4. Notes and Commentary

The notes and commentary of the Internet Editions are the place where you will most clearly be aware of the differences between a conventional printed edition and an electronic one. The hypertextual linking of text to notes, and notes to further resources means that the structure of your notes should be conceived in a significantly different way (see the introductory remarks on hypertext above, 1.1-2).

4.1. General

Writing yet another gloss on a passage that has been discussed in dozens of editions, several appearing in the last twenty years, can be an exercise more in ingenious paraphrase than scholarship. In general it is better to quote an earlier editor who said it well, giving due credit, rather than to juggle words in an attempt to make the annotation seem different. Where it is difficult to determine the original editor who made a comment repeated by others, however, it may be simpler to juggle.

4.1.1. Levels of annotation

There will be three levels of annotation and an independent glossary. The first two levels of annotation will be accessed immediately from the modern text; users will choose either to view "basic" or advanced annotation.

Level one, basic annotation, will be that part of the notes primarily explanatory of meanings, at roughly the level of one of the standard student texts (Bevington, Norton, or Signet, for example);
level two, advanced annotation, will contain a more complete discussion, roughly equivalent to current annotation in editions like the Arden or New Cambridge.
The third level will allow editors to deal with especially interesting, controversial, or complex material in a discursive additional note. The ready availability of the third level of annotation should make the second level somewhat more concise than in equivalent printed editions.

Cross-referencing will be possible from both levels two and three.

4.1.2. What should be annotated

Explain whatever seems to you to demand explanation, bearing in mind the expected audience for the edition: first year university student to advanced scholar. Normally, you should avoid glossing difficult words more than once; you may, however, use your discretion on this (e.g. if many "pages" intervene between two or more uses). As a standard of reference, editors should choose either the Gage Canadian Dictionary or the American Heritage Dictionary; if a word is not readily found in the dictionary, defined as it is used in the text, then it should be annotated. All words of interest, including words students often have problems with, should be included in the Glossary.

4.1.3. Annotate in larger units when possible

Especially in an electronic edition, fewer, more inclusive notes will be more effective and less obtrusive for the reader. For example, when characters indulge in a series of plays on words it will require fewer clicks for the reader to be told in one longer explanation when the wordplay begins, rather than explaining each pun as it appears. See the general comments about writing good hypertext above, 1.2.2.

4.2. Kinds of annotation

4.2.1. Notes explanatory of the text or collations

Where the text contains obscurities which you can neither explain nor emend, you may choose not to refer to such obscurities in the commentary, but you may, if you prefer, say "Unexplained" or give the best guesses.

4.2.2. Necessary explanations of what happens on the stage

Where it has not seemed advisable to insert stage directions or when further clarification is useful, you should indicate stage "business" implied by the dialogue.

4.2.3. Comments on vocabulary and syntax

You should indicate where usage differs from the modern or seems especially characteristic of Shakespeare. Vocabulary with technical (e.g. legal, medical) associations usually requires explanation.

4.2.4. Explanations of reference to customs, events, etc.

Customs and references to the life of the time such as are not likely to be understood by a first-year university student should be explained. Include references that may be familiar in Britain that might not be clear to readers overseas, e.g. districts in London.

4.2.5. Illustrative passages from Elizabethan literature

Use parallel passages from Elizabethan and Jacobean literature to illustrate references, vocabulary, syntax, usage, etc. Cite such passages only when OED does not provide adequate information; reference to OED will normally be sufficient. Quotations from Shakespearean plays not yet published in the Internet Editions should be from a current scholarly edition, with indication in the list of abbreviations of what edition is used. (You should avoid the Oxford Complete Works, however, since it departs so far from normal practice that its references will often be difficult to find in a more conventional edition.)

4.2.6. Parallel passages

Parallel passages from classical authors, elsewhere in Shakespeare, proverbial lore, the Bible, etc., should normally provide some quotation, not simply the reference. The space offered by an additional note will be useful here; in some instances we may be able to link your quoted passage to the whole work when the edition is posted on the site.

4.2.7. Alternative meanings

If you provide alternative meanings of a word or phrase, indicate which is the primary meaning and which is innuendo or association. Bawdy innuendo, especially in an extensively bawdy scene, may require tactful handling but should not be glossed over or dealt with so circumspectly that meanings are obscure. Sometimes a single comprehensive note at the beginning of such a passage can indicate a succession of bawdy connotations, rather than itemizing each.

4.2.8. Biblical quotations and allusions

Biblical quotations should be from the Geneva Bible, preferably in folio editions subsequent to the revision of the NT by Laurence Tomson, 1576, whose completely new marginalia, full of suggestiveness, tend to be badly cropped in quartos. Biblical allusions should be glossed; you will be wise to assume that the current generation of university students is fundamentally ungodly.

4.2.9. Classical allusions

Classical allusions should be explained, if necessary with a brief synopsis of the myth or figure referred to. It will often be useful to refer to Shakespeare's source for the allusion.

4.2.10. Foreign languages

Quotations from classical or other non-English authors should normally be in the original language, surrounded by the tags <FOREIGN lang=[language]> </FOREIGN>, followed by a translation. Greek words should be transliterated. Foreign-language passages should be translated

4.2.11. Headnotes

A headnote at the beginning of each scene may be used for brief comment on such matters as editorial notes of location; the dramatic significance of the sequence and juxtaposition of scenes; the relation of the scene to particular sections of known sources. Number such a headnote from the first TLN number of the scene, with the addition of the decimal "0," thus: <TLN=1202.0> where the first line is TLN 1202.

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