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Twelfth NightPlease see the bottom of this page for detailed explanatory notes and related resources.
Next: Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 5 _________ Explanatory Notes for Act 1, Scene 4 From Twelfth Night Or What You Will. Ed. Kenneth Deighton. London: Macmillan. 2. you are like ... advanced, there is every prospect of his raising you to a high office about him. 4. his humour, his caprice: call in question, seem to doubt. 8. the count. See note on i. 2. 25. 10. On your ... here. I am here waiting to serve you; your is objective, in attendance on you. 11. aloof, from "A prep, + Loof, luff, weather-gage, windward direction; perhaps immediately from Du. loef, in te loef, to windward" ... (Murray's Eng. Dict). 12. no less but all, no less than all, the whole truth of the matter; for but instead of 'than,' see Abb. § 127. 12, 3. I have ... soul, I have revealed to you the inmost secrets of my soul, those which I have concealed from every one else; cp. i. H. IV. i. 3. 188, "I will unclasp a secret book"; T. C. iv. 6. 60, "unclasp the tables of their thoughts." 14. address ... her, direct your steps to her house; 'dress' ultimately from the Lat. directus, straight. 15. Be not ... access, refuse to take any denial from her, insist upon being allowed to see her. 16. thy fixed ... grow, there you will plant your foot immovably: have, subjunctive. 18. so ... sorrow, so utterly given up to, so completely preoccupied by, her sorrow. 19. As it is spoke, as people say; for spoke, the curtailed form of the past participle, see Abb. § 343. 20. leap ... hounds, overleap all the limits of courtesy. 21. Rather ... return, rather than return without having gained something from her, some answer, information. 22. Say, suppose. 24. Surprise ... faith; take her by surprise, and so get the better of her, by pouring out the story of my passionate and faithful love for her; for surprise, in this sense, cp. Temp. iii. 1. 93, "So glad of this as they I cannot be Who am surprised withal"; W. T. iii. 1. 10, "And the ear-deafening voice o' the oracle ... so surprised my sense"; dear, in the sense of 'heart- felt,' is common in Shakespeare. 26. She will ... youth, she will listen to it better from one so young as you are; for attend, trans., see Abb. § 200. 27. a nuncio, an ambassador, especially a papal ambassador; Lat. nuntius, a messenger. 29. yet, even up to this time: happy years, the careless, happy, years of youth. 31. rubious, red as a ruby; one of Shakespeare's coinages: small pipe, i.e. windpipe; cp. K. J. v. 7. 23, "This pale faint swan Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death. And from the organ-pipe of frailty sings His soul and body to their lasting rest," where 'the organ-pipe of frailty' means the windpipe of one who is well near worn out. 32. shrill and sound, shrill like a boy's treble and yet uncracked. In boys the voice cracks at the age of puberty, but the Duke, though not admitting that Caesario had reached manhood, seems surprised that in a lad (as he supposes her to be) of such an age the voice should still retain its treble note and not yet have cracked. 33. And all ... part, and everything about you resembles a woman's part in a play; those parts being played by boys; cp. A. C. v. 2. 220, T. G. iv. 4. 165. semblative, like; not found elsewhere in Shakespeare. 34. thy constellation ... apt. See note on i. 3. 117. 35. Some ... him, let some four or five go with him as an escort. 36, 7. am best ... company, who am happiest, most at my ease, when I am most alone. 37-9. Prosper ... thine, if you succeed in this matter, you shall be as free to use my wealth as I am; for the transposition of freely, see Abb. § 419a. 40. a barful strife, this is a contest in which, if I succeed, I place a barrier to my own happiness: cp. Blanch's speech, K. J. iii. 1. 328-35. 41. Whoe'er ... wife, though compelled to make love for him to Olivia, it is he whom I desire to wed; on who for 'whom,' see Abb. § 274. ___________ How to cite the explanatory notes: ___________ Related Articles
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