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BBC Books

Hamlet’s Sollioquy

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Released Thursday, June 12, 2014
Time Travel Past
Synopsis

The earliest known copy of Hamlet's famous soliloquy from Act III Scene I in its final form is handwritten, but annotated with comments in the same handwriting. There has been some speculation that Shakespeare dictated the text, and the annotations were added by whoever took down his words. Earlier drafts of the text, with rather different wording, do exit - and indeed the annotations refer to these. But whatever the source, this is surely the earliest example of a critique of what is arguably the Bard's greatest work.