I.i.21 (145,6) [That instant was I turn'd into a hart] This image evidently alludes to the story of Acteon, by which Shakespeare seems to think men cautioned against too great familiarity with forbidden beauty. Acteon, who saw Diana naked, and was torn in pieces by his hounds, represents a man, who indulging his eyes, or his imagination, with the view of a woman that he cannot gain, has his heart torn with incessant longing. An interpretation far more elegant and natural than that of Sir Francis Bacon, who, in his _Wisdom of the Antients_, supposes this story to warn us against enquiring into the secrets of princes, by shewing, that those who knew that which for reasons of state is to be concealed, will be detected and destroyed by their own servants. I.ii.25 (147,9) [A noble Duke in nature, as in name] I know not whether the nobility of the name is comprised in _Duke_, or in _Orsino_, which is, I think, the name of a great Italian family. I.ii.42 (148,1) [_Vio_. O, that I serv'd that lady; And might not be deliver'd to the world, 'Till I had made mine own occasion mellow What my estate is!] I wish I might not be _made public_ to the world, with regard to the _state_ of my birth and fortune, till I have gained a _ripe opportunity_ for my design. Viola seems to have formed a very deep design with very little premeditation: she is thrown by shipwreck on an unknown coast, hears that the prince is a batchelor, and resolves to supplant the lady whom he courts. I.ii.55 (149,2) [I'll serve this Duke] Viola is an excellent schemer, never at a loss; if she cannot serve the lady, she will serve the Duke. I.iii.77 (152,5) [It's dry, sir] What is the jest of _dry hand_, I know not any better than Sir Andrew. It may possibly mean, a hand with no money in it; or, according to the rules of physiognomy, she may intend to insinuate, that it is not a lover's hand, a moist hand being vulgarly accounted a sign of an amorous constitution. I.iii.148 (154,9) [Taurus? that's sides and heart] Alluding to the medical astrology still preserved in almanacks, which refers the affections or particular parts of the body, to the predominance of particular constellations. I.iv.34 (155,1) [And all is semblative--a woman's part] That is, thy proper part in a play would be a woman's. Women were then personated by boys. I.v.9 (156,2) [lenten answer] A _lean_, or as we now call it, a _dry_ answer. I.v.39 (157,4) [Better be a witty fool, than a foolish wit] Hall, in his _Chronicle_, speaking of the death of Sir Thomas More, says, that he knows not whether to call him _a foolish wise man, or a wise foolish man_. I.v.105 (159,5) [Now Mercury indue thee with leasing, for thou speak'st well of fools!] [W: pleasing] I think the present reading more humourous. _May Mercury teach thee to lie, since thou liest in favour of fools_. I.v.213 (164,1) [to make one in so skipping a dialogue] Wild, frolick, mad.