was the name of the ambassador sent to England at the accession of James the First.

Much ingenuity has been expended upon Ophelia. Miss Yonge, in her book upon Christian Names, hazards the conjecture that the word is a Greek rendering of an old Danske serpent-name like Ormilda. [Mr Ruskin's suggestion is here cited. ED.] The fact is, however, that Shakespeare, or the writer who is to be credited with the early Hamlet, probably adopted the name from the Arcadia of Sannazaro, where, in the form in which it appears in the first quarto edition, Ofelia, it is the name of one of the amorous shepherds of the ninth eclogue. This conjecture is greatly strengthened by the circumstance that Ofelia is introduced with Montano, another of the first- Hamlet names. It is probably only a modern form of the Roman Ofella, Horace's Ofellus.

Three characters in the first edition of Hamlet were re-named in the second impression. Corambis was altered to Polonius, his servant Montano to Reynaldo, and Albertus, the name of the murdered duke in the Play, became Gonzago. With the exception of Falstaff, these are the only instances in which Shakespeare is known to have made any changes in the names of his dramatis personæ. In the case of Corambis we may infer, perhaps, that when the poet's magic had transformed the low buffoon-courtier of the older drama into the highly-finished portrait of the Danish chancellor which we now possess, it became necessary to rid him of old associations by giving him a new name. Polonius is probably the typical Pole diplomatist and counsellor. The inhabitants of Poland at that time were known in England as Polonians, and the elective kingdom, with its elaborate system of assemblies and diets, was pre-eminently the land of policy and intrigue. The traditional Polonius, indeed, answers very nearly to the old marshals of Poland, who always carried the wand of office before the king. Corambis sounds like a pastoral name, derived, perhaps, from Corymbus. [See I, ii, 57. ED.]

Reynaldo, both here and in All's Well, is a servant or steward, and it is significant that the best known of the historical Rinaldos,—and several probably went to the composition of the Rinaldo of romance,-was high steward to Louis the Pious.

Albertus is clearly a more appropriate name for a duke of Austria (the scene is laid at Vienna) than Gonzago; but the story of the Play is certainly taken from the murder of the Duke of Urbano by Luigi Gonzaga in 1538, who was poisoned by means of a lotion poured into his ears. This new way of poisoning caused great horror throughout Europe, and we often meet with allusions to it. It is worth noting, also, that the wife of the duke was a Gonzaga. Some of the commentators have absurdly objected to Battista as a female Christian name. It was not only a common female name at this period, but especially connected with Mantua and the Gonzagas. [The remainder of these Notes will be found in connection with the appropriate characters in the text in Vol. I. There is an article in The Cornhill Magazine for February, 1876, on Shakespeare's Greek Names. ED.]

DURATION OF THE ACTION

HEUSSI (Shakespeare's Hamlet, Leipzig, 1872): The First Act embraces the first night, the following day, and the next night.

The Second Act begins some little time (from two to three months) after the close of the First; for in the First Act Laertes goes to Paris, and at the beginning of the Second, Polonius sends him money. The Second Act embraces one day.

The Third Act begins with the day following the close of the Second Act, and continues, as is to be inferred from the apparition of the Ghost, until the middle of the next night.

The Fourth Act ends with the death of Ophelia. The Fifth begins with the day of her burial, and two or three days might be supposed to intervene. But since the King reminds Laertes in the grave-yard of 'their last night's speech,' it follows that Ophelia was buried on the very day after her death; and the Fifth Act, therefore, begins on the day immediately following the conclusion of the Fourth. The duration of the events of the Fourth Act cannot be exactly computed. The first three Scenes take place on the day after Hamlet's interview with his mother. Not much time can elapse between the Third and Fourth Scene, because in the Fourth Scene Hamlet is on his way to England, which must have followed very close upon the King's command; the succeeding scenes continue without interruption. The Fourth Act, therefore, occupies two days at the most.

MISS KATE FIELD (Fechter as Hamlet. Atlantic Monthly, Boston, November, 1870, p. 558): After carefully scanning the play, we see that its entire action cannot cover more than ten days. In the First Act Laertes leaves for France, and Hamlet decides to put an antic disposition on.' The Second Act opens with Polonius sending Reynaldo to keep watch over Laertes, after which comes Ophelia's description of Lord Hamlet with his doublet all unbraced; this being the first symptom of Hamlet's madness, not more than a day is likely to have elapsed between the conception and execution of his plan. Concluding with the arrival of the Players and Hamlet's arrangement for the performance of The Murder of Gonzago, which he distinctly declares shall take place the following night,— We'll have't to-morrow night,'-there can be no questioning as to the date of the Third Act. And the Fourth is like unto it. Hamlet kills Polonius in the Third Act. The Fourth Act opens with the Queen's narration of the bloody deed,—' Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night?' by which it is clear that the Fourth Act begins in point of time as quickly as the Third Act closes; that is, on the night of the third day. In the Third Scene Hamlet is brought in guarded, and replies to Claudius that 'you shall nose him (Polonius) as you go up the stairs into the lobby.' The time still remains the same, as proved by the King's immediately dispatching Hamlet to England: 'I'll have him hence to-night.' In Scene Fourth Hamlet appears upon a plain in Denmark, not yet having sailed. It may still be the night of the third day, although the meeting with Fortinbras and his forces would rather indicate daylight. If so, the fourth day has set in. Between this Scene and Scene Sixth four days must elapse, as it is then that Horatio receives Hamlet's letter, in which he says: Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave

....

us chase. . . . These good fellows will bring thee where I am.' Two days out and two days returning to Denmark make four, and adding the previous four days, we have eight in all. The next and last scene follows speedily, therein Hamlet's letter to the King being delivered. Well, but how is it with Laertes, who reappears in Scene Fifth, proclaiming revenge for the death of his father? How can he return from France in four days, especially if he be in Paris, where Polonius has sent Reynaldo to seek him? Not leaving until the First Act, it is utterly impossible for Laertes to have made very great progress in his journey, and travelling leisurely, as would be likely, he is overtaken and brought back. Yes, but he sets sail for France, and is it probable that, having such a start, he can be overtaken? Of course he sets sail, Elsinore being on an island; but the route to Paris is far more direct by land than by sea, and the time indicates that Laertes must have taken to horse on the mainland, a mode of travelling in which he could be easily reached by forced posting. Drowned at the close of the Fourth, Ophelia is buried in the last, Act, so that but few days can intervene between the two events. How many one cannot assert; although, as Hamlet in his letter to Claudius, in the Fourth Act, says, 'to-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes,' and the Fifth Act brings about this meeting, twenty-four hours need not have elapsed. European Catholics bury their dead speedily. It is, therefore, safe to declare that the Fifth Act could transpire on the ninth day, and cannot in reason be delayed beyond the tenth.

[See ECKARDT, II, i, 75. GEORGE B. Woods (Essays, Boston, 1873, p. 104) reaches the same conclusion with HEUSSI: that the time of the action occupies between two and three months, no more and no less,' and cites in proof Hamlet's statement in the First Act, that his father had been dead 'not two months,' and Ophelia's assertion in the Third Act, that he had been dead at that time twice two months.'

See also I, i, 158, for the season of the year when the action is supposed to take place. ED.]

GARRICK'S VERSION*

BOADEN (Life of J. P. Kemble, London, 1825, vol. i, p. 110): Having incidentally mentioned Garrick's strange alteration of the play of Hamlet, it may not be improper to add here some account of it. In my youth I remember to have seen it acted, and for many years I could not get the smallest information whether any copy was preserved of this unlucky compliment to Voltaire. A strange story was in circulation formerly, that it had been buried with the great actor; this, however, it was said, was not upon the humane principle that a man's faults should die with him, but as a sort of consecration of so critical a labor.

But Mr Kemble had in his library what I believe to have been the very copy of the play upon which Mr Garrick's alterations were made. He probably received it as a curiosity from Mrs Garrick.

....

[Garrick] cut out the voyage to England and the execution of Rosencrantz and

In BOHN's Bibliography it is stated that this version was not printed. ED.

Guildenstern, who had made love to the employment, and marshalled his way to knavery.' He omitted the funeral of Ophelia, and all the wisdom of the Prince, and the rude jocularity of the Grave-diggers. Hamlet bursts in upon the King and his court, and Laertes reproaches him with his father's and his sister's deaths. The exasperation of both is at its height when the King interposes; he had commanded Hamlet to depart for England, and declares that he will no longer bear this rebellious conduct, but that his wrath shall at length fall heavy on the Prince. 'First,' exclaims Hamlet, 'feel you mine!' and he instantly stabs him. The Queen rushes out, imploring the attendants to save her from her son. Laertes, seeing treason and murder before him, attacks Hamlet to revenge his father, his sister, and his King. He wounds Hamlet mortally, and Horatio is on the point of making Laertes accompany him to the shades, when the Prince commands him to desist, assuring him that it was the hand of Heaven, which administered by Laertes that precious balm for all his wounds.' We then learn that the miserable mother had dropped in a trance ere she could reach her chamber door, and Hamlet implores for her an hour of penitence ere madness end her.' He then joins the hands of Laertes and Horatio, and commands them to unite their virtues (as a coalition of ministers) to calm the troubled land.' The old couplet as to the bodies concludes the play.

ACTORS' INTERPRETATIONS

GARRICK

FIELDING (Tom Jones, London, 1749, book xvi, chap. v.)—As soon as the play, which was Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, began, Partridge was all attention, nor did he break silence until the entrance of the Ghost; upon which he asked Jones, What man that was in the strange dress; something,' said he, 'like what I have seen in a picture. Sure it is not armour, is it?' Jones answered, 'That is the Ghost.' To which Partridge replied with a smile, ‘Persuade me to that, sir, if you can. Though I cannot say I ever actually saw a ghost in my life, yet I am certain I should know one if I saw him, better than that comes to. No, no, sir, ghosts don't appear in such dresses as that, neither.' In this mistake, which caused much laughter in the neighborhood of Partridge, he was suffered to continue, 'till the scene between the Ghost and Hamlet, when Partridge gave that credit to Mr Garrick which he had denied to Jones, and fell into such a violent fit of trembling that his knees knocked against each other. Jones asked him what was the matter, and whether he was afraid of the warrior upon the stage? O la, sir,' said he, I perceive now it is what you told me. I am not afraid of anything; for I know it is but a play. And if it really was a ghost, it could do one no harm at such a distance, and in so much company; and yet if I was frightened, I am not the only person.' 'Why, who,' cries Jones, 'dost thou take to be such a coward here besides thyself?' 'Nay, you may call me a coward if you will; but if that little man there upon the stage is not frightened, I never saw any man frightened in my life. Ay, ay; "go along with you!" ay, to be sure! who's fool then! Will you? Lud have mercy upon such foolhardiness?

us chase... These good fellows will bring thee where I am.' Two days out and two days returning to Denmark make four, and adding the previous four days, we have eight in all. The next and last scene follows speedily, therein Hamlet's letter to the King being delivered. Well, but how is it with Laertes, who reappears in Scene Fifth, proclaiming revenge for the death of his father? How can he return from France in four days, especially if he be in Paris, where Polonius has sent Reynaldo to seek him? Not leaving until the First Act, it is utterly impossible for Laertes to have made very great progress in his journey, and travelling leisurely, as would be likely, he is overtaken and brought back. Yes, but he sets sail for France, and is it probable that, having such a start, he can be overtaken? Of course he sets sail, Elsinore being on an island; but the route to Paris is far more direct by land than by sea, and the time indicates that Laertes must have taken to horse on the mainland, a mode of travelling in which he could be easily reached by forced posting. Drowned at the close of the Fourth, Ophelia is buried in the last, Act, so that but few days can intervene between the two events. How many one cannot assert; although, as Hamlet in his letter to Claudius, in the Fourth Act, says, 'to-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes,' and the Fifth Act brings about this meeting, twenty-four hours need not have elapsed. European Catholics bury their dead speedily. It is, therefore, safe to declare that the Fifth Act could transpire on the ninth day, and cannot in reason be delayed beyond the tenth.

[See ECKARDT, II, i, 75. GEOrge B. Woods (Essays, Boston, 1873, p. 104) reaches the same conclusion with HEUSSI: that the time of the action occupies between two and three months, no more and no less,' and cites in proof Hamlet's statement in the First Act, that his father had been dead 'not two months,' and Ophelia's assertion in the Third Act, that he had been dead at that time twice two months.'

See also I, i, 158, for the season of the year when the action is supposed to take place. ED.]

GARRICK'S VERSION*

BOADEN (Life of J. P. Kemble, London, 1825, vol. i, p. 110): Having incidentally mentioned Garrick's strange alteration of the play of Hamlet, it may not be improper to add here some account of it. In my youth I remember to have seen it acted, and for many years I could not get the smallest information whether any copy was preserved of this unlucky compliment to Voltaire. A strange story was in circulation formerly, that it had been buried with the great actor; this, however, it was said, was not upon the humane principle that a man's faults should die with him, but as a sort of consecration of so critical a labor.

But Mr Kemble had in his library what I believe to have been the very copy of the play upon which Mr Garrick's alterations were made. He probably received it as a curiosity from Mrs Garrick.

· ...

[Garrick] cut out the voyage to England and the execution of Rosencrantz and

* In BOHN's Bibliography it is stated that this version was not printed. ED.