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‘Subject to his birth’
At the beginning of Hamlet (Act I, sc. 3, 177 ff.), Laertes warns Ophelia against becoming too attached to the young prince.
… his will is not his own; For he himself is subject to his birth:
He may not, as unvalued persons do,
Carve for himself; for on his choice depends
The safety and health of this whole state;
And therefore must his choice be circumscribed
Unto the voice and yielding of that body
Whereof he is the head.
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James Fairfax: Portrait of a collector in eleven objects
by Alexander Edward Gilly
NewSouth, $49.99 hb, 343 pp
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