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Twelfth NightPlease see the bottom of the page for full explanatory notes and helpful resources.
Return to Twelfth Night, Scenes _________ Explanatory Notes for Act 5, Scene 1 From Twelfth Night Or What You Will. Ed. Kenneth Deighton. London: Macmillan. 1. as thou lovest me, according as, i.e. if, as I am sure is the case, you love me. 5, 6. my dog, the dog you have given me. 8. some ... trappings, some of her belongings, ornamental appendages; cp. Haml, ii. 2. 233, "On fortune's cap we are not the very button." 12. the better, all the better; the, the instrumental case, 'by that.' 15. they praise ... me, they by flattering me turn my head. 18. abused, badly treated in being flattered by them. 18, 9. so that ... affirmatives, so that conclusions being as kisses, if conclusions are as kisses; see Abb. § 356 on the infinitive used indefinitely. The Camb. Edd. remark, "as in the syllogism it takes two premises to make one conclusion, so it takes two people to make one kiss"; and Farmer illustrates the passage by one from Lust's Dominion, "Queen. Come let's kiss. Moor, Away, away. Queen, No, no, says I [i.e. aye, yes]; and twice away says stay," For your, see Abb. § 221. 22, 3. though it ... friends, though you are pleased to flatter me. 24. Thou Shalt ... gold, at all events if you are the worse for your other friends (by their flattering you), you shall not be so for me; I will better you by giving you money, not mere flattery. 25, 6. But that ... another, if it were not that such a thing would be double-dealing, I should be glad if you could make this one coin two; with a pun on double-dealing as = false dealing, knavery. 27. give ... counsel, i.e. in advising me to be guilty of double- dealing. 28, 9. Put your ... obey it. For this once put your virtue in your pocket (i.e. lay it aside), and let your natural inclinations follow the advice I give you, i.e. gratify your natural generosity; for Put ... pocket, cp. K. J. iii. 1. 200, "I must pocket up these wrongs," i.e. endure them without resenting them; and Temp. ii. 1. 67, "or very falsely pocket up his report," i.e. conceal the report they ought to make: grace, perhaps with a pun on the Duke's title. 30, 1. to be a double-dealer, as to be in this instance guilty of double-dealing; for 'as' omitted, see Abb. § 281. 32. Primo ... tertio, first, second, third; Italian. 33. the third ... all, this seems to mean the third is the lucky throw and more than makes up for the other two. 33, 4. the triplex ... measure, triple time (in music) is good to dance to. 34, 5. or the bells ... mind; or, if you need further persuasion, the bells of St. Bennet, which in their chiming repeat one, two, three, one, two, three, preach the same lesson; it has been supposed that the church here referred to was St. Bennet's, Paul's Wharf, just opposite the Globe Theatre. 40. lullaby ... again, let your generosity go to sleep till, etc.: lullaby, a song sung to lull children to sleep. 47. As black ... war; as black with the smoke of gunpowder as the face of Vulcan (the smith of the gods) was with the smoke of his forge. 48. A bawbling vessel, a mere bauble of a boat, a very insignificant boat; cp. Cymb. iii. 1. 27, "and his shipping — Poor ignorant baubles! — on our terrible seas, Like eggshells moved upon their surges, crack'd As easily 'gainst our rocks"; T. C. i. 3. 35, "the sea being smooth. How many shallow bauble boats dare sail upon her patient breast." 49. For shallow ... unprizable, of little importance, worth, in regard to its draught and size; the 'draught' of a ship, i.e. the depth which it draws in the water, the number of feet it sinks in the water, being one measure of its size. Wright takes unprizable as = invaluable, inestimable; but the tone of the Duke is contemptuous as to the vessel in comparison with the 'noble bottoms' of his own fleet, and so more complimentary to the skill and valour of its captain. 50. scathful, destructive; 'scathe,' injury. 51. bottom, vessel, as in Lat. carina, the keel for the whole vessel; cp. M. V. i, 1, 42, "My ventures are not in one bottom trusted." 52, 3. That very ... him, that even those who hated him for the injury they suffered at his hands were loud in their praise of his exploits. 55. her fraught from Candy, her freight when coming from, etc.; cp. Lear, iv. 2. 90, "I met him back again," i.e. on his way back; Cor. i. 3. 32, "Methinks I hear hither your husband's drum," i.e. in imagination I hear the sound of your husband's drum home hither: for fraught = freight, cp. T. A. i. 1. 71, where it is used literally, and Oth. iii. 3. 449, where it is used figuratively. 57. lost his leg, i.e. had it shot off in action. 58. desperate ... state, utterly reckless as to shame and circumstances, i.e. caring nothing as to the shameful circumstances in which he was taken: shame and state, a hendiadys {A figure of speech in which two words connected by a conjunction are used to express a single idea instead of an adjective. Here, shameful state.}. Schmidt and others take state as = danger, or dangerous position, but the point emphasized seems to be his disreputable character, not his recklessness of danger. 59. brabble, squabble, quarrel; cp. T. A. ii. 1. 62, "This petty brabble will undo us all": apprehend, capture. 60. drew ... side, drew his sword and took part with me. 61. put .. upon me, addressed me in strange language, language that I could make nothing of. 63. thou ... thief, i.g. pirate; cp. M. V. i. 3. 24, "water-thieves and land-thieves; I mean pirates"; Middleton, The Phoenix, i. 2. 57, speaks of "a gallant salt-thief." 64. their mercies, the mercy of those, etc.; see Abb. § 219. 65. in terms ... dear, in so bitter and grievous a degree, by acts so cruel and involving such hatred; for dear, = grievously affecting them, cp. H. V. ii. 2. 181, "your dear offences"; R. III. i. 4. 215, "How canst thou urge God's dreadful law against us, When thou hast broke it in so dear degree." 67. Be pleased ... me, allow me to repudiate the terms you apply to me. 69. base, basis, foundation. 70. A witchcraft, i.e. the fascination exercised upon me by this youth. 71. Ingrateful, for in- retained from the Latin, see Abb. § 442. 73. redeem, save; lit. buy back, from Fr. redimer, Lat. redimere: a wreck ... was, but for me he would have had no hope of escape. 75. without ... restraint, without reserving or keeping to myself any of it; with complete self-abandonment. 76. All ... dedication, wholly dedicating myself and my love to him; cp. Temp, i. 2. 89. 77. pure, purely, entirely. 78. Into the ... town, to the danger which I knew threatened me in this hostile town; into, for 'unto,' is frequent in Shakespeare. 80. Where being apprehended, and I being seized there; the pronoun 'I' is to be supplied from me in 'face me out,' 1. 82; see Abb. § 379. 81. Not meaning... danger, he not having any intention of sharing danger with me. 82. Taught ... acquaintance, showed him how to meet me with effrontery and declare that he did not know me; cp. iv. 2. 89. 83. And grew ... wink, and he (to be supplied from 'him' in the previous line) became in one moment a thing removed by the space of twenty years, i.e. became as one who had not seen me for twenty years; for removed, cp. H. IV. iv. 1. 36, "Nor did he think it meet To lay so dangerous and dear a trust On any soul removed but on his own." For the phrase-compound in 'a twenty-years-removed thing,' see Abb. § 434.. 84. denied, refused. 85. Which I ... use, which, out of kindness, I had entrusted to him, not half an hour before, with the desire that he should use its contents. 89. No interim... vacancy, without any interval even for a minute. 92. But for thee, but as to you. 93. tended, waited. 94. But ... anon, but of that I shall have to say more presently. 95, 6. What would ... serviceable? What does your lordship desire, except the one thing that cannot be granted to you (sc. her love), in which I may possibly serve you? i.e. there is no way, except in the matter of my love, in which I would not gladly oblige you; seem serviceable, a deprecatory way of saying 'show myself serviceable.' 97. you do not ... me, you are not true to me. 101. my duty hushes me, respect for my lord prevents my speaking while he wishes to do so. 102-4. If it . .. music, if it be anything to do with the suit you have urged so often, it is as burdensome and distasteful to my ear as would be shouting and screaming after one had been listening to sweet music. Wright points out that fat and fulsome which properly belong to the sense of taste, are here applied to that of hearing. 106. What to perverseness? i.e. do you mean you are constant to perverseness? for you cannot say you are constant in any other meaning of the term: uncivil, cruel, harsh-spoken. 107-9. To whose ... tender'd, before whose shrine, ungrateful and impropitious as you are, I have breathed forth the truest vows of love that were ever offered up by the most devoted lover; offerings, used in order to carry on the metaphor in altars. Cp. T. G. iii. 2. 73, "Say that upon the altar of her beauty You sacrifice your tears." 110. Even what ... him. Whatever your pleasure may be, provided it is an action that is not unworthy of you. 111-3. Why should ... love? Why should I not, if only I could bring myself to do it, kill what is dearest to me in the world? Theobald has shown that this is a reference to the story of Theagenes and Chariclea in the Ethiopica of Heliodorus, of which a translation existed in Shakespeare's time. The Egyptian thief (i.e. robber) was Thyamis, a native of Memphis, who, having captured a lady named Chariclea, fell desperately in love with her. Being himself shortly afterwards overpowered by a stronger body of robbers, he had her shut up in a cave with his treasure. But seeing no hope of escape and being determined that no one else should marry Chariclea, he called to her to come out, and being answered by a voice which he took to be hers, plunged his dagger into the heart of the person issuing forth. 113, 4. a savage ... nobly, an act of savage jealousy which in some circumstances has a taste of nobleness: a savage jealousy is in apposition with the clause why should ... love? 115-8. Since you ... still; since you treat my fidelity to you with contemptuous disregard, and since I know in a way what it is that displaces me from that favour in your sight to which I have good right, I am content that you should live on ever the same marble-hearted piece of tyranny that you are; in cast ... non-regardance, the metaphor seems to be from casting anything to the winds: for the instrument ... me, cp. W. T. i. 2. 416, "He thinks, nay, with all confidence he swears, as he had seen 't, or been an instrument to vice you to it." For the in the ... tyrant, to denote notoriety, see Abb. § 92, and for that omitted and then inserted, § 285. 119. your minion, your darling; but used contemptuously. 120. I tender dearly, I hold in tenderest regard; cp. Haml. i. 3. 107, "tender yourself more dearly"; R. J. iii. 1. 74, "which name I tender As dearly as my own." 121, 3. Him will I ... spite, him will I forcibly remove from the sight of her who has enthroned him there to spite his master; for the insertion of him after the subject, for the sake of clearness, see Abb. § 242. 123. my thoughts ... mischief, my thoughts in the matter of mischief are ripe for action. 126. To spite .. dove, to injure her, who, with the appearance of a gentle dove, has a heart as black as that of a raven; the contrast of the whiteness of the dove and the blackness of the raven occurs again in M. N. D. ii. 2. 114, "Who will not change a raven for a dove?" R. J. iii. 2. 76, "Dove-feathered raven!" 126. apt, aptly; for the ellipsis of the adverbial inflection, see Abb. § 397. 127. To do ... rest, to ensure you peace of mind. 130. by all mores, by the amount of all terms of excess; for the adjective used as a noun, see Abb. § 5. 131. you ... above, you powers above who behold my thoughts. 132. for tainting ... love! for doing dishonour to my love; for the verbal followed by an object, see Abb. § 93. 133. detested! hateful one! who does ... wrong, for 'do' used as an auxiliary to 'do,' see Abb. § 303. 135. is it so long, 'since you pledged your love,' she was going to say: forgot, for the curtailed form of the participle, see Abb. § 343. 136. Call ... father, the priest to bear witness to the betrothal. 137. husband, looking upon the ceremonial of betrothal as equivalent to marriage; so in T. S. ii. 3. 323, Petruchio calls Katharina 'wife,' and Baptista, her father, 'father,' though the marriage has yet to be performed, as in M. A. iv. 1. 24, Claudio calls Leonato 'father,' and Leonato, Claudio, 'son.' 141. That makes ... propriety, that leads you to suppress, disavow, that which you really are; for strangle, cp. Sonn. lxxxix. 9, "I will acquaintance strangle and look strange:" for propriety, Oth, ii. 3. 176, "it frights the isle From her propriety" i.e. out of herself. 142. take ... up, adopt, accept as belonging to you, what has befallen you, i.e. the position to which, as my husband, you have a right. 143, 4. Be that ... fear'st, show yourself as my husband and then you will be the equal of him you fear, sc. the Duke. 145. by thy reverence, by your sacred calling, profession. 147, 8. what cocasion ... ripe, what the circumstances of the time compel us to make public before that time is ripe for disclosure. 150. A contract ... love, an interchange of pledges of eternal love; Malone compares M. N. D. i. 1. 85, "The sealing day between my love and me For everlasting bond of fellowship." 151. joinder, union; for the form Wright compares "rejoindure," T. C. iv. 4. 38. 152. holy ... lips, the solemn exchange of kisses; for this and the next line, see note on iv. 3. 26, above. 154. compact, with the accent on the latter syllable. 155. Seal'd ... testimony, ratified by help of my sacred office and established by my testimony. 159. When time ... case, when you are no longer a cub, but a full grown animal as shown by your hair being tinged with grey, i.e. when you are a grown man: case, the body, or skin, as the cover of the soul, used here because of the comparison of him to an animal; cp. A. C. iv. 15. 89, "The case of that huge spirit now is cold." 160, 1. Or will ... overthrow? The question of appeal in the two previous lines is equivalent to 'you will be a monster of deceit by the time you come to your full growth,' and the Duke goes on 'but perhaps you will never live to reach that full growth, for your precocious endeavour to trip up others may result in your own destruction, you may be caught in your own snare,' "hoist with your own petard" (Haml. iii. 4. 207): trip, "the catch by which a wrestler supplants [trips up] his antagonist" (Schmidt). 165. Hold little faith, i.e. a little faith at all events, for I cannot expect much from one who is so full of fear; for the omission of a before little, see Abb. § 86. 167. presently, at once; as more usually in Shakespeare. 169. across, from one side to the other: broke, cracked and caused to bleed; for the form, see Abb. § 343. 170. coxcomb, head, used in a ludicrous sense. 171. forty, frequently used by Shakespeare for a large but indefinite number. 174. The count's gentleman, i.e. his gentleman attendant as contrasted with his menial servants. 175. incardinate, for Sir Andrew's blunder Delius compares Elbow's words, M. M. ii. i. 81, "a woman cardinally given." 177. Od's lifelings, lit. God's little lives, a petty form of oath; cp. "od's pittikins," "od's heartlings," "od's my little life": for nothing, for no injury I had done to you. 182. But I ... fair, but I gave you fair words in return for your threats; see above, iii. 4. 285: 'bespeak,' nowadays means to order beforehand, but is used as here, in the sense of 'address,' R. II. V. 2. 20, "Whilst he ... Bespake them thus: 'I thank you countrymen.'" 184. you set nothing by, you think nothing of. 185. halting, walking lame. 186. been in drink, been drunk; the expression 'to be in liquor' is still used vulgarly in the same sense: he would ... did, he would have paid you out (i.e. with his rapier) in a very different fashion: othergates, cp. Middleton, Blurt, Master Constable, ii. 1. 34, "you should find othergates privy signs of love hanging out there." For adverbs ending in 's' formed from the possessive inflexion of nouns, see Abb. § 25, and Earle, Phil. of the Engl. Tongue, § 515. 188. how is't ... you, what is your condition? 189. That's all one, that does not much matter: has, for the omission of the nominative, see Abb. § 400 190. sot, dolt, blockhead: Dick surgeon, Dick (Richard) the surgeon. 191. agone, ago; the past part, of the M. E. verb agon, to go away, pass by. 192. set, fixed, i.e. with the senseless stare of a drunken man; cp. Temp. iii. 2. 10, "thy eyes are almost set in thy head." 193. a passy-measures pavin, "Passy-measure, passa-measure, and passing-measure, are corruptions of the Italian passa-mezzo ('a slow dance,' says Sir J. Hawkins, 'differing little from the action of walking'); the 'pavin,' or 'pavan,' was a grave and stately dance, often mentioned by our early writers (according to Sir J. Hawkins, from pavo, a peacock, according to Italian authors, from Paduana); and the passinge measure Pavyon occurs in a list of dances printed from an old MS. in the Shakespeare Soc. Papers" (Dyce). Ben Jonson, Middleton, and Dekker all speak of "the Spanish pavin." Sir Toby, it would seem, "means only by this quaint expression that the surgeon is a rogue and a grave solemn coxcomb" (Malone). Pavin is Steevens' correction for panyn. 195, 6. Who hath ... them? Who is it that has injured them so? 197, 8. well be ... together, we will have our wounds dressed at the same time. 199, 200. Will you ... gull! Do you say that you will help, you who are nothing but an ass-head and a, etc., etc.: thin-faced knave, a wretched fellow with a face so thin that one can hardly see it; cp. K. J.; i. 1. 141, "my face so thin That in mine ear I durst not stick a rose Lest men should say 'Look where three-farthings goes,'" i.e. should compare me to the silver three-farthing pieces which were hardly thicker than wafers: cp. also i. H. IV. gull, see note on iii. 2. 61. 201. look'd to, attended to by the surgeon. 203. the brother ... blood, my own brother; cp. A. Y. L. i, I. 48, "you are my eldest brother, and in the gentle condition of blood you should so know me." 204. with wit and safety, so long as I had sufficient intelligence to think of my own self-preservation. 205. you throw ... me, you cast distant, estranged, looks upon me; look upon me as though I were no more than a stranger to you; cp. A. W. v. 3. 168, "Why do you look so strange upon your wife?" 207. even for, if only for. 208. so late ago, so short time ago; "'so late ago' seems a combination of 'so lately' and 'so short a time ago,' Abb. § 411. 209. one habit, the self-same dress. 210. A natural ... not! See note on 1. 258, and cp. Chapman, All Fools, i. 1. 48, 9, "But like a cozening picture which one way Shows like a crow, another like a swan." 212. hours, a dissyllable. 213. Since I have lost, we should now say 'since I lost.' 214. Fear'st thou that, are you so astonished that you doubt my being Sebastian. 216, 7. An apple ... creatures, for a similar idea, cp. M. N. D. iii. 2. 208-10, "So we grew together. Like to a double cherry, seeming parted. But yet an union in partition." 220, 1. Nor can ... where, nor can there be in my nature that divine power of being here and everywhere; for here and everywhere, used as a noun, see Abb. § 77. 222. blind, not seeing in their wrath what they did. 223. Of charity, I beseech you, out of kindness tell me: for of, which originally meant 'out of,' see Abb. § 169: what kin, of what relationship. 224. What countryman? a man of what country? see Abb. § 423. 226. Such a Sebastian, sc. as you look. 227. suited, dressed; cp. Cymb, v. 1. 23, "I'll disrobe me ... and suit myself As does a Briton peasant." 228. 9. If spirits ... us, if spirits have the power to assume both the form and dress of a man, then I should say you have come as a spirit to frighten us. 229-31. A spirit ... participate, I am a spirit indeed in so far that I have a soul, but at the same time what is spiritual in me is clothed in that gross shape which I inherited from my mother's womb together with my spirit; for dimension, cp. above, i. 5. 242; for grossly clad, M. V. v. 1. 64, 5, "But while this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it: participate, not, I think, as Schmidt explains it, 'have in common with others,' but acquired at my birth as a portion of that which constitutes me, the other portion being my soul. 232. Were you ... even, if you were a woman and in that respect tallied with what I remember, as the other circumstances do; for goes even, cp. Cymb, i. 4. 47, "shunned to go even with what I heard." 237. from her birth, from the date of her birth. 239. that ... soul! the recollection of that dwells vividly in my mind; cp. A. C. v. 2. 117, "The record of what injuries you did us, Though written in our flesh, we shall remember As things but done by chance": record, here with the accent on the second syllable. 240. He finished ... act, his part on the stage of life was played out; a metaphor from the theatre. 242, 3. If nothing ... attire, if nothing but this dress of a man, which I have put on without having any right to it, hinders us from being happy; for lets to, see Abb. § 349; 'let' meaning 'hinder' is from the A.S. lettan, to hinder; 'let' meaning 'allow,' from A.S. laetn, to allow. 245, 6. do cohere ... Viola, agree and tally in proving that I am Viola; for jump, cp. Oth. 1. 3. 5, "they jump not on a just account." 247. bring you to, take, conduct, you to. 248. my maiden weeds, the dress I wore when in my true character of a maiden; weeds, in this sense, is frequent in Shakespeare: for where, = at whose house, cp. R. J. ii. 4. 193, "Bid her devise Some means to come to shrift this afternoon; And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell Be shrived and married"; Grant White reads 'captain's.' 249. to serve, with the result of my serving; for preserv'd, Theobald reads 'preferr'd.' 250, 1. All the ... lord, everything that has happened, fallen to my lot since, has had to do either with this lady or this lord. 252. mistook, for the form, see Abb. § 343. 253. But nature ... that, but nature in that matter was guided by her own proper tendency: to, in the direction given by the bias; the 'bias' was a weight let into a bowl (in the game of bowls) which caused it to take an indirect course to reach its goal. 255. by my life, I swear by my life. 258, 9. If this ... wreck. Treating of the parenthetic use of 'as' in its demonstrative meaning of 'so,' Abb. § 110, remarks on this passage, "The Duke has called the appearance of the twins 'a natural perspective that is and is not, i.e. a glass that produces an optical delusion of two persons instead of one. He now says: 'if they are two, brother and sister (and indeed, spite of my incredulity, the perspective or glass seems to be no delusion), then I shall,' etc. The curious introduction of the 'wreck' suggests that the glass called up the thought of the 'pilot's glass' (M. for M. ii. 1. 168)." 262. over-swear, swear over again. 263. And all ... soul, and keep all those oaths to the spirit as well as to the letter as truly, etc. 264, 5. As doth ... night, Wright inferentially points out that two constructions are possible here, (1) as truly as the firmament (that orbed continent), keeps the fire that severs, etc., i.e. the sun, (2) as truly as that orbed continent, viz., the fire (i.e, the sun) that severs, etc., keeps (i.e, on in his orbit): the objection to the latter construction is merely that keep would be used transitively in the clause And all, etc., and intransitively in the clause which is compared with it. CJp. Marlowe, ii. Tamburlaine, ii. 4. 2, "The golden ball of heaven's eternal fire," which supports the latter interpretation. 268. upon some action, in consequence of some deed of his. 269. Is now ... suit, is now in prison, having been prosecuted by Malvolio: durance, "The sense of imprisonment, common in Shakespeare, comes from that of long suffering or long endurance of hardship" (Skeat, Ety. Dict.). 271. enlarge, release; cp. H. V. ii. 2. 40, "Enlarge the man committed yesterday." 273. much distract, much out of his mind; for the form distract, see Abb. § 342. 274. extracting, if the reading is right, dragging me away from all other thoughts, as 'ecstasy' is lit. standing out of one's senses. Malone quotes The Historie of Hamlet, 1608, "to try if men of great account be extract out of their wits"; Hanmer reads 'distracting.' 275. his, sc. remembrance, all thought of him; for clearly, Abbott compares the expression "I have fairly forgotten it." 276. How does he? how is he? how does he fare now? 277, 8. he holds ... do; he keeps the devil at a good distance (something more than at arm's length, as we say) as well as a man as mad as he is, may do: stave, merely another form of 'staff': writ, for this form, see Abb. § 343. 279. to-day morning, this morning; to-day, is properly 'for the day,' and so this day. 279, 80. as a madman's ... gospels, as a madman's letters have nothing sacred about them; an allusion to the 'epistle' and 'gospel' (portions of the epistles and the gospels in the sacred canon appointed to be read in the Service of the Church): gospel, " — A.S. god, God; spell, a story, history, narrative ... Thus the lit. sense is 'the narrative of God,' i.e. the life of Christ" ... (Skeat, Ety. Dict.): skills not, does not matter; cp. T. S. iii. 2. 134, "whate'er he be It skills not much." 283. edified, lit. build up, i.e. instructed: when the fool ... madman, when the fool has to read the writings of the madman; cp. Temp. ii. 1. 45, "as he most learnedly delivered"; but the word in this sense is very frequent in Shakespeare. 285. art tbou mad? probably referring to the wild gestures and loud voice of the Clown as he begins to read. 286. read madness, read the mad language which Malvolio has set down. 286, 7. an your ... Vox, Malone supposes that the Clown, being reprimanded by Olivia for his loud voice and wild gestures, means to say, "If you would have it read in character, as such a mad epistle ought to be read, you must permit me to assume a frantic tone." 288. i' thy right wits, read what is written there without any extravagant commentary of your own. 289, 90. but to read ... thus, but if I am to read what he really says, I must read in this way: perpend, weigh, consider, his words; an affectation used by Shakespeare's clowns, as in A. Y. L. iii. 2. 69, "Learn of the wise and perpend"; also by the solemn Polonius, Haml. ii. 2. 105, and the braggart Pistol, H. V. iv. 4. 8. 293, 4. into darkness, the dark house of iii. 4. 124. 296. induced ... on, induced me to that fashion of dress which I assumed. 297, 8. with the which ... shame, by the production of which letter I expect to prove myself clearly right, or to put you to great shame if you disown it and refuse to act up to it; for the which, see Abb. § 270. 298, 9. I leave ... injury, in the language I use I in a measure lay aside the duty I owe to you and speak as the wrong done to me dictates; an allusion to the subscription of duty at the end of letters to a superior. 303. savours not, has not much taste of, has little sign of; cp. above, 1. 115, and H. V. i. 2. 295, "his jest will but savour of shallow wit." 305, 6. so please ... wife, provided it pleases you, when these matters have been further considered (sc. the business about Malvolio), to think of me as a sister (which I shall be if you marry Viola), as well as a wife (which I shall be by marrying Sebastian); possibly with the secondary meaning of thinking as well of her as a sister as he would have thought of her as his wife: for the part, used with a noun absolute in these things ... on, see Abb. § 376. 307. One day ... on 't, one and the same day shall ratify this alliance of wife and sister, shall make me wife to Sebastian and sister to you by your marriage with Viola. 308. proper, own. 309. apt, ready. 310. quits you, gives you your discharge as an attendant. 311. So much ... sex, so greatly against your constitution, temperament, as a woman; for mettle, cp. iii. 4. 250, "I care not who knows so much of my mettle." 312. So far beneath, so unworthy of. 314. Here is my hand, i.e. which shall make you your master's mistress. 315. A sister! ... she, i.e. I embrace you as a sister. 320. You must not, it is impossible for you to, etc.; for must, see Abb. 314. 321. Write ... phrase, write differently from it, if you can, either in regard to handwriting or expression; i.e. you cannot write, etc.: for from, see Abb. § 158. 322. invention, device, stratagem. 323. grant it, admit that it is yours in every respect. 324. in the ... honour, with due regard to modesty and truth. 325. such clear ... favour, such plain indications of your regard for me. 327. To put on, for 'to' omitted and afterwards inserted in the same sentence, see Abb. § 350. 328. the lighter people, people of less consequence. 329. And, acting ... imprisoned, and why have you allowed me, who acted in this way out of obedience to you and hope of your love, to be, etc. 332. geck, dupe; cp. Cymb. v. 4. 67, "the geck and scorn O' th' other's villany"; said to be derived from A.S. geac a cuckoo, but, as Wright points out, "the cuckoo of real life is anything but a dupe." 333. That e'er ... on, that ever inventive faculty played upon, as a man plays upon an instrument. 335. character, handwriting. 338-40. then earnest ... letter, then, i.e. just after she told me you were mad, you came in smiling, and in such dress and such behaviour as were indicated, previously imposed upon you, as the conditions on which you might expect to please me; for such ... which, see Abb. § 278: be content, be satisfied. 341. This practice ... thee, this trick has been played upon you in a most villanous manner; shrewdly, mischievously, lit. cursedly. 342. grounds, the bottom, origin. 345. to come, in the future. 346, 7. Taint ... at, infect the happiness of the present hour which is so great and unlooked for that it has filled me with wonder. 347. it shall not, i.e. that it shall not. 349. Set this ... here, put this trap in Malvolio's way; or, perhaps, instigated this plot against Malvolio. 350. Upon some ... him, in consequence of some harshness and discourtesy which we considered him to have shown towards us; there seems to be a mixture of metaphors between 'some harshness, etc., which we fancied we saw in him,' and 'some harshness, etc., for which we conceived ill will against him.' Possibly we should read 'in' for against, as Tyrwhitt conjectured, against being caught from 1. 350, above. For upon, meaning in consequence of, see Abb. § 191. 352. Importance, importunity; cp. K. J. ii. 1. 7, "At our importance hither has he come." "Fabian seems to have invented this to screen Maria" (Wright). 353. he hath married her, "though a short time before he was hopelessly drunk, and sent off to bed to get his wounds healed" (Wright). 354, 5. How with ... revenge, the merry spite with which the trick was followed up, is more likely, when described, to provoke laughter than a desire for revenge. 358. poor fool, said with commiseration, not scorn: baffled, see note on ii. 5. 144. 359. some are born ... them, quoting from the forged letter. 361. interlude, properly a farcical play performed in the intervals of a festivity, such as that in Act. v. of L. L. L. 363. Madam, why laugh, etc., Malvolio's sarcasms in i. 5. 76, etc., though slightly altered, as in the case of thrown for 'thrust' in 1. 361. 364, 5, the whirligig ... revenges, time as it revolves brings in its revenges, the time comes when one gets one's revenge, one has only to wait. 370. When ... convents, probably, when a happy moment serves, is convenient, though elsewhere Shakespeare uses 'convent' as = summon. 371, 2. A solemn ... souls, our souls shall be united by the solemn ceremony of marriage. 374. For so ... be, for that shall be your name. 376. fancy's, love's, as frequently. 377. and was often superfluously inserted in old ballads like this. 379. was but a toy, was regarded as nothing but a trifle. 391. toss-pots, drunkards. 395. But that's all one, but that does not matter. Staunton points out that this "was evidently one of those jigs with which it was the rude custom of the Clown to gratify the groundlings upon the conclusion of a play." ________ How to cite the explanatory notes:________ |
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