Plagiarism and Hermione

[Julie (a.k.a. Viola)]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "- Joy -" <joy0823 at e...> wrote:
> Rita asked:
> > where does the quote 'Except my life - except my life - except my 
life'
> > come from?
> At the risk of sounding like a freak, it's Act 2, Scene 2.  When 
Polonius
> says he'll take leave of Hamlet, Hamlet responds with "You cannot, 
sir, take
> from me any thing that I will willingly part withal: except my 
life, except
> my life, except my life".  

*laughs* It's also used (unattributed) as dialogue in Chapter 19 of 
Dorothy L. Sayers' "Gaudy Night." Peter remarks that his present (a 
dog collar, of all things) is the first thing Harriet has ever 
allowed him to give her. To which she responds: 'Except my life - 
except my life - except my life.' Which, ironically, is what jumped 
into my head _before_ "Hamlet."

Sayers does that a lot - she uses quotations from everything and 
everyone from "The Religio Medici" to Shakespeare to Michael Drayton 
without designating the phrases as quotes. Depending on your point of 
view, this could be as easily considered plagiarism as the quotation 
in Barnes' play. I don't really have strong feelings about it one way 
or the other, but it's an interesting point. Where is clear 
attribution called for (and how does that work within the context of 
a play)? Or is it usually safe to assume that your audience will 
recognize the source material (which is what I've always thought was 
going on in Sayers' case)?