Yet I acknowledge that Shakspeare evidently wishes, as much as possible, to spare the character of Laertes,--to break the extreme turpitude of his consent to become an agent and accomplice of the King's treachery;--and to this end he re-introduces Ophelia at the close of this scene to afford a probable stimulus of passion in her brother. 'Ib.' sc. 6. Hamlet's capture by the pirates. This is almost the only play of Shakspeare, in which mere accidents, independent of all will, form an essential part of the plot;--but here how judiciously in keeping with the character of the over-meditative Hamlet, ever at last determined by accident or by a fit of passion! 'Ib.' sc. 7. Note how the King first awakens Laertes's vanity by praising the reporter, and then gratifies it by the report itself, and finally points it by-- Sir, this report of his Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy!-- 'Ib.' King's speech: For goodness, growing to a _pleurisy_, Dies in his own too much. Theobald's note from Warburton, who conjectures 'plethory.' I rather think that Shakspeare meant 'pleurisy,' but involved in it the thought of _plethora_, as supposing pleurisy to arise from too much blood; otherwise I cannot explain the following line-- And then this _should_ is like a spendthrift sigh, That hurts by easing. In a stitch in the side every one must have heaved a sigh that 'hurt by easing.' Since writing the above I feel confirmed that 'pleurisy' is the right word; for I find that in the old medical dictionaries the pleurisy is often called the 'plethory.' Ib. 'Queen'. Your sister's drown'd, Laertes. 'Laer'. Drown'd! O, where? That Laertes might be excused in some degree for not cooling, the Act concludes with the affecting death of Ophelia,--who in the beginning lay like a little projection of land into a lake or stream, covered with spray-flowers quietly reflected in the quiet waters, but at length is undermined or loosened, and becomes a faery isle, and after a brief vagrancy sinks almost without an eddy! Act v. sc. 1. O, the rich contrast between the Clowns and Hamlet, as two extremes! You see in the former the mockery of logic, and a traditional wit valued, like truth, for its antiquity, and treasured up, like a tune, for use. 'Ib.' sc. 1 and 2. Shakspeare seems to mean all Hamlet's character to be brought together before his final disappearance from the scene;--his meditative excess in the grave-digging, his yielding to passion with Laertes, his love for Ophelia blazing out, his tendency to generalize on all occasions in the dialogue with Horatio, his fine gentlemanly manners with Osrick, and his and Shakspeare's own fondness for presentiment: But thou would'st not think, how ill all's here about my heart: but it is no matter. [Footnote 1: It is so pointed in the modern editions.--Ed.] NOTES ON MACBETH.