Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: Comedies — John Shaqi
Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: ComediesJohnson, Samuel
General
Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: Comedies
Johnson, Samuel
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Criticism and interpretation
I.ii.150 (360,7) [_Jaq_. Fair weather after you!
_Dull_. Come, Jaquenetta, away]
[Theobald had reassigned two speeches] Mr. Theobald has endeavoured
here to dignify his own industry by a very slight performance.
The folios all read as he reads, except that instead of
naming the persons they give their characters, enter _Clown,
Constable, and Wench_.
I.ii.168 (361,8) [It is not for prisoners to be silent in their words]
I suppose we should read, it is not for prisoners to be silent in
their _wards_, that is, in _custody_, in the _holds_.
I.ii.183 (361,9) [The first and second cause will not serve my turn]
See the last act of As you like it, with the notes.
II.i.15 (362,1)
[Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye,
Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues]
Chapman here seems to signify the _seller_, not, as now commonly,
the _buyer_. _Cheap_ or _cheping_ was anciently the _market_, _chapman_
therefore is _marketman_. The meaning is, that _that the estimation
of beauty depends not on the_ uttering or _proclamation of the
seller, but on the eye of the buyer_.
II.i.45 (363,2) [Well fitted] is _well qualified_.
II.i.49 (363,3) [match'd with] is _combined_ or _joined_ with.
II.i.105 (365,4) ['Tis deadly sin to keep that oath, my lord; And
sin to break it] Sir T. Hammer reads,
Not _sin to break it_.
I believe erroneously. The Princess shews an inconvenience very
frequently attending rash oaths, which, whether kept or broken,
produce guilt.
II.i.203 (369,6) [God's blessing on your beard!] That is, mayst thou
have sense and seriousness more proportionate to thy beard, the
length of which suits ill with such idle catches of wit.
II.i.223 (370,7) [My lips are no common, though several they be]
_Several_, is an inclosed field of a private proprietor, so Maria
says, _her lips_ are _private property_. Of a lord that was newly
married one observed that he grew fat; Yes, said sir Walter
Raleigh, any beast will grow fat, if you take him from the
_common_ and graze him in the _several_.
II.i.238 (370,8) [His tongue, all impatient to speak and not see]
That is, _his tongue being impatiently desirous to see as well as_
_speak_.
II. i. 241 (370,9) [To feel only looking] Perhaps we may better read,
_To_ feed _only_ by _looking_.
II. i. 262 (371,1) [_Boyet_. You are too hard for me] [Theobald did not
end Act II here] Mr. Theobald has reason enough to propose this
alteration, but he should not have made it in his book without
better authority or more need. I have therefore preserved his
observation, but continued the former division.
III.i (372,2) [_Enter Armado, and Moth._] In the folios the direction
is, _enter Braggart and Moth_, and at the beginning of every speech
of Armado stands _Brag_, both in this and the foregoing scene between
him and his boy. The other personages of this play are
likewise noted by their characters as often as by their names.
All this confusion has been well regulated by the later editors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account