III.i.70 (235,2) the whips and scorns of time] [W: of th' time] I doubt
whether the corruption of this passage is not more than the editor has
suspected. _Whips_ and _scorns_ have no great connexion with one
another, or with _time: whips_ and _scorns_ are evils of very different
magnitude, and though at all _times scorn_ may be endured, yet the
_times_ that put men ordinarily in danger of _whips_, are rery rare.
Falstaff has said, that the _courtiers would_ whip _him with their quick
wits_; but I know not that _whip_ can be used for a _scoff_ or _insult_,
unless its meaning be fixed by the whole expression.
I am afraid lest I should venture too far in correcting this passage. If
_whips_ be retained, we may read,
_For who would bear the whips and scorns of_ tyrant.
But I think that _quip_, a _sneer_, a _sarcasm_, a _contemptuous_ jest,
is the proper word, as suiting very exactly with _scorn_. What then must
be done with _time_? it suits no better with the new reading than with
the old, and _tyrant_ is an image too bulky and serious. I read, but not
confidently,
_For who would bear the_ quips _and scorns of_ title.
It say be remarked, that Hamlet, in his enumeration of miseries,
forgets, whether properly or not, that he is a prince, and mentions many
evils to which inferior stations only are exposed.
III.i.77 (236,4) To groan and sweat] All the old copies have, _to_ grunt
_and sweat_.
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