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Hamlet Glossary

The time is out of joint; O curs'd spite,
That ever I was born to set it right! (1.5.188)

out of joint, utterly disordered; a metaphor from a bone which has slipped from its proper juncture with another bone, the same metaphor being apparently mixed up with that of setting a clock.

cursed spite ... right, "Hamlet does not lament that the disjointed time is to be set right by him, but that he ... whose duty it of necessity becomes to set the time right, should have been born" (Seymour).

Full annotations for Hamlet (1.5)



How to cite the explanatory notes:
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, prince of Denmark. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan, 1919. Shakespeare Online. 20 Feb. 2010. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/spiteright.html >.




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