TEXT:
CLAUDIUS
Pretty Ophelia!
OPHELIA
Indeed, la, without an oath, I'll make an end on't:
Sings
By Gis and by Saint Charity,
Alack, and fie for shame!
Young men will do't, if they come to't;
By cock, they are to blame.
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,
You promised me to wed.
So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed.
CLAUDIUS
How long hath she been thus?
OPHELIA
I hope all will be well. We must be patient: but I
cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him
i' the cold ground. My brother shall know of it:
and so I thank you for your good counsel. Come, my
coach! Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies;
good night, good night.
Exit
CLAUDIUS
Follow her close; give her good watch,
I pray you.
Exit HORATIO
NOTES:
An
Often in Shakespeare, an is used instead of “if”. “An thou hadst not come to my bed” is a clear example.
The Knight’s Tale
The Knight’s Tale is the first of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. A stirring tale of romance, it inspired numerous other stories, not least Shakespeare’s own play, The Two Noble Kinsmen.
Tamburlaine
Tamburlaine is a sprawling play by Christopher Marlowe. Based on the life of Timur, the central Asian emperor, it was one of the first major artistic and commercial successes of Elizabethan drama. It and The Spanish Tragedy were vital to Shakespeare’s development, and each casts a shadow over Hamlet.
Minced Oaths
A minced oath is an expression formed by adapting a blasphemous or taboo word or phrase, in order to reduce the offence it might cause. Since Shakespeare was writing under the watchful eye of a censor, in a time when Puritans were gaining influence, he couldn't write the full versions of any curses or swearwords or expletives. As a result we have various items - sblood, zounds, and the very common 'Marry' - which is a contraction of 'By the Virgin Mary'. There's even an argument that the word 'bloody' as a curse word came into use as a contraction of 'By Our Lady'! Likewise in episode 68 we have ‘God’s bodykins’ - a rather cute way for Hamlet to swear at Polonius. In this episode, “GIs” is a contraction of “Jesus”.