Hamlet

Act I, Scene 5, the word Uumix'd has been changed to · 1/22

Hamlet

Act I, Scene 5, the word Uumix'd has been changed to

¹Transcriber's Note: This is a heavily edited version of _Hamlet_. ²It was used for Charles Kean's 1859 stage production. ³Phrases printed in italics in the book are indicated in this electronic version by _ (underscore). ⁴Footnotes originally appeared at the bottom of each page. ⁵For this electronic version the footnotes are collected at the end of each act. ⁶In Unmix'd. ⁷A closing bracket ] was added to Act IV footnote 37 after _Naked on your kingdom_,. ⁸A closing bracket ] was added to Act IV footnote 50 after _Venom'd stuck_,. ⁹The word o'er-crows appears in Act V, Scene 3; in footnote V.81, o'ercrows appears without a hyphen. ¹⁰Both are as they appear in the book. ¹¹SHAKESPEARE'S TRAGEDY OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK. ¹²ARRANGED FOR REPRESENTATION AT THE Royal Princess's Theatre WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES, BY CHARLES KEAN, F.S.A. ¹³AS PERFORMED ON MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 1859. ¹⁴LONDON: BRADBURY AND EVANS, 11, BOUVERIE STREET. ¹⁵1859. ¹⁶LONDON: BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. ¹⁷Dramatis Personæ CLAUDIUS (_King of Denmark_) Mr. ¹⁸RYDER. ¹⁹HAMLET (_son to the former and_ _nephew to the present King_). ²⁰Mr. ²¹CHARLES KEAN. ²²POLONIUS (_Lord Chamberlain_) Mr. ²³MEADOWS. ²⁴HORATIO (_friend To Hamlet_) Mr. ²⁵GRAHAM. ²⁶LAERTES (_son To Polonius_) Mr. ²⁷CATHCART. ²⁸ROSENCRANTZ } { Mr. ²⁹BRAZIER. ³⁰GUILDENSTERN } (_Courtiers_) { Mr. ³¹EVERETT. ³²OSRICK } { Mr. ³³DAVID FISHER. ³⁴PRIEST Mr. ³⁵TERRY. ³⁶MARCELLUS Mr. ³⁷PAULO. ³⁸BERNARDO Mr. ³⁹DALY. ⁴⁰FRANCISCO Mr. ⁴¹COLLETT. ⁴²GHOST OF HAMLET'S FATHER Mr. ⁴³WALTER LACY. ⁴⁴FIRST GRAVEDIGGER Mr. ⁴⁵FRANK MATTHEWS. ⁴⁶SECOND GRAVEDIGGER Mr. ⁴⁷SAKER. ⁴⁸FIRST PLAYER Mr. ⁴⁹COOKE. ⁵⁰SECOND PLAYER Mr. ⁵¹ROLLESTON. ⁵²GERTRUDE (_Queen of Denmark, and_ _mother of Hamlet_) Mrs. ⁵³CHARLES KEAN. ⁵⁴OPHELIA (_daughter of Polonius_) Miss HEATH. ⁵⁵ACTRESS Miss DALY. ⁵⁶STAGE DIRECTIONS. ⁵⁷H. means Right Hand; L. ⁵⁸Left Hand; U. ⁵⁹Upper Entrance; R. ⁶⁰Enters through the Centre from the Right Hand; L. ⁶¹Enters through the Centre from the Left Hand. ⁶²RELATIVE POSITIONS OF THE PERFORMERS WHEN ON THE STAGE. ⁶³R. means on the Right side of the Stage; L. on the Left side of the Stage; C. ⁶⁴Centre of the Stage; R. ⁶⁵Right Centre of the Stage; L. ⁶⁶Left Centre of the Stage. ⁶⁷The reader is supposed _to be on the Stage_, facing the audience. ⁶⁸PREFACE. ⁶⁹The play of _Hamlet_ is above all others the most stupendous monument of Shakespeare's genius, standing as a beacon to command the wonder and admiration of the world, and as a memorial to future generations, that the mind of its author was moved by little less than inspiration. ⁷⁰_Lear_, with its sublime picture of human misery;--_Othello_, with its harrowing overthrow of a nature great and amiable;--_Macbeth_, with its fearful murder of a monarch, whose "virtues plead like angels trumpet-tongued against the deep damnation of his taking off,"--severally exhibit, in the most pre-eminent degree, all those mighty elements which constitute the perfection of tragic art--the grand, the pitiful, and the terrible. ⁷¹_Hamlet_ is a history of mind--a tragedy of thought. ⁷²It contains the deepest philosophy, and most profound wisdom; yet speaks the language of the heart, touching the secret spring of every sense and feeling. ⁷³Here we have no ideal exaltation of character, but life with its blended faults and virtues,--a gentle nature unstrung by passing events, and thus rendered "out of tune and harsh." ⁷⁴The original story of Hamlet is to be found in the Latin pages of the Danish historian, Saxo Grammaticus, who died in the year 1208. ⁷⁵Towards the end of the sixteenth century, the French author, Francis de Belleforest, introduced the fable into a collection of novels, which were translated into English, and printed in a small quarto black letter volume, under the title of the "Historie of Hamblett," from which source Shakespeare constructed the present tragedy. ⁷⁶Saxo has placed his history about 200 years before Christianity, when barbarians, clothed in skins, peopled the shores of the Baltic. ⁷⁷The poet, however, has so far modernised the subject as to make Hamlet a Christian, and England tributary to the "sovereign majesty of Denmark." ⁷⁸A date can therefore be easily fixed, and the costume of the tenth and eleventh centuries may be selected for the purpose. ⁷⁹There are but few authentic records in existence, but these few afford reason to believe that very slight difference existed between the dress of the Dane and that of the Anglo-Saxon of the same period. ⁸⁰Since its first representation, upwards of two centuries and a half ago, no play has been acted so frequently, or commanded such universal admiration. ⁸¹It draws within the sphere of its attraction both the scholastic and the unlearned. ⁸²It finds a response in every breast, however high or however humble. ⁸³By its colossal aid it exalts the drama of England above that of every nation, past or present. ⁸⁴It is, indeed, the most marvellous creation of human intellect. ⁸⁵CHARLES KEAN. ⁸⁶HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK.

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