aruba
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response 133 of 133:
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May 10 14:50 UTC 2001 |
My friend Ken, who is an English professor at Bates College, checked into
the Hamlet discrepancy for me. The Pelican edition I was quoting from is
based on the second or "good" quarto of 1604-05, "now usually regarded,
but without complete assurance, as printed from Shakespeare's own draft,"
according to the introduction. The second quarto does indeed contain the
line "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." The text Jamie was
quoting from is the First Folio, printed in 1623, "now usually regarded,
but again without complete assurance, as printed from the prompt-book of
Shakespeare's acting company or from the good quarto altered after
reference to such a prompt book." The First Folio contains the line "The
lady protests too much, methinks."
Ken points out that "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" is iambic
pentameter, but the "The lady protests too much, methinks" doesn't have as
nice a meter.
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