Sir, this report of his
Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy!—
'Ib.' King's speech:
For goodness, growing to a pleurisy,
Dies in his own too much.
Theobald's note from Warburton, who conjectures 'plethory.'
I rather think that Shakspeare meant 'pleurisy,' but involved in it the thought of plethora, as supposing pleurisy to arise from too much blood; otherwise I cannot explain the following line—
And then this should is like a spendthrift sigh,
That hurts by easing.
In a stitch in the side every one must have heaved a sigh that 'hurt by easing.'
Since writing the above I feel confirmed that 'pleurisy' is the right word; for I find that in the old medical dictionaries the pleurisy is often called the 'plethory.'
Ib.
'Queen'. Your sister's drown'd, Laertes.
'Laer'. Drown'd! O, where?