The Importance of the Origin of the First Quarto of Hamlet

The Importance of the Origin of the First Quarto of Hamlet

Ofel: Alas, what a change is this? Ham: But if thou wilt needes marry, marry a foole, For wisemen know well enough, What monsters you make of them, to a Nunnery goe. Ofel: Pray God restore him. Ham: Nay, I have heard of your painting too, God hath giuen you one face, And you make your selues another, --HAMLET, Prince of Denmarke, The First Quarto

The title page of the second quarto of Hamlet claims that the text beneath it is "Newly imprinted and enlarged to almost as much / againe as it was, according to the true and perfect / Coppie." Taking this at face value, three facts necessary follow: That there is at least one earlier edition (or else this one could not be "newly imprinted...again"); that the earlier edition was shorter (or else this one could not be "enlarged"); and that this quarto does not include some lines from the "perfect Coppie" (since it is "almost as much"). Indeed, a First Quarto exists dated a year earlier (1603); Q1 is shorter some 1600 lines; and the Folio does restore certain seemingly authorial passages. It appears as if "I.R.," the printer, or "N.L.," the publisher, is correct on all possible counts. We cannot even condemn I.R. or N.L. for self-interested advertising. They admit that their copy is "almost," but not quite, "perfect."* Thus we might wish to take seriously one further point that the title page tries to make, namely, that the earlier quarto was neither "true" nor "perfect," and therefore is corrupted not simply in its brevity, but also in the presentation of the text which it actually does contain. This would mean that Q1 did not use the "true and perfect Coppie" as its copy-text. It does not seem preposterous to rephras...

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...ay.

The strategic early placing of the "To be or not to be, I there's the point" monologue gives it less weight than it has in Q2, as if it were the beginning of Hamlet's train of thought as opposed to the turning point we often think it is when we read a modern edition. Indeed, "the point" is more absolute than "the question." Hamlet does not fight with himself to solve a problem, but merely expresses what that problem is. To argue that this is oversimplification is to oversimplify: it is a revision. It is an Elizabethan argument, positing that a truly revengeful Hamlet would definitely shy away from suicide for hope of salvation, while the confused avenger Hamlet would probably shy away from suicide for fear of punishment. That in itself sheds light on the pop psychology of the day, and thus how we ought to read Hamlet's psychology in the context of its time.