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“Let’s all stand aside”
Here is another directive for stage movement from within the dialogue, but what does it mean? Where is “aside”? This is a relatively common directive in Elizabethan drama and usually means that characters retreat to one side of the stage in order to overhear the conversation of the new characters arriving. No exit is marked for the prince and his companions so perhaps this is what happens here, but then no exit is marked for the Porter and since he does not appear in the rest of the scene it would be odd if he remains on stage at this point. We need more evidence here before we can make a decision about their movement here, but the most likely interpretation at this point is that the prince and his companions remain on-stage but are not noticed by the arriving king.
Return to text.-- StaceyWheal - 21 Jun 2007 | |