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While working on the initial annotations, I became very aware of my role as reader and my responsibility as scholar. For example, How to differentiate between my personal interests regarding Hamlet and the key points of each essay? How to assume the interests of every Hamlet enthusiast? After the first dozen annotations (and with hundreds to go), I had to confront my anxieties before they prevented productivity. I had to come to several conclusions:

1. Annotations are unavoidably translations--not exact replicas of originals;

2. I cannot read without being a reader, complete with preconceived notions;

3. the best that I can strive for is to mute bias, never judging merit, value, approach, or style;

4. I can only hope that these annotations will be recognized as a means rather than an end of research.