. Brookfield, January 21-23, 1853' In The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. A Supplement to Gordon N. Ray, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. By Edgar F. Harden. New York & London: Garland, 1994, p. 520.
The other night some men [at the Clarendon Hotel, New York] were talking of Dickens and Bulwer as if they were equal to Shakspeare [sic], and I was pleased to find myself pleased at hearing them praised.
Shakespeare is compared to Thackeray's contemporaries Dickens and Bulwer.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Speech to the Garrick Club [1854 -1855]' In The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. A Supplement to Gordon N. Ray, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. By Edgar F. Harden. New York & London: Garland, 1994, p. 1394.
If I remember right the fortunate occasion of this feast was a meeting held at the Grarick Club some years since at the annual festival wh. we celebrate in that Institution in honor of Shakespear [sic] - and whereat , a gentleman well known and liked by very many gentlemen belonging to the Club - Mr. Sheriff Moon was present. We can liken our little Garrick to a temple of wh. Shakespear [sic] is the God and we assemble and worship him there once a year on the day marked in the Xtian calendars as St. George's day. We assemble & do honor to our Divinity. Our chief men by turns officiate as high priests.
Shakespeare's presence: praise and "worship" of the Bard as divine figure. Irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

Shakespeare
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Address to the Garrick Club, 23 April, 1860' In The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. A Supplement to Gordon N. Ray, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. By Edgar F. Harden. New York & London: Garland, 1994, p. 1418.
I was struck Sir [i.e. William Howard Russel, chairman of the Garrick Club] with respectful admiration, I bowed reverentially before you, only yesterday when I beheldyou pacing solitary in the groves of Brompton, your great mind rapt in meditation, your courageous spirit bowed down by the thought of the solemn duties wh. you had taken on yourself, the volume of the divine Williams under your arm , in wh. you were fitfully studying so as to prepare yourself for the awful duties wh. you are now worthily discharging. That your spirit should be perturbed I can understand - If the honor is great, great are the responsibilities of him who presides over the Companions of St. G. on St. G's day.
Shakespeare as object of study. Irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

 

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W

Shakespeare
Woolf, Virginia: The Voyage Out (1915) ed. by Lorna Sage. Oxford: OUP, 1992, p. 171.
He glanced at her, and she seemed to him very remote and inexplicable, very young and chaste. He drew a sigh, and began. // 'About books now. What have you read? Just Shakespeare and the Bible?' // 'I haven't read many classics,' Rachel stated. She was slightly annoyed by his jaunty and rather unnatural manner, while his masculine acquirements induced her to take a very modest view of her own power. // 'D'you mean to tell me you've reached the age of twenty-four without reading Gibbon?' he demanded. // 'Yes, I have,' she answered.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 20 Feb 2003

Shakespeare
Woolf, Virginia: Orlando. A biography (1928) ed by Rachel Bowlby. Oxford: OUP, 1998, pp. 85-87.
All he [Nicholas Greene] could say, he concluded, banging his fist upon the table, was that the art of poetry was dead in England. // How that could be with Shakespeare, Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Browne, Donne, all now writing or just having written, Orlando, reeling off the names of his favourite heroes, could not think. // Greene laughed sardonically. Shakespeare, he admitted, had written some scenes that were well enough; but he had taken them chiefly from Marlowe. […] No, he concluded, the great age of literature is past; the great age of literature was the Greek; the Elizabethan age was inferior in every respect to the Greek. In such ages men cherished a divine ambition which he might call La Gloire (he pronounced it Glawr, so that Orlando did not at first catch his meaning). Now all young writers were in the pay of the booksellers and poured out any trash that would sell. Shakespeare was the chief offender in this way and Shakespeare was already paying the penalty. Their own age, he said, was marked by precious conceits and wild experiments- neither of which the Greeks would have tolerated for a moment. […] He could remember, he said, a night at the Cock Tavern in Fleet Street when Kit Marlowe was there and some others. Kit was in high feather, rather drunk, which he easily became, and in a mood to say silly things. He could see him now, brandishing his glass at the company and hiccoughing out, 'Stap my vitals, Bill' (this was to Shakespeare), 'there's a great wave coming and you're on the top of it,' by which he meant, Green explained, that they were trembling on the verge of a great age in English literature, and that Shakespeare was to be a poet of some importance.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 20 Feb 2003

Shakespeare
Woolf, Virginia: Orlando. A biography (1928) ed by Rachel Bowlby. Oxford: OUP, 1998, p. 265.
It was not, indeed, until he had ordered the wine, which he did with a care that reminded her of his taste in Malmsey long ago, that she was convinced he was the same man. 'Ah! he said, heaving a little sigh, which was yet comfortable enough, 'ah!' my dear lady, the great days of literature are over. Marlowe, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson - those were the giants. Dryden, Pope, Addison - those were the heroes. All, all are dead now. And whom have they left us? Tennyson, Browning, Carlyle!' - he threw an immense amount of scorn into his voice. […] 'It is an age', he said, helping himself to hors-d'oeuvres, 'marked by precious conceits and wild experiments - non of which the Elizabethans would have tolerated for an instant.'
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 20 Feb 2003

Shakespeare
Woolf, Virginia: Orlando. A biography (1928) ed. by Rachel Bowlby. Oxford: OUP, 1998, p. 270.
All her life long Orlando had known manuscripts; she had held in her hands the rough brown sheets on which Spenser had written in his little crabbed hand; she had seen Shakespeare's script and Milton's. She owned, indeed, a fair number of quartos and folios, often with a sonnet in her praise in them and sometimes a lock of hair. But these innumerable little volumes, bright, identical, ephemeral, for they seemed bound in cardboard and printed on tissue paper, surprised her infinitely. The whole works of Shakespeare cost half a crown and could be put in your pocket. One could hardly read them, indeed, the print was so small, but it was a marvel, none the less.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 20 Feb 2003

Shakespeare
Woolf, Virginia: Orlando. A biography (1928) ed. by Rachel Bowlby. Oxford: OUP, 1998, p. 303.
Now, calling her troop of dogs to her she passed down the gallery whose floor was laid with whole oak trees sawn across. Rows of chairs with all their velvets faded stood ranged against the wall holding their arms out for Elizabeth, for James, for Shakespeare it might be, for Cecil, who never came. The sight made her gloomy.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 20 Feb 2003

Shakespeare
Woolf, Virginia: The Voyage Out (1915) ed. by Lorna Sage. Oxford: OUP, 1992, p. 313.
Hewet felt that he must speak. // 'That's where the Elizabethans got their style,' he mused, staring into the profusion of leaves and blossoms and prodigious fruits. // 'Shakespeare? I hate Shakespeare!' Mrs Flushing exclaimed; and Wilfrid returned admiringly, 'I believe you're the only person who dares to say that, Alice'. But Mrs Flushing went on painting. She did not appear to attach much value to her husband's compliment, and painted steadily, sometimes muttering a half-audible word of groan.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 20 Feb 2003

Shakespeare
Woolf, Virginia: The Voyage Out (1915) ed. by Lorna Sage. Oxford: OUP, 1992, p. 227.
'I have lived all my life with people like your Aunt, Mr Hirst,' she said, leaning forward in her chair. Her brown squirrel-like eyes became even brighter than usual. 'They have never heard of Gibbon. They only care for their pheasants and their peasants. They are great big men who look so fine on horseback, as people must have done, I think, in the days of the great wars. Say what you like against them - they are animal, they are unintellectual; they don't read themselves, and they don't want others to read, but they are some of the finest and the kindest human beings on the face of the earth! You would be surprised at some of the stories I could tell. You have never guessed, perhaps, at all the romances that go on in the heart of the country. There are the people, I feel, among whom Shakespeare will be born if he is ever born again. In those old houses, up among the Downs -.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 20 Feb 2003

 

X

 

Y

 

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6. SCENES


Scene: Ghost scene
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 77.
Then I wanted to go dismally home- it was all untrue, and the Ghost wasn't a ghost. Since then I have seen the spectral form of Hamlet's father both sheeted and cased in tin, and have looked the other way. Now however I have regained my innocence, and if the Ghost came in a cook's cap and apron, I should shudder. For a Ghost may look anything, and still be a ghost.
Allusion to the author's personal perception of the Ghost scene in Hamlet.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Scene: Scene 1.1
Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) ed. by Bonamy Dobrée. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 356.
The same object still appeared. Presently, it advanced along the rampart, towards her [Emily's] window, and she then distinguished something like a human form, but the silence, with which it moved, convinced her it was no sentinel.
Allusion to scene 1.1.: "The mysterious figure walking the ramparts of Udolpho is clearly meant to bring to mind the celebrated ghost in Shakespeare's Hamlet (I.i). Describing the fright it evokes in the castle guards a few pages later, Radcliffe makes the Shakespearean connection even more explicit" (editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 17 Jan 2003

Scene: Scene 1.2
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 313.
So sollte zum Beispiel König und Königin bei der ersten Audienz auf dem Throne sitzend erscheinen, die Hofleute an den Seiten und Hamlet unbedeutend unter ihnen stehen. "Hamlet", sagte er, "muss sich ruhig verhalten; seine schwarze Kleidung unterscheidet ihn schon genug. Er muss sich eher verbergen als zum Vorschein kommen. Nur dann, wenn die Audienz geendigt ist, wenn der König mit ihm als Sohn spricht, dann mag er herbeitreten und die Szene ihren Gang gehen."
Wilhelm describes how he intends to stage the scene. He wants to stress Hamlet's feeling of distance from the others by letting him stand aside.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

Scene: Ghost Scenes, 1.1, 1.4, 1.5
Thackeray, William Makepiece: Lovel the Widower . By W. M. Thackeray, with Illustrations (1860) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1861, p. 224.
It is said that ghosts loiter about their former haunts a good deal when they are first dead; flit wistfully among their old friends and companions, and I daresay, expect to hear a plenty of conversation and friendly tearful remark about themselves. But suppose they return, and find nobody talking of them at all? Or suppose, Hamlet (Père, and Royal Dane) comes back and finds Claudius and Gertrude very comfortable over a piece of cold meat, or what not? Is the late gentleman's present position as a ghost a very pleasant one?
Allusion to entering ghosts. Irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Scene: Ghost Scene 1.4
Shelley, Mary: Reviews and Essays. On Ghosts. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1823) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 141.
Lord Lyttleton's vision is called a cheat; and one by one these inhabitants of deserted houses, moonlight glades [...] have been ejected from their immemorial seats, and small thrill is felt when the dead majesty of Denmark blanches the cheek and unsettles the reason of his philosophic son.
Allusion to 1.4 and 1.5 where Hamlet meets his father's ghost.
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 18 Jan 2003

Scene: Ghost Scene 1.5.
Shelley, Mary: Falkner. The Novels and Selected Works of Mary Shelley (1842) ed. by Nora Crook. London and Vermont: Pickering and Chatto Ltd, 1996, 8 vols, p. 135.
There are the secrets in the moral, sentient world, of which we know nothing: such as brought Hamlet's father before his eyes [...].
Allusion to the appearance of the ghost when Hamlet must avenge his father's secret.
Contributed by Antonio Politano, 17 Jan 2003

Scene: Scene 3.2 (after the play within the play)
Hoffmann, E.T.A.: Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr (1822) ed. by Buchclub Ex Libris Zürich. München: Winkler-Verlag, 1961, p. 546.
...habt Ihr denn nicht jemals irgendwo, sei es auch auf ordinären Brettern, den Prinzen Hamlet zu einem ehrlichen Mann, Güldenstern geheissen, sagen gehört: 'Ihr könnt mich zwar verstimmen aber nicht auf mir spielen'?
Kreisler defending himself against being observed and attacked for his love towards princess Julia. Wish to create an atmosphere similar to Hamlet /Wish to have a share in the authority of Hamlet. Moreover, allusion to "Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me" (3.2.369).
Contributed by Franziska Müller, 18 Jan 2003.

Scene: Scene 3.4
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 313f.
Noch eine Hauptschwierigkeit machten die beiden Gemälde, auf die sich Hamlet in der Szene mit seiner Mutter so heftig bezieht. "Mir sollen", sagte Wilhelm, "in Lebensgrösse beide im Grunde des Zimmers neben der Haupttüre sichtbar sein, und zwar muss der alte König in völliger Rüstung, wie der Geist, auf eben der Seite hängen, wo dieser hervortritt. Ich wünsche, dass die Figur mit der rechten Hand eine befehlende Stellung annehme, etwas gewandt sei und gleichsam über die Schulter sehe, damit sie dem Geiste völlig gleiche in dem Augenblicke, da dieser zur Türe hinausgeht. Es wird eine grosse Wirkung tun, wenn in diesem Augenblick Hamlet nach dem Geiste und die Königin nach dem Bilde sieht. Der Stiefvater mag dann im königlichen Ornat, doch unscheinbarer als jener, vorgestellt werden."
Wilhelm intends to stage the scene in a way that stresses the superiority of the late King, Hamlet's father, in comparison with Claudius. The picture that shows the former King in armour is doubled by the Ghost who appears in armour, too. Thus, the former King appears more impressive than Claudius although he is wearing a King's robe.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

Scene: Closet Scene, 3.4
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Letter to Kate Perry, 19 July 1855. In 'The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. A Supplement to Gordon N. Ray, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. By Edgar F. Harden. New York & London: Garland, 1994, p. 690.
Lift up thy grave stone with thy nose Foley [i.e. Paul Foley, leader of a coalition of Whigs and moderate Tories opposed to the government of King William III, 1690's together with Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford] ! Pluck the sword out of thy ribs and come from behind the arras old Polonius!
Allusion to famous deads: Thackeray's ironical comment on A Memoir of the Rev. Sydney Smith (1855) by Lady Holland and the reception of the novel by the Whigs.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Scene: Scene 4.5
Richardson, Samuel: The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753-4). Vol. 2. ed. by Jocelyn Harris. London: Oxford University Press, 1972, p. 524.
The mother and daughter [Clementina] were together. They were talking, when I entered - Dear fanciful girl! I heard the mother say, disposing otherwise some flowers that she had in her bosom. Clementina, when her mind was sound, used to be all unaffected elegance.
The mad Clementina is surrounded by flowers just like the mad Ophelia in this scene.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 24 Jan 2003.

Scene: Scene 5.1.
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p.69.
He [Pen] was biting a pencil and thinking of rhymes and all sorts of follies and passions. He was Hamlet jumping into Ophelia's grave: he was the Stranger taking Mrs. Haller to his arms, beautiful Mrs. Haller, with the raven ringlets falling over her shoulders.
Allusion to unhappy love, follies.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Scene: Scene 5.1.
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p. 136.
On one occasion Pen, riding through the Lower Town, fancied he heard the Factory boys jeer him; and finally going through the Doctor's gate into the churchyard, where some of Wapshot's boys were lounging, the biggest of them, a young gentleman about twenty years of age, son of a neighbouring small Squire, who lived in the doubtful capacity of parlour-boarder with Mr. Wapshot, flung himself into a theatrical attitude near a newly-made grave, and began repeating Hamlet's verses over Ophelia, with a hideous leer at Pen.
Allusion to Hamlet, Scene 5.1, triggered by a fictional graveyard in Pendennis.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Scene: Scene 5.1.
Sterne, Laurence: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 112.
There is not a more perplexing affair in life to me, than to set about telling any one who I am-for there is scarce any body I cannot give a better account of that of myself; and I have often wish'd I could do it in a single word-and have an end of it. It was the only time and occasion in my life, I could accomplish this to any purpose - for Shakespear lying upon the table, and recollecting I was in his books, I took up Hamlet, and turning immediately to the grave-diggers scene in the fifth act, I lay'd my finger upon YORICK, and advancing the book to the Count, with my finger all the way over the name - Me, Voici! Said I.
The protagonist compares himself to the figure of Yorick in Hamlet, who appears only as a skull and who was once the king's jester.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

Scene: Scene 5.1.
Sterne, Laurence: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768) ed. by Melvyn New and W. G. Day. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002, p. 112.
Good, my lord! said I - but there are two Yoricks. The Yorick your lordship thinks of, has been dead and buried eight hundred years ago; he flourish'd in Horwendillus's court - the other Yorick is myself, who have flourish'd my lord in no court - (…)
The protagonist compares himself to the figure of Yorick in Hamlet, who appears only as a skull and who was once the king's jester.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

Scene: Scene 5.1.
Sterne, Laurence: Tristram Shandy: an authoritative text, backgrounds and sources, criticism (1759-67) ed. by Howard Anderson. N.Y. & London: Norton & Company, 1980, p. 16.
Yorick was this parson's name, and, what is very remarkable in it, (as appears from a most antient account of the family, wrote upon strong vellum, and now in perfect preservation) it had been exactly spelt so for near - (…)
A person in TS is presented as a descendant of Hamlet's Yorick who appears as a skull in the graveyard scene.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

Scene: Scene 5.2
Thackeray, William Makepiece: Lovel the Widower . By W. M. Thackeray, with Illustrations (1860) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1861, p. 184.
So as I had not charged--- ah! woe is me!---as the battle was over, I---I just went round that shrubbery into the other path, and so entered the house, arriving like Fortinbras in Hamlet, when everybody is dead and sprawling, you know, and the whole business is done.
Allusion to the end of Hamlet and the end as such.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002


 
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7. THE PLAY

A

The play
Austen, Jane: Mansfield Park (1814) London: Oxford University Press, 1970, p118 (volume I, chapter XIV).
[...] and independent of this great irreconcileable difference, they wanted a piece containing very few characters in the whole, but every character first-rate, and three principal women. All the best plays were run over in vain. Neither Hamlet, nor Macbeth, nor Othello, nor Douglas, nor the Gamester, presented any thing that could satisfy even the tragedians; [...]
Fanny and Tom Bertram's difficulties in choosing a suitable play.
Contributed by Antonia Hesse, 21.1.2003

The play
Austen, Jane: Sense and Sensibility (1811) London: Oxford University Press, 1970, p73 (volume I, chapter XVI)
[...] but one evening, Mrs. Dashwood, accidentally taking up a volume of Shakespeare, exclaimed, 'We have never finished Hamlet, Marianne; our dear Willoughby went away before we could get through it.'
Mrs. Dashwood to Marianne about Willoughby's absence.
Contributed by Antonia Hesse, 21.1.2003

 

B

The play
Beckett, Samuel: 'Horn Came Always' (1976) In Collected Shorter Prose 1945-1980. London: John Calder, 1984, p. 193f.
Horn came always at night. I received him in the dark. […] In the beginning I would send him away after five or six minutes. Till he learnt to go of his own accord, once his time was up.
In this short prose fiction there are several literary references to Hamlet, such as the above-cited allusion to the ghost of Hamlet's father, or Hamlet's return from university at Wittenberg ("I thought I had made my last journey, […] the one from which it were better I had never returned.").
Contributed by Martin Lutz, 30 Jan 2003

C

 

The Play
"The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes". Bartleby.com. 1907-21. [http://www.bartleby.com/223/0308.html]. (26.11.2002).
Browning's poems are never stagnant: tragedy never hangs overhead, as in Hamlet, a black, motionless, delayed thundercloud; but the lightning is always ablaze. There are crowded happenings, and the heat and hurry of situations crashing into their consequences. Browning's genius is essentially dynamic, and there is abundant movement. […]
Comparison: Browning's poems vs. Hamlet as a play.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7.Jan 2003

D

 

E

The play
Eliot, George: 'Diary 1854-1861, Berlin, 3 November 1854 - 13 March 1855' In The Journals of George Eliot ed. by Margaret Harris and Judith Johnston. Cambridge: CUP, 1998, p. 39.
Sunday. […] On our way home Dessoir overtook us and came with us. He staid still 8 o'clock talking chiefly of Hamlet and discussing the question of madness or affection of madness.
Allusion to the play and its meaning.
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

The play
Eliot, George: 'Diary 1854-1861, Berlin, 3 November 1854 - 13 March 1855' In The Journals of George Eliot ed. by Margaret Harris and Judith Johnston. Cambridge: CUP, 1998, p. 42.
Friday 5. […] G. went to Dessoir's and at 6 o'clock returned with Dessoir, who read some of Hamlet to us and staid talking till 8.
Allusion to the reading of the play.
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

The play
Eliot, George: 'Diary 1854-1861, Berlin, 3 November 1854 - 13 March 1855' In The Journals of George Eliot ed. by Margaret Harris and Judith Johnston. Cambridge: CUP, 1998, p. 45.
Wednesday. Cold worse. Worked at Vhese. In the evening read Macaulay and Hamlet. | Thursday. Still uncomfortable from my cold. Macaulay and Hamlet. | […] Monday March 5. […] In the evening Dessoir came and read Hamlet.
Allusion to the reading of the play.
Contributed by Simone Meier, 31 Jan 2003

F

 

G

Plot: 4.7.82-104 (Your sudden coming o'er to play with you)
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 218.
[Wilhelm] "Ohne irgendeine hervorstechende Leidenschaft war seine [Hamlet's] Liebe zu Ophelien ein stilles Vorgefühl süsser Bedürfnisse; sein Eifer zu ritterlichen Übungen war nicht ganz original; vielmehr musste diese Lust durch das Lob, das man dem Dritten beilegte, geschärft und erhöht werden.
Wilhelm refers to the fact that Hamlet, not being a passionate person, is only induced to fight with Laertes because the Norman Lamond has praised Laertes's skills in fencing (cf. editor's note).
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

The play
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1796) In Werke. Band 7. ed. by Erich Trunz. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1998, p. 254.
[Wilhelm] "Ich bin weit entfernt, den Plan dieses Stücks zu tadeln, ich glaube vielmehr, dass kein grösserer ersonnen worden sei; ja, er ist nicht ersonnen, es ist so."
Wilhelm expresses his great admiration of Hamlet as a play, and we may well assume that Goethe shared his position.
Contributed by Sonja Grieder, 31 Jan 2003

H

 

I
 
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J

The Play
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 153.
The one about Hamlet.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

The Play
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 159.
But Hamlet is so personal, isn't it?
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

The Play
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 174.
[…] in Hamlet, […].
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

The Play
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 177.
Dowden believes there is some mystery in Hamlet […].
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

The Play
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 166.
[…] the fifth scene of Hamlet […].
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

Plot
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 15.
Elsinore appears in the text.
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

The Play
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 160.
[…], Hamlet […].
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

Plot
Joyce, James: Ulysses (1922) ed. by Hans Walter Gabler with Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. London: The Bodley Head, 1993, p. 177.
[…] was Hamlet mad?
Contributed by Isabelle Flückiger, 22 Jan 2003

K

 

L

Plot
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 76.
Now I know Amleto the Italian, would have stuck the King who had murdered his father, told the Queen, his mother, to clear out, and would have swept the steps. Or, if the gentle soul who acted King, and who seemed so utterly bewildered with all this nastiness, had been in Hamlet's shoes, he might have wondered what to do: then he would have gone to the priest, or he would have asked his mother. I tried to imagine any Italian in the part: he would not have been a Hamlet.
Allusion to the nastiness of the plot of Hamlet as well as ironic comments on Italian mentality.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

M

 

N

 

P

3.1.56 (To be or not to be…)
Parini, Jay. "The Dramatic Monologue". An hypertextual Study of Robert Frost's Home Burial. [http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~rouzie/569A/SCHULTZ/PARINI.HTM]. (26.11.2002).
The dramatic monologue also has much in common with the play soliloquy--a scene in which a major character struts out onto the stage and delivers a long speech. […]
Reference: Almost every poem of Robert Browning is a typical example for a dramatic monologue, which can be compared with Hamlet's soliloquy "to be or not to be", since the dramatic monologue implies a dramatic situation.
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7.Jan 2003

 

Q

 

R
 
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S

The play
Shostakovich, Dimitri: Hamlet, Music to the Play by W. Shakespeare. Opus 32, opus 95E, suite for orchestra opus 116 A, suite for small orchestra opus 32A, 1964.
Adaptation in music
Contributed by Ania Karlsen, 7. Jan 2003

The Play
Wie bei Hitler - nur anders herum. Freiheitssöhne gegen Hamlet In DER SPIEGEL 25.09.1948 / Nr. 39, p. 11.
Selbst Hamlet, der Dänenprinz, musste es sich gefallen lassen, als ‚Finanzier des Judenmordes' bezeichnet zu werden.
This article from the German news magazine DER SPIEGEL refers to the American based Jewish organization Söhne der Freiheit and its fight for the freedom of their brethren in Palestine (=> The state of Israel was founded in 1948). According to the radical organization, the current British government disgracefully betrayed the Jews of Palestine. Therefore, they ask the American people to boycott British shops and not to buy any British goods. Moreover, the Söhne der Freiheit try to keep people out of British cinemas. Among them one that is showing Hamlet. Vicariously for Britain's anti-Jewish policy in Israel, they call Hamlet "Finanzier des Judenmordes".
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 5 February 2003

 

T

The play
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq., of the Kingdom of Ireland ... By W. M. Thackeray [etc.] (1844) London: Bradbury & Evans, 1856, p. 237.
The insubordination of that boy was dreadful. He [i.e. Bryan Lyndon] used to quote passages of Hamlet to his mother, which made her very angry.
Hamlet's presence in the 19th century; Bryan quotes passages of the play to his mother, in order to tease her .
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

 

U

 

V

 

W

The Play
Woolf, Virginia: The Voyage Out (1915) ed by Lorna Sage. Oxford: OUP, 1992, p. 55.
'They have swum about among bones,' Clarissa sighed. | 'You're thinking of Shakespeare,' said Mr Grice, and taking down a copy from a shelf well lined with books, recited in an emphatic nasal voice: |Full fathom five thy father lies, | 'A grand fellow, Shakespeare,' he said, replacing the volume. | Clarissa was so glad to hear him say so. | 'Which is your favourite play? I wonder if it's the same as mine?' | 'Henry the Fifth,' said Mr Grice. | 'Joy!' cried Clarissa. 'It is!' | Hamlet was what you might call too introspective for Mr Grice, the sonnets too passionate; Henry the Fifth was to him the model of an English gentleman.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

The Play
Woolf, Virginia: Night and Day (1919) ed by J. H. Stape. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994, p. 409.
"Oh, Trevor, please tell me, what was the date of the first performance of Hamlet?" | In order to answer her Mr. Hilbery had to have recourse to the exact scholarship of William Rodney, and before he had given his excellent authorities for believing as he believed, Rodney felt himself admitted once more to the society of the civilized and sanctioned by the authority of no less a person than Shakespeare himself.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003


The play
Woolf, Virginia: Orlando. A biography (1928) ed. by Rachel Bowlby. Oxford: OUP, 1998, pp. 87-88.
By this time Orlando had abandoned all hope of discussing his own work with the poet; but this mattered the less as the talk now got upon the lives and characters of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and the rest, all of whom Greene had known intimately and about whom he had a thousand anecdotes of the most amusing kind to tell. Orlando had never laughed so much in his life. These, then, were his gods! Half were drunken and all were amorous. Most of them quarrelled with their wives; not one of them was above a lie or an intrigue of the most paltry kind. Their poetry was scribbled down on the backs of washing bills held to the heads of printer's devils at the street door. Thus Hamlet went to press; thus Lear; thus Othello. No wonder, as Greene said, that these plays show the faults they do. The rest of the time was spent in carousings and junketings in taverns and in beer gardens, when things were said that passed belief for wit, and things were done that made the utmost frolic of the courtiers seem pale in comparison. All this Greene told with a spirit that roused Orlando to the highest pitch of delight. He had a power of mimicry that brought the dead to life, and could say the finest things on books provided they were written three hundred years ago.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 20 Feb 2003

 

The play: reading Hamlet
Wordsworth, Dorothy: Letter by Dorothy and William Wordsworth to S. T. Coleridge (Dorothy's part) on 6 March 1804 In The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth. The early years 1787-1805 ed. by Ernest De Selincourt [rev. by Chester L. Shaver]. London: OUP, 1967. p. 451.
William, who is sitting beside me reading Hamlet-(we are both at the little green round rable by the fireside, the watch ticking above our heads. Mary is with the sleeping Baby below stairs writing to Sara).
William Wordsworth reading Hamlet
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 21 Jan 2003

 

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8. PERFORMANCES

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Performance
Fielding, Henry: The History of Tom Jones. A Foundling (1749) ed by Fredson Bowers. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974, Vol. 2, p. 853 - 857. (The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding)
As soon as the Play, which was Hamlet Prince of Denmark, began, Partridge was all Attention [...] Thus ended the Adventure at the Playhouse; where Partridge had afforded great Mirth, not only to Jones and Mrs. Miller, but to all who sat within hearing, who were more atttentive to what he said, than to any Thing that passed on the Stage. [...]
Allusion to a fictional Hamlet performance, as well as the reception of it by the novel's characters.
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 5 Feb 2003

Performance
Fielding, Henry: The History of Tom Jones. A Foundling. (1749) The Wesleyan Edition of the Works of Henry Fielding ed by Fredson Bowers. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974, Vol. 1, p. 403.
Nay, perhaps, it will be credited that the Villain went two Days afterwards with some young Ladies to the Play of Hamlet; and with an unaltered Countenance heard one of the Ladies, who little suspected how near she was to the Person, cry out, Good God! if the Man that murdered Mr. Derby was now present!
Description of the novel's characters going to see a fictional Hamlet performance and an allusion to the plot of Hamlet, in which the villain gives himself away through his reaction to the enaction of a murderplay.
Contributed by Andreia Grisch, 18 Feb 2003

 

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Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence (1952) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, Vol. I, p.505.
Hamlet addressed as Signore! [....] And Hamlet is usually the villain in some 'amour'- and poor Amleto, if I hadn't known what it was all about, I should have thought he had murdered some madam 'à la Crippen' and it was her father's ghost chasing him: whilst he dallied between a bad and murderous conscience, a slinking desire to avoid everybody, and a wicked hankering after 'Ofaylia '-that's what it sounds like.
Allusion to a real performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 75.
I should not have gone , because circumstances were untoward, if the maestra, on the Thursday evening, informed me that certainly I ought to go, the play was Amleto [...] -'But what's Amleto?' I said, not very interested. Her dark eyes looked rather anxious. ' It is English, ' she said. ' Never, ' I answered. ' Amleto?' she repeated. The skies seemed to be falling on her. 'Good Lord, it's Hamlet! ' I cried. ' Si!' hissed the signorina, excited as a yellow and black snake, in her relief at not being wrong.[...] I knew perfectly well he was performing Hamlet on his evening of honour, for my sake.
Allusion to a real Hamlet performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 76.
The King her noble consort, cleaved not to his garments.
Allusion to a real Hamlet performance
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 76.
Hamlet I loathed. In reality he was a short, broad Italian - a common type - with his black hair cut close. As Amleto he was a hulking fellow with long hair and black knee-breeches, carrying a long rag of a cloak, and crawling about with his head ducked between his shoulders, reminding me of a black beetle: the more so, as he is always turning up where he shouldn't. He made me hate Hamlet. Of all the sickly unnatural beasts, that Prince of Denmark seemed the greatest. When a decent Italian, Enrico Persevalli, put himself through the creepings and twistings of the unwholesome Dane, I revolted.
Allusion to a real Hamlet performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 142.
And he had on his face a portentous grimace of melancholy and philosophic importance. He was the caricature of Hamlet's melancholy self-absorption.
Allusion to Hamlet's melancholy.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 77.
It was curious to see Amleto performing the phosphorescent antics of the Dane. He could not work up any hatred of the King and the Queen. [....] Then when he had to recite long speeches, he got passionate. _ I am sure as he stepped forward whispering ' Essere ' -took another step ' o non essere '-plunged with his hand ' that is the question ', the contadini thought he was stuck in the back, and they held their breath. [....] There was quite a lot of passion in these speeches, so the audience were held. But none of the passion came out of these words. It was all wandering in the blood of Enrico Persevalli, and out it came, like an inarticulate cry shapen to Shakespeare's words, the latter having no meaning, only a regulated clatter. Of all the sad performances of Hamlet, this was one of the saddest.
Allusion to a real Hamlet performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 77.
The roles were naturally condensed. Horatius played the Ghost. I knew him because, when he came in at the Queen-Hamlet scene, he had on Horatius' white trousers and patent slippers. He had a table cloth like a nun's shawl over his head, hanging behind, then another shawl of open- work wool over his face. But the audience took him seriously. There was even a thrill of fear: and I shared it. That Ghost has been one of my bitterest griefs.
Allusion to real Hamlet performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 77.
Ophelia came in white, with her fair hair down her back, and flowers in her hands instead of a hanky. And again I thought, if I 'd had a chance, I would have squashed Mr Hamlet like the black beetle he was, for behaving in his indirect indecent, dirty cockroach fashion to the girl. Poor Ophelia she cried and laughed in a breath, and threw her flowers away. She at any rate knew what was the matter: he did not love her, could not love anybody. It was enough to send any girl crazy, to have given her love to a phosphorescent fish like Hamlet. What was she to do with her poor body, if not deck it with flowers and love it herself, then drown it. The peasants were with her, every man. At the end of her scene was a hoarse roar, half of indignation, half of passion. They evidently loathed that stinking fish, Hamlet.
Allusion to a real Hamlet performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 78.
The grave-yard scene was a great success. It pleased me mightily to see Hamlet looking such a fool, and taken off by the grave digger. It was queer to hear the latter say to the Prince of Denmark, handing him a skull: "Questo carnio signore-" // And Amleto, dainty fellow took the skull in a corner of his black cloak in order not to soil his hands. That Hamlet is 'signore', and a skull is a 'cranio' makes all the difference. // The close fell very flat. The contadini applauded the graveyard scene wildly.
Allusion to a real Hamlet performance.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: Twilight in Italy and Other Essays (1912) ed. by Paul Eggert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 78.
But braced muscles will bounce, and Signor Amleto bounced quite off the stage. 'Good ' I exclaimed, but I was applauding the gymnastic feat, not the death. I have seen Hamlets perish with more vigour, but not with such a bounce.
Allusion to real Hamlet performances and especially the last scene of the play.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 26 Jan 2003

Performance
Lawrence, David Herbert: The letters of D. H. Lawrence. Volume VI (1932) ed. by James T. Boulton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, p. 204.
The public only wants foolish realism: Hamlet in a smoking jacket.
Allusion to the realistic expectations of the German public with regard to performing classic plays.
Contributed by Kalliopi Kitsiou, 29 Jan 2003


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Performance
Scott, Sir Walter: The Abbot (1820) ed. by C. Johnson. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993, 205.
The wit of the piece, which was not of the most polished kind, was chiefly directed against the superstitious practices of the Catholic religion; and the stage artillery had on this occasion been levelled by no less a person than Doctor Lundin, who had not only commanded the manager of the entertainment to select one of the numerous satires which had been written against the Papists, (several of which were cast in a dramatic form,) but had even, like the Prince of Denmark, caused them to insert, or according to his own phrase to infuse, here and there, a few pleasantries of his own penning, on the same inexhaustible subject, hoping thereby to mollify the rigour of the Lady of Lochleven towards pastimes of this description. He failed not to jog Roland's elbow, who was sitting in state beside him, and recommend to his particular attention those an exhibition, simple as it was, was entirely new, he looked on with the undiminished and ecstatic delight with which men of all rank look for the first time on dramatic representation, and laughed, shouted, and clapped his hands as the performance proceeded.
The narrator explicitly refers to the famous 'stage-scene' in Hamlet when describing this very similar situation (cf. 2.2.490-95 & 3.2.136-236).
Contributed by David Appel, 15. Jan 2003

1.5.77 Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled
Sterne, Laurence: Tristram Shandy: an authoritative text, backgrounds and sources, criticism (1759-67) ed. by Howard Anderson. N.Y. & London: Norton & Company, 1980, p. 76.
Obadiah had led him in as he was, unwiped, unappointed, unanealed, with all his stains and blotches on him.
Allusion: The figure of Dr. Slop is led in with words similar to those Hamlet's father uses to refer to his own death.
Contributed by Sebastian Refardt, 13 Jan 2003

 

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Performance
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p.59.
He and Mrs. Pendennis brought books of "Hamlet" with them to follow the tragedy, as is the custom of honest country-folks who go to a play in state. // [...] Mr. Hornbull, from London, was the Hamlet of the night, Mr. Bingley modestly contenting himself with the part of Horatio, and reserving his chief strength for William in "Black-Eyed Susan," which was the second piece. // We have nothing to do with the play: except to say, that Ophelia looked lovely, and performed with admirable wild pathos: laughing, weeping, gazing wildly, waving her beautiful white arms, and flinging about her snatches of flowers and songs with the most charming madness. What an opportunity her splendid black hair had of tossing over her shoulders! She made the most charming corpse ever seen; and while Hamlet and Laertes were battling in her grave, she was looking out from the back scenes with some curiosity towards Pen's box, and the family party assembled in it. // There was but one voice in her praise there. Mrs. Pendennis was in ecstacies with her beauty. Little Laura was bewildered by the piece, and the Ghost, and the play within the play, (during which, as Hamlet lay at Ophelia's knee, Pen felt that he would have liked to strangle Mr. Hornbull), but cried out great praises of that beautiful young creature. Pen was charmed with the effect which she produced on his mother---and the clergyman, for his part, was exceedingly enthusiastic. // When the curtain fell upon that group of slaughtered personages, who are dispatched so suddenly at the end of "Hamlet," and whose demise astonished poor little Laura not a little, there was an immense shouting and applause from all quarters of the house; [...]
Allusion to a fictional Hamlet performance , as well as the reception of it by the novel's characters. Irony.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Performance
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p. 89f.
Only two other guests were in the room,---an officer of the regiment quartered at Chatteris, and a young gentleman whom the Doctor thought he had somewhere seen. They left them at their meal, however, and hastened to the theatre. It was Hamlet over again. Shakspeare was Article XL. of stout old Doctor Portman's creed, to which he always made a point of testifying publicly at least once in a year.
Allusion to a fictional performance of Hamlet, the Doctor being a real fan of Shakespeare.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, 19 Dec 2002

Performance
Thackeray, William Makepiece: 'Letter to Mrs. Edward John Sartoris October, 3 November, 1850' In The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. A Supplement to Gordon N. Ray, The Letters and Private Papers of William Makepiece Thackeray. Ed. By Edgar F. Harden. New York & London: Garland, 1994, p. 382f.
But when the play began and old Hamlet came on with a gnarled neck and a rich brown wig over his wrinkled old face - the youthful business disappeared altogether. What a bore the play was! how I wished myself away smoking a cigar! What wretched humbug that old Hamlet seemed with an undertakers tray on his head flapping about his eternal white pocket handkerchief, and being frightened at that stupid old ghost! [...] As for Claudius, bating the litte affair with Hamlet Senior, his conduct through the play is exceedingly decorous and forbearing to the young Dane - the enfant terrible. [...] There came a farce afterwards, but the gaiety of that was quite unbearable [...].
Thackeray reports/complains about a performance he saw at the Haymarket Theatre with Macready in the title role: end of October 1850 ("two or three nights ago")
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

Performance
Thackeray, William Makepiece: The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood by the Author (1848-1850) London:Bradbury and Evans, 1849, p. 55f.
If the reverend gentleman had had much discernment, and looked into the Poet's Corner of the County Chronicle, [...], he might have seen "Mrs. Haller," "Passion and Genius," "Lines to Miss Fotheringay, of the Theatre Royal," appearing every week; [...] // "Who is the lady," at last asked Mrs. Pendennis, "whom your rival is always singing in the County Chronicle. He writes something like you, dear Pen, but your's is much the best. Have you seen Miss Fotheringay?" // Pen said yes, he had; that night he went to see the "Stranger." she acted Mrs. Haller. By the way she was going to have a benefit, and was to appear in Ophelia---suppose we were to go---Shakspeare you know, mother---we can get horses from the Clavering Arms. Little Laura sprang up with delight, she longed for a play. // Pen introduced "Shakspeare you know," because the deceased Pendennis, as became a man of his character, professed an uncommon respect for the bard of Avon, in whose works he safely said there was more poetry than in all "Johnson's Poets" put together. And though Mr. Pendennis did not much read the works in question, yet he enjoined Pen to peruse them, and often said what pleasure he should have, when the boy was of a proper age, in taking him and mother to see some good plays of the immortal poet. // The ready tears welled up in the kind mother's eyes as she remembered these speeches of the man who was gone. She kissed her son fondly, and said she would go. Laura jumped for joy. Was Pen happy?---was he ashamed? As he held his mother to him, he longed to tell her all, but he kept his counsel. He would see how his mother liked her; the play should be the thing, and he would try his mother like Hamlet's. // Helen, in her good humour, asked Mr. Smirke to be of the party That ecclesiastic had been bred up by a fond parent at Clapham, who had an objection to dramatic entertainments, and he had never yet seen a play. But, Shakspeare!---but to go with Mrs. Pendennis in her carriage, and sit a whole night by her side!---he could not resist the idea of so much pleasure, and made a feeble speech, in which he spoke of temptation and gratitude, and finally accepted Mrs. Pendennis's most kind offer.
Alluison to 19th century performance and reception of Hamlet as well as Shakespeare the dramatsist.
Contributed by Philipp Hottinger, Dec 2002

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Performance
Woolf, Virginia: Night and Day (1919) ed by J. H. Stape. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994, p. 251.
"Katharine! I've hit upon a brilliant idea!" Mrs. Hilbery exclaimed- "to lay out, say, a hundred pounds or so on copies of Shakespeare, and give them to working men. Some of your clever friends who get up meetings might help us, Katharine. And that might lead to a playhouse, where we could all take parts. You'd be Rosalind- but you've a dash of the old nurse in you. Your father's Hamlet, come to years of discretion; and I'm- well, I'm a bit of them all; I'm quite a large bit of the fool, but the fools in Shakespeare say all the clever things. Now who shall William be? A hero? Hotspur? Henry the Fifth? No, William's got a touch of Hamlet in him too. I can fancy that William talks to himself when he's alone. […]"
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

 

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9. THE AUTHORS

 

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Austen, Jane

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Beckett, Samuel

Blake, William

Boucicault, Dion

Brontë, Anne

Brontë, Charlotte

Brontë, Emily

Brown, Ashley Ashford

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett

Browning, Robert

Byron, George Gordon Lord

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Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

Conrad, Joseph

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Defoe, Daniel

Dennis, John

Donne, John

Dryden, John

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Eliot, George

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Fielding, Henry

Fritsch, Herbert

Fuller, Margret

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Garrick, David

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von

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Hardy, Thomas

Hoffmann, E. T. A.

Holz, Arno

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Johnson, Samuel

Joyce, James

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Keats, John

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Lawrence, David Herbert

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MacLeish, Archibald

Milton, John

-minu

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Oelz, Oswald

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Parini, Jay

Peacock, Thomas Love

Pope, Alexander

Powell, Neil

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Radcliffe, Ann

Reed, Henry

Richardson, Samuel

Robinson, Mary

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Sawyer, Lemuel

Scott, Sir Walter

Shelley, Mary

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Shostakovich, Dimitri

Sterne, Laurence

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Tennyson, Alfred

Thackeray, William Makepiece

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Woolf, Virginia

Wordsworth, Dorothy

Wordsworth, William

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10. SPECIAL

 

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Special: Criticism
'Honour',' 'Dream' and 'Tragedy'; Hamlet, La Vida es Sueno and Lord Jim' In Batchelor, John: Lord Jim (1900) London: Unwin Critical Library, 1988, pp. 160-186.
Batchelor claims that Lord Jim is a Hamlet-like character.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 10 Jan 2003

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Special: Criticism Conrad
Conrad, Joseph: Selected Criticism and The Shadow-Line (1917) ed. by Allan Ingram. London: Methuen, 1986, pp. 228f.
Allan Ingram claims that many allusions to Hamlet can be found in The Shadow-Line. Not so much of similarity in events, rather of the topics. Both works deal with questions, such as "despair, inactivity, an obsessive concern with madness and death, the fear of divine punishment, and the implications such fears have for human enterprise and activity". According to Ingram, Conrad mainly refers to Hamlet's 'To be, or not to be' soliloquy.
Contributed by Simon Gisler, 10 Jan 2003

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Special: Criticism Donne
Donne John: 'The Elegies' (1633) In The Variorum Edition of John Donne ed. by Gary A. Stringer & Paul A. Parish, 2000, Vol. 2, p. 476f.
"Partridge (1971, 231-32) finds the Elegies less daring, less passionate, and less impetuous than the Songs and Sonets and claims that some of the soliloquies in Shakespeare's Ham[let] use a technique of feeling and association similar to that in Donne's elegies although their epigrammatic couplets are quite different from Shakespeare's versification." (editor's note)
Contributed by Eftychia Fountoulakis, 17 February 2003

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Special: Criticism Wordsworth
Fry, Paul H.: 'Ode: Intimations of immortality from recollections of early childhood - Wordsworth's Severe Intimations' In George H. Gilpin: Critical Essays on William Wordsworth. Boston, Massachusetts: G. K. Hall & Co., 1990, p. 62.
Hamlet calls the world a "prison" (2.2.231, 234, 240); but in Hamlet the world is only one of two prisons, the other being identified by the ghost of Hamlet's father: "I am thy father's spirit…" (1.5.9) // But that I am forbid | To tell the secrets of my prison-house, | I could a tale unfold whose lightest word | Would harrow up thy soul. (1.5.13-16) // This discordant intimation Wordsworth recorded in his next stanza: // Mighty Prophet! Seer blest! | On whom these truths do rest, | Which we are toiling all our lives to find, | In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave; | Thou, over whom thy Immortality | Broods like the Day, a Master o'er a Slave… [cf. Wordsworth, William: 'Intimations Ode' In The Complete Poetical Works by William Wordsworth. London: Macmillan and Co., 1888. http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww331.html (28 Jan 2003)])
Allusion to 1.5.13-16 ('tell the secrets of my prison-house').
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 28 Jan 2003.

 

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Special: Criticism Virginia Woolf
General conclusions: The scarcity of allusions to Hamlet and other Shakespearian texts in Virginia Woolf's novels stands in striking contrast to her intensive discussion of Shakespeare's writing in general in many of her texts, of which probably best known her argumentation in her famous essay "A room of one's own". By creating the fictional character of Shakespeare's sister Judith, a woman of equal genius to her brother's, Woolf describes why it would have been impossible for any woman to have written the plays of Shakespeare in the age of Shakespeare. Moreover, the essay argues for a writer's androgynous mind, a mind most objective and unconcerned with its owner's personality: according to Woolf, Shakespeare's mind is to be considered "as the type of the androgynous, of the man-womanly mind, though it would be impossible to say what Shakespeare thought of women." [Woolf, Virginia: A room of one's own. Ed. by Morag Shiach. Oxford: OUP, 1998, p. 129.] // Summarizing, one could say that Virginia Woolf's texts, from the feminist writer's point of view, largely acknowledge and discuss the importance of Shakespeare's writing in general, but scarcely make direct allusion to his texts in particular.
Contributed by Sibylle Hunziker, 17 Jan 2003

Special: Criticism Wordsworth
Manning, Peter J.: Ode: Intimations of immortality from recollections of early childhood - Wordsworth's Intimations Ode and Its Epigraphs In George H. Gilpin: Critical Essays on William Wordsworth. Boston, Massachusetts: G. K. Hall & Co. 1990. p. 87.
Behind Wordsworth's "High instincts, before which our mortal Nature / Did tremble like a guilty Thing surpriz'd" lies Horatio's description of Hamlet's father's ghost- "it started like a guilty thing / Upon a fearful summons" -hinting at the Oedipal contest of Shakespeare's play, the son't obligation to hid absent father, his duty to punish his "foster" father/uncle and hid derelict mother, his allegiance to a home in comparison to which the present one is a prison, even as Wordsworth's allegiance make the world a prison-house. "Mortal nature" would repress those allegiances, but remains troubled by the "high instincts" that are a problematic parallel to Virgil's "higher things." [cf. Wordsworth, William: 'Intimations Ode' In The Complete Poetical Works by William Wordsworth. London: Macmillan and Co., 1888. http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww331.html (28 Jan 2003)]
Allusion to Horatio's description of the ghost (1.1.148-149)
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 28 Jan 2003.

Special: Criticism Wordsworth
Hagsturm, Jean H.: 'Wordsworth the man - William Wordsworth: "Relationship and Love"' In George H. Gilpin: Critical Essays on William Wordsworth. Boston, Massachusetts: G. K. Hall & Co., 1990, p. 318.
In it [poem "She was a Phantom of Delight"] the husband salutes his wife as "a perfect Woman, nobly planned," but unfortunately for a modern reader he also calls her a "machine," by which of course he means merely her body, as Hamlet did when he used the same word for his own fleshly mansion (II, ii. 124). [cf. Wordsworth, William: 'She was a perfect woman' In The Complete Poetical Works by William Wordsworth. London: Macmillan and Co., 1888. http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww331.html (28 Jan 2003)]
Allusion to 2.2.121 ('Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him. Hamlet')
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 28 Jan 2003.


Special: Criticism Wordsworth
Hagsturm, Jean H.: 'Wordsworth the man - William Wordsworth: "Relationship and Love"' In George H. Gilpin: Critical Essays on William Wordsworth. Boston, Massachusetts: G. K. Hall & Co., 1990, p. 322.
But then comes a spasm of sexual violence:// up I rose, | And dragged to earth both branch and bough, with crash | And merciless ravage, // leaving the nook "mutilated," "Deformed and sullied," the last word reminding us, though perhaps not Wordsworth, of the "too, too sullied flesh" of Hamlet. [Wordsworth, William: The Complete Poetical Works by William Wordsworth. Nutting: Macmillan and Co., 1888. http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww331.html (28 Jan 2003)]
Allusion to 1.2.129 ('O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt …')
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 28 Jan 2003.

Special: Criticism Wordsworth
Hanley, Keith: Wordsworth: A Poet's History. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001, p. 84.
There are several resemblances between old Hamlet's ghost and the 'ghastly mildness' (458) of the soldier. Both are 'clad in military garb' (398), are suffering pitiably, carry themselves in a 'slow and stately' (I ii 202) manner ('with / A stately air', 420), and gesture with hallucinatory politeness ('with what courteous action / It waves you to a more removed ground', I iv 60-61): // Slowly from his resting-place | He rose, and with a lean and wasted arm | In measured gestures lifted to his head | Returned my salutation (412-5). [cf. Wordsworth, William: 'Prelude - Fourth Book ' In The Complete Poetical Works by William Wordsworth. Nutting: Macmillan and Co., 1888. http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww331.html (28 Jan 2003)]
4 allusions to the ghost [line numbering adapted to the versions available]
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 28 Jan 2003.

Special: Criticism Wordsworth
Hanley, Keith: Wordsworth. A Poet's History. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001, p. 83.
In Wordsworth's poem, the commencing allusion to Hamlet invites an intensifying textual presence, which it only seems to exorcize, as with the ghost in the play itself: 'Hark! o'er the hills with dewy feet / She comes, and warbles softly sweet' (83-84) recalls the first dismissal of Hamlet's father's ghost, 'But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, / Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill' (1.1.166-167).[cf. Wordsworth, William: The Complete Poetical Works by William Wordsworth. Nutting: Macmillan and Co., 1888. http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww331.html (28 Jan 2003)]
Allusion to the first dismissal of Hamlet's father's ghost (1.1.166-167).
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 28 Jan 2003

Special: Criticism Wordsworth
Waldoff, Leon. Wordsworth in His Major Lyrics - The Art and Psychology of Self-Representation. (2001) Columbia and London: University of Missouri Press, 2001. p. 84-86.
Faint though the reminiscence may be, it has a profound resonance for the poem ['Resolution and Independence'], I believe, and for that reason the relevant section of Hamlet's soliloquy deserves to be quoted in full: […] Several parallels are striking. Hamlet waits on the ramparts for the ghost of his father to appear; the speaker, wandering on the lonely moor and, as he will shortly reveal, experiencing a "longing to be comforted" (XVII; 5), waits, though without being consciously aware that he is doing so, for the appearance of an old man who is in several respects a father figure. Hamlet mentions "particular men," among whom he himself must be included, and the speaker reflects on Chatterton and Burns, with both of whom he soon acknowledges a sense of identification. The speaker is concerned with the same sense of fate in the lives of particular men that Hamlet is, yet he also retains, as does Hamlet, a sense that these men are somehow responsible for their fate. Hamlet's identification of "one defect" and "vicious mole of nature" in these men and his accusation against himself, later in the play, for failing to act, may be compared to the speaker's charge against himself and the other poets for failure to take heed for themselves. Most important, the intellectual melancholy so characteristic of Hamlet, resulting in his hesitation, puzzled will, and thoughts of suicide, is the state of mind the speaker represents himself as being in stanzas 4-7. [cf. Wordsworth, William: 'Resolution and Independence' InThe Complete Poetical Works by William Wordsworth.: Macmillan and Co., 1888. http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww331.html (13 Feb 2003)].
Greater Context: Interpretation of the poem 'Resolution and Independence'. Allusions (several parallels with Hamlets soliloquy 1.4.13-38) [References to lines adjusted to the versions available].
Contributed by Karin Stettler, 13 Feb 2003.

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