Twelfth Night

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Twelfth Night Page 20

by William Shakespeare


  36 state ... for situation is hopeless with regard to 38 thriftless unprofitable

  Act 2 Scene 3

  1 Approach come

  2 betimes early diluculo surgere (... saluberrimum est) "to get up early is most healthy" (Latin proverb) 6 can drinking vessel

  9 lives i.e. living beings (Sir Andrew interprets as "way of life") 9 four elements earth, air, fire, and water, from which everything was thought to be made 13 Marian variant of Mary/Maria

  13 stoup drinking vessel/measure of alcohol

  15 hearts fine friends

  15 picture ... three captioned picture showing two fools or asses, so that the spectator is the third 17 catch musical round

  18 breast set of lungs, singing voice

  19 leg for dancing, or bowing before singing

  20 thou wast you were

  22 Pigrogromitus ... Queubus words invented by Feste as examples of his feigned wisdom 22 equinoctial equator

  24 leman sweetheart

  24 Hadst it? Did you receive it?

  25 impeticos i.e. pocket up

  25 gratillity gratuity (another invented word)

  26 whipstock whip-handle

  26 Myrmidons Achilles' followers; possible play on "Mermaid Inn," a tavern in Shakespeare's London 27 bottle-ale houses low-class taverns

  32 testril of sixpenny coin from

  34 song ... life drinking song (Sir Andrew interprets good as "virtuous, moral") 39 high and low i.e. in terms of pitch or volume 40 Trip go, skip

  40 sweeting darling

  45 hereafter in the future

  47 still always

  48 plenty profit

  49 and twenty an intensifier (the singer's lover is "twenty times sweet") 50 stuff quality/material

  51 true honest/legitimate

  52 contagious breath infectious breath/catchy song

  54 hear ... nose i.e. if we inhaled sound

  54 dulcet in contagion sweetly contagious

  55 welkin sky

  55 rouse startle/wake

  56 three souls three singers would have thrice the effect; powerful music was supposed to draw forth the soul 57 weaver often associated with psalm-singing, so to excite one with a drinking song would be a real achievement 58 dog i.e. good (Feste plays on the literal sense) 59 By'r lady by Our Lady, the Virgin Mary

  60 'Thou knave' the words of the round

  61 Hold thy peace be quiet (subsequent dialogue plays on "piece," penis) 62 constrained compelled

  67 keep make

  68 steward manager of household affairs

  70 Catayan Catharan (puritan)

  70 politicians schemers

  71 Peg-a-Ramsey spying wife in a popular ballad

  71 'Three ... we' popular refrain from a song

  72 consanguineous blood-related

  72 Tillyvally nonsense

  73 'There ... lady!' the opening and refrain of a song about the biblical tale of Susanna and the Elders 74 Beshrew curse

  76 grace charm

  76 natural convincingly/idiotically

  77 'O ... December' from an unidentified song, possibly an erroneous reference to the twelfth day of Christmas (i.e. Twelfth Night) 80 wit good sense

  80 honesty decorum

  80 tinkers popularly viewed as drunkards

  82 squeak out i.e. sing shrilly

  82 coziers' cobblers'

  83 mitigation or remorse considerate lowering

  85 Sneck up! Shut up!/Buzz off!

  86 round blunt

  87 harbours lodges

  88 nothing allied not related to

  92 'Farewell ... gone' over the next few lines Sir Toby and Feste adapt lines from a contemporary ballad 95 Is't even so? Is that the way things are?

  100 an if if

  101 spare not spare him not/be merciless

  103 Out o' tune false

  103 Art are (you)

  105 cakes and ale i.e. festivity, particularly abhorrent to one with puritan tendencies 106 Saint Anne mother of the Virgin Mary; another anti-puritan dig 106 ginger spice in ale/aphrodisiac

  108 rub ... crumbs polish your chain of office (reminding Malvolio of his servant status) 110 prized valued

  111 contempt disrespect/disobedience

  111 give means i.e. provide drink

  112 rule behavior

  113 Go ... ears i.e. like an ass; a dismissive insult 115 a-hungry (very) hungry

  115 the field to a duel

  120 out of quiet agitated

  121 For as for

  121 let ... him leave him to me

  122 gull trick

  122 nayword byword (for stupidity)

  123 recreation source of amusement

  125 Possess inform

  126 puritan overly strict moralist; not necessarily a member of the extreme Protestant religious movement 128 exquisite ingenious/excellent

  133 constantly consistently

  133 time-pleaser time-server, flatterer

  133 affectioned pretentious

  133 cons ... book learns high-flown expressions by heart 134 by great swarths in broad sweeps (like quantities of scythed hay) 134 The best persuaded having the highest opinion 136 excellencies excellent features/accomplishments 136 grounds of faith foundations of belief

  140 obscure epistles ambiguous letters

  142 expressure expression

  143 complexion appearance/coloring/temperament

  143 feelingly personated accurately represented

  144 on ... matter when we have forgotten the circumstances in which something was written or what it was about 145 make distinction of distinguish between

  145 hands handwriting

  146 device plot

  153 Ass puns on "as"

  155 physic medicine/treatment

  157 construction interpretation

  158 event outcome

  159 Penthesilea Queen of the Amazons; probably refers to Maria's shortness 160 Before me mild oath like "upon my soul"

  161 beagle skillful hunting dog

  166 recover obtain/win

  166 foul way out miserably far from success/badly out of pocket 168 cut cart-horse (castrated or with docked tail)/vagina 170 burn warm/sweeten with burnt sugar

  170 sack Spanish white wine

  Act 2 Scene 4

  2 but (I want to hear) only

  3 antique quaint/old

  4 passion suffering

  5 airs melodies

  5 recollected terms studied, artificial expressions

  13 the while in the meantime

  17 Unstaid and skittish unsettled and fickle

  17 motions else other emotions

  18 constant faithful (contemplation of the)

  20 gives ... throned reflects the heart exactly

  22 masterly from experience/knowingly

  24 stayed lingered

  24 favour face

  26 by your favour if you please (plays on the sense of "on your face") 31 still always

  32 wears she she adapts herself

  33 sways she level swings in perfect balance/exerts constant influence 35 fancies infatuations

  36 worn exhausted

  38 I ... well I believe it

  40 hold the bent hold steady (from archery: holding the bow taut) 42 displayed unfurled, in full bloom

  47 Mark take note of

  48 spinsters spinners

  49 free carefree/innocent

  49 weave ... bones make lace with bone bobbins

  49 Do use are accustomed

  49 silly sooth simple truth

  50 dallies deals lightly/toys

  51 old age bygone times, good old days

  54 away here

  55 cypress cypress-wood coffin/among sprigs of cypress (associated with mourning) 58 stuck adorned, strewn

  58 yew yew twigs, also emblematic of mourning

  60 My ... it I am the truest lover who ever died for love 63 strewn pronounced "strown"

  73 pleasure ... paid with pain (proverbial)

  75 leave to lea
ve permission to dismiss

  76 melancholy god Saturn, thought to govern melancholy dispositions 77 doublet close-fitting jacket

  77 changeable taffeta shot silk, the color of which changes depending on the light 78 opal iridescent gem of changeable color

  78 men ... constancy i.e. inconstant men

  79 their ... everywhere "he that is everywhere is nowhere" (proverbial) 80 that's ... nothing that's the attitude that considers a useless voyage to be profitable 82 give place leave

  85 dirty dishonorably acquired/despicable/muddy

  86 parts attributes, i.e. wealth

  87 giddily lightly

  87 fortune traditionally held to be fickle

  88 miracle ... gems i.e. Olivia's beauty

  89 pranks adorns

  96 be answered satisfied

  98 bide withstand

  100 retention the power to retain (emotion)

  101 appetite desire/fancy

  102 motion impulse/emotion

  102 liver thought to be the seat of strong passion 102 palate organ of taste, i.e. easily satisfied 103 suffer undergo

  103 surfeit sickening overindulgence

  103 cloyment excessive gratification

  103 revolt revulsion (of appetite)

  104 mine i.e. my love

  105 compare comparison

  107 owe have for

  115 history story

  118 damask pink, like the damask rose

  119 green and yellow sickly, pale and sallow

  120 patience ... monument carved figure on a memorial 123 shows outward displays

  123 are more have more substance

  123 will our desires

  123 still always

  128 to go to

  131 give no place not give way

  131 denay denial

  Act 2 Scene 5

  1 Come thy ways come along

  2 scruple tiny amount

  3 boiled puns on (black) "bile," the cause of melancholy; also a joke, since melancholy was a cold, dry humor 4 niggardly mean-minded

  5 sheep-biter nasty, shifty fellow (literally, a dog that attacks sheep) 7 bear-baiting a pastime that was particularly disapproved of by puritans 9 fool ... blue bruise him (metaphorically) with fooling 10 pity ... lives a pity we should live

  12 metal of India i.e. pure gold, treasure

  13 box-tree thick evergreen shrub used in ornamental gardens 14 walk path

  15 behaviour courtly gestures

  17 contemplative preoccupied/mindlessly gazing

  17 Close stay hidden

  19 tickling i.e. flattery; one method of catching trout is to stroke them under their gills 21 she Olivia

  21 affect love/feel fondness for

  21 thus near i.e. close to saying

  22 fancy love

  23 uses treats

  24 follows serves

  25 overweening arrogant/overambitious

  26 rare splendid

  26 turkey-cock a proverbially proud, vain bird

  27 jets struts

  27 advanced plumes raised feathers

  28 'Slight (by) God's light

  32 Pistol shoot

  34 example precedent

  34 lady ... wardrobe unknown allusion to the marriage of a woman to her social inferior 35 yeoman ... wardrobe servant in charge of household clothes and linen 36 Jezebel in the Bible, proud wife of Ahab, King of Israel; term for a wicked, deceptive, or lascivious woman 37 in absorbed in his own fantasies

  38 blows him puffs him up

  40 state canopied chair of state

  41 stone-bow crossbow that shoots stones

  42 officers household servants

  42 branched embroidered with a branched pattern or with images of foliage 43 daybed sofa/bed for daytime reclining (with sexual associations) 47 humour of state temperament/power of one in authority 48 demure ... regard solemn survey of the room and company 49 would wish

  49 Toby Malvolio omits "Sir"

  50 Bolts and shackles! restraints for a prisoner

  52 people servants

  52 start sudden movement

  52 make out go

  53 perchance perhaps

  54 my-- perhaps chain of office, which Malvolio momentarily forgets he would not be wearing, but he could be referring to anything; a genital quibble is probably present 55 curtsies bows

  57 cars chariots/carts, i.e. by torture

  60 familiar friendly

  60 regard of control authoritative look

  61 take strike, give

  62 Cousin kinsman

  63 prerogative due privilege, right

  66 scab scoundrel

  67 sinews muscles, strength

  73 employment business

  74 woodcock proverbially stupid bird

  74 gin trap

  75 humours whims, moods

  75 intimate suggest

  77 hand handwriting

  78 C's ... T's "cut" was slang for "vagina," but the joke may well be on "cunt" (with and as "n") 78 great P's uppercase P's/noble vagina ("piece")/copious urination 79 in contempt of beyond

  83 impressure imprint, seal

  83 Lucrece Olivia's seal-ring bears the image of Lucrece, Roman heroine who committed suicide after being raped 83 uses to seal customarily seals

  85 liver seat of passion

  90 numbers altered meter changed

  92 brock badger, used contemptuously

  94 Lucrece knife knife Lucrece used to kill herself

  96 sway rule

  97 fustian nonsensical/pompous (literally, inferior cloth) 101 What what a

  101 dressed prepared for

  102 wing flight/speed

  102 staniel kestrel, or small falcon

  102 checks swoops

  105 formal capacity normal intelligence

  105 obstruction obstacle

  106 position arrangement

  106 portend mean

  108 O, ay puns on the O ... I of M.O.A.I. make up work out 108 at ... scent has lost the trail

  109 Sowter name of a hound (a "souter" was a cobbler) 109 cry bark

  110 rank foul-smelling

  112 cur dog

  113 faults finding the scent again after the trail has gone cold 114 consonancy ... sequel consistency of pattern

  115 suffers holds up

  115 probation investigation

  116 O shall end O ends Malvolio's name/a cry of misery will end this business/the hangman's noose ends life 119 eye puns on Ay and I

  120 detraction defamation, slander

  121 simulation disguised meaning

  121 former earlier, clearer parts of the letter

  122 crush force a meaning from

  122 bow yield

  124 revolve consider (with play on "turn round," which may cue Malvolio to do so) 124 stars fortunes

  127 open their hands offer bounty

  127 blood and spirit i.e. all of you, body and soul 128 embrace willingly accept

  128 inure accustom

  128 like likely

  129 cast cast off

  129 slough outer skin

  129 opposite antagonistic/contradictory

  130 tang ... state ring out on political topics

  131 trick of singularity peculiar, distinctive behavior 133 ever at all times

  134 cross-gartered wearing garters crossed near the knee 134 Go to i.e. come on

  137 alter services exchange places of mistress and servant; with sexual innuendo 138 Fortunate-Unhappy i.e. wealthy, but lacking requited love 139 champaign open countryside

  139 open clear

  139 discovers reveals

  140 politic political/prudent

  140 baffle publicly disgrace

  141 gross dull/base

  141 point-device to the last detail

  143 jade deceive

  143 excites urges

  146 manifests herself to reveals herself as

  147 injunction order

  147 habits ways of dressing/behavior

  148 happ
y fortunate

  148 strange aloof

  148 stout proud, haughty

  152 entertainest welcome, accept

  154 still always

  158 Sophy Shah of Persia

  159 device plot

  164 gull-catcher fool-trapper/trickster

  165 Wilt ... neck? i.e. I submit totally to you 167 play gamble

  167 tray-trip type of dicing game

  168 bondslave slave

  173 aqua-vitae strong spirits, such as brandy

  174 fruits outcome

  180 contempt object of contempt

  181 Tartar Tartarus, hell of classical mythology

  183 make one join in, tag along

  Act 3 Scene 1

  3.1 tabor small drum

  1 Save God save

  1 live by earn your living with (Feste plays on the sense of by as "next to") 7 lies by dwells near/sleeps with

  8 stands is maintained

  9 stand is placed

  10 You have said you have had your say/fair enough 10 sentence saying

  11 cheveril kidskin (pliable leather)

  13 dally nicely play subtly/triflingly

  14 wanton uncontrolled, ambiguous/lecherous 19 bonds legal contracts

  19 disgraced them i.e. by suggesting that a man's word alone was not enough 21 yield give

  32 pilchards small fish that resemble herring 34 late recently

  35 orb planet, world

  36 but were it not for the fact that

  38 your wisdom i.e. you, a hired servant/fool 39 pass upon jest at/judge

  41 commodity supply

  43 for one wanting a beard/from love for a bearded man 46 these i.e. coins

  46 bred multiplied; Feste asks for more money 47 put to use invested for profit (plays on the sense of "having had sex") 48 Pandarus uncle to

  48 Phrygia country in Asia Minor where Troy was situated 48 Cressida and go-between for his niece and her lover Troilus

  53 Cressida ... beggar in some versions of the story, Cressida became a beggar with leprosy 54 conster explain

  55 out ... welkin beyond me

  55 welkin sky, heavens

  55 element sphere of knowledge/sky

  58 craves requires

  60 quality character/rank

  61 haggard untrained hawk

  61 check swoop

  62 practice occupation

  64 is fit suits the purpose

  65 folly-fall'n stooping to foolishness

  68 Dieu ... monsieur "God save you, sir" (French) 69 Et ... serviteur "And you, too. [I am] your servant" (French) 71 encounter approach/enter

  72 trade business, with sexual innuendo

  72 to with, concerning

  73 bound to heading for

  73 list limit, objective

  75 Taste try out

  76 understand support/comprehend

  79 gait and entrance corresponding nouns to Sir Toby's verbs; gait puns on "gate"

  80 prevented anticipated/forestalled

  81 the may the

  81 odours sweet smells

  85 hath no voice cannot be uttered

  86 pregnant receptive

  86 vouchsafed (kindly) bestowed, i.e. attentive 88 all ready committed to memory, ready for use 90 hearing audience (with Cesario)

  95 'Twas ... world proverbial: things haven't been the same 96 lowly feigning pretended modesty

  96 compliment courtesy

  98 yours your servant

 

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