Scene 1
1 brother: Brother-in-law (he has just married Charles’s sister Margaret).
3 religious league: Between the Catholics and Protestants.
8 fuelled: Perpetuated, continuing the imagery of lines 6–7.
12 queen-mother: Catherine de’ Medici, who retained many of the powers of a regent.
49 house of Bourbon: The Bourbon family, rulers of Navarre, now allied to the royal family of Valois.
52 beats his brains: Racks his brains.
53 pitched… toil: Set… snare.
Scene 2
1–2 Hymen… lights: The frown of the god of marriage and the dim candles on his altars would be unpropitious to the wedding-day.
11 prove and guerdon: Test and reward.
31 perform: Bring about, execute (with a suggestion of his ‘tragic part’ (28)).
32 crowns: Coins (the French ‘écues’ of 61).
34–5 deep-engendered thoughts… flames: Plans conceived in secret to reveal themselves in all their violence.
37 levelled: Guessed, speculated (‘level at’ = take aim at).
38 peril… happiness: Proverbial (Tilley D28, 35).
41 hangs: Like easily picked fruit.
43 pyramides: (Four syllables) pyramids, high spires or obelisks.
49 attendance: ‘Waiting the leisure, convenience, or decision of a superior’ (OED 4).
63 dispensation: A licence to break ecclesiastical law without punishment.
64–5 And by… religion: And with that privilege (the dispensation) to work with, I have shaped religion to suit political expediency.Proverbial: Tilley R63.
66 Diabole: (Mixed French and Italian) the Devil.
74 So that… name: So that in effect he is king in name only.
81 As: Such as.
84 of my knowledge… keeps: To my knowledge in one monastery there live…
86 comprised: (i) Contained, (ii) comprehended, imagined.
98 As Caesar: Guise likens himself to Julius Caesar throughout the play, especially because of his unscrupulous acquisition of power (see The Jew of Malta, Prologue 19).
106 against: I.e. into.
Scene 3
13 late suspicion of: Recent suspicions entertained about.
18 passion: (Here) malady, affliction.
28 fresh supply: I.e. of grief.
Scene 4
2 fatal: Fated, doomed. The Huguenots are spoken of as trapped animals.
7–8 under safety… protection: Apparently the king has given the Huguenot nobles his personal assurance of their safety (‘challenge’ = claim).
24 nephew: Kinsman.
34 ordinance: Artillery (a metrically more suitable form of ordnance).
35 set: Beset (as with a net).
36 watchword: Signal.
50.2. SD Enter: Presumably Charles’s walk upstage to the discovery-space to find the Admiral indicated a change of location.
64 Cossin: Emended from O’s Cosin to distinguish the name of the captain of the guard (cf. 5.19) from ‘cousin’ applied generically to a kinsman.
Scene 5
12 entrance: First part, beginning.
23.1 SD the ADMIRAL’S house: Line 32 indicates that the murder of the Admiral occurs in the stage gallery.
37 missed him near: Just failed to kill him.
38 Shatillian: Châtillon, one of Admiral Coligny’s titles.
40 despite: Contempt.
45 Mount Faucon: Montfaucon, where hanged corpses were left to decompose.
47 thereon: I.e. on the cross of a gibbet.
51 partial: (i) Unfair, (ii) incomplete (in massacring the Huguenots).
Scene 6
1 Tue, tue, tue: Kill, kill, kill.
Scene 7
1 follow Loreine: Punning on ‘follow Lorraine’, the war-cry of the Guise faction.
5 ‘Dearly beloved brother’: Guise mimics the words of a Protestant preacher.
6 Stay… psalm: Anjou continues Guise’s joke, mocking the singing of psalms at Protestant services.
Scene 8
6 ha’t: Have it (O’s hate may indicate its pronunciation).
7 O… death: The line is identical with Shakespeare, 3 Henry VI, 1.3.35.
10–11 Christ… saint: Protestants objected to the Catholic practice of prayer to the saints. Mountsorrell parodically refuses to let Seroune pray to God.
12 Sanctus Jacobus: Saint James. Cf. 24.33 and The Jew of Malta 3.4.76n.
Scene 9
0.1 SD in his study: Probably the discovery-space, filled with books.
1 Seine: For O’s Rene, as at line 57.
24 smack in: Smattering of.
26 scoff’ dst the Organon: Scoffed at Aristotle’s dissertations on logic, collectively known as the Organon (= instrument).
28 flat dichotomist: Outright dichotomizer. In logic, dichotomy was a method (rejected by Aristotle) for dividing a class or genus into two component classes or genera.
29 seen in… epitomes: Well versed only in abridgements. (Ramus shortened and simplified Aristotelian logic.)
31 preach in Germany: Apparently a reference to the distrust of traditional scholastic logic (upon which much Catholic orthodoxy was founded) in the doctrinal expositions of Lutheran preachers.
32 Excepting… axioms: Raising objections to the axioms (for O’s actions) of the Doctors of the Church.
33 ipse dixi: I myself have said, i.e. citing oneself as an authority for an argument.
quiddity: Quibble (from quidditas, the scholastic term for the essence of a thing).
34 Argumentum… inartificiale: An argument from testimony is inadequate, i.e. an argument is not proven by the authority of the person who makes it. Guise ironically disproves this argument in the next lines.
36 nego argumentum: I deny the argument.
41 purge myself: Clear myself (of an imputation).
43 Scheckius: O’s Shekins highlights the obscurity of Ramus’s opponent. See (N).
44 my places… his: Ramus claimed to have successfully reduced the loci or ‘topics’ (‘places’) of Aristotelian logic to three categories.
46 reduced: Compressed, ‘digested’.
50 Sorbonnists: (For O’s thorbonest) scholars from the Sorbonne, the theology faculty of the University of Paris.
55 collier’s son: Despite aristocratic descent, Ramus’s father made money by producing and selling charcoal.
65 pedants: Schoolmasters.
72 stay this broil: Stop this violence.
75 rose: Got up (from bed).
79 whip you: Like a schoolmaster whipping his pupils.
86 the devil’s matins: Since the massacre began at dawn, the bell which signalled its beginning was like a diabolical parody of the bell which sounded to morning service.
88 convey him closely: Steal secretly.
Scene 10
This scene inserts into the action events that occurred a year later, probably for the sake of ironic juxtaposition.
2 Prince Electors: Princes who possessed the right to elect a monarch.
11 Muscovites: The forces of Muscovy in Russia, led by Ivan the Terrible.
Scene 11
4–5 his body… him: Infectious diseases were believed to be communicated by foul air.
22 synagogue: Hebrew terminology was sometimes applied (sardonically, by their enemies) to the Puritans.
26 gather head again: Regroup their forces.
38 let me alone for that: Leave that to me.
45 storm… doum: Complain… overthrow them.
Scene 13
Charles died in 1574 (by poison, Marlowe’s sources suggested); the Queen-Mother’s conduct here, coming after her last speech in scene 11, hints strongly at her responsibility for his death.
2 griping: (Here) agonizing.
9–12 I have… no worse: Admitting that he has deserved divine vengeance (‘a scourge’) for his complicity in the massacre of the Huguenots, Charles nonetheless exonerates them in their patient suffering (‘patien
ce’) of any part in his death, and prays that his ‘nearest friends’ are similarly innocent.
28 Polony: Poland (from Latin Polonia, which may be the pronunciation here).
35 It… just succession: Navarre is next in line to the French throne (ignoring Anjou’s historical younger brother: cf. 14.63–4 and 21.105).
43 march with: (i) Be associated with, (ii) be joined to the host of.
46–7 In spite… wrongfully: Parenthetically inserted into the promise to crown him king in Pamplona, the capital of Navarre.
Scene 14
0.1 SD vive le roi: May the king live.
0.4 SD Minions: (i) Favourites, (ii) homosexual lovers.
15 And yield… deserts: And grant that your intentions towards me are as good as I deserve.
20 his bent: Its natural inclination (Oliver 1968); ‘slack’ suggests a metaphorical application of the stringing of a bow in archery.
30.1–2 SD He cuts… his cloak: No historical source for this incident is known.
40 barriers: Combats between two men on foot armed with short swords, conducted inside barriers or ‘lists’.
tourney: Tournaments fought in groups.
tilt: Combat on horseback with lance or spear.
54 power: Force.
55 are: For O’s as.
56 house of Bourbon: I.e. the royal house of Navarre.
63–4 I’ll dispatch… diadem: I’ll send him the way of his elder brother, and then his younger brother (known as ‘monsieur’) will be king.
67 lord: O’s Lords must be wrong in the light of 42.1–2SD.
Scene 15
3 Mugeroun: His role is conflated with that of the duchess’s historical lover Saint-Mégrin.
16 good array: I.e. bad handwriting (ironically, and to stop Guise looking).
23 trothless and unjust: Disloyal and false.
25–6 Or hath… text?: Is my love for you so inadequate that it needs to be supplemented by others, as an obscure text demands the attentions of commentators?
31 Mort dieu! Were’t not: God’s death! Were it not for.
Scene 16
8 defend… inventions: Defend ourselves against their plots.
16 brunt: (Here) conflict.
19 Spain: I.e. the king of Spain.
20–25 The power… revenge: Obscure, perhaps because of faulty reporting. Navarre seems to be saying that his breast is now occupied with bloody thoughts, as by an army (‘power’) with its menacing red banners; but that his desire for revenge will be altered (to a more benign disposition), like leaves changing colour, once he has defeated his enemies. Alternatively, though he is currently compelled to meet violence with violence, he does not expect his enemies to live up to their menacing show once he has defeated them.
35 thereon do they stay: They are waiting for the appointment of a general.
38 countervail: (Here) repay, be worth.
41 And makes… security: And takes his ease in his over-confidence of safety.
Scene 17
5 suffer’t: (For O’s suffer) endure it. 14.1 SD makes horns: The sign of the cuckold.
28 Par… mourra!: By God’s death, he shall die!
37 may… dead: I.e. He will not be the man to kill me.
41 shake off… heels: (i) Stop her loving me, but (ii) while heels are raised in lovemaking.
Scene 18
0.1 SD The DUKE JOYEUX slain: Oliver 1968 treats this as an offstage cry, rather than an indication of stage-action.
17 relics: A jibe at Catholic reverence for the relics of saints and martyrs.
Scene 19
For the fuller version of the opening of this scene preserved in a manuscript in the Folger Shakespeare Library, see Appendix.
2 counterfeit… door: A bawdy reference to the affair between Mugeroun and the duchess of Guise.
4–5 forestall… should not: I.e. he steals the Guise’s trade (‘market’) and sets up a stall (‘standing’, with a pun on ‘erection’) in a forbidden place (the duchess).
6–8 landlord… land: Mugeroun exercises rights of ownership over the duchess.
7 occupy: With the sense of sexual ‘possession’.
10 gear: (i) Plan, (ii) weapon.
12 this: Money.
25 in the cause: In the matter.
30 I am… Valois’ line: Guise claims alliance with the French royal family.
31 Bourbonites: Navarre’s lineage.
32 juror… Holy League: One who has sworn allegiance to the Holy Christian League (established in 1576 to promote die interests of the Catholic Church in France).
35 able: (Here) sufficiently wealthy.
37 foreign exhibition: A pension from abroad.
45 sectious: Sectarian, factious (for O’s sexious).
50 them: The ‘Puritans’ (45).
55–6 –dictator… senator: In times of crisis, the Roman republic elected a single leader (dictator) to exercise the powers usually vested in the Senate.
placet: Latin, it pleases (me), a form of giving assent in an assembly.
62 simple meaning: Innocent intentions.
73 His Holiness’: The Pope’s.
83 And so… suspect: ‘And in such a way as to clear you from all suspicion’ (Oliver 1968) or, and so rid you of any further anxiety (about Guise).
88 tragical: Disposed to create a tragedy.
Scene 20
23 vantage: Vantage-ground (a military term).
Scene 21
1 bent: Determined.
27 Holà, varlet, hé: Guise calls for a page (French varlet).
28 Mounted… cabinet: Gone up into his private apartments.
65 Yet Caesar… forth: Julius Caesar ignored portents of his impending murder. This line recurs in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (2.2.28).
71 As pale as ashes: Possibly Guise inspects his ‘looks’ (68) in a mirror, or the phrase may refer to an intensification of the third murderer’s ‘ghastly’ look (57).
look about: Be on one’s guard.
81 Sixtus: Pope Sixtus V. See (N).
82 Philip and Parma: King Philip II of Spain and his general (N). Cf. Doctor Faustus 1.95n.
85 Vive la messe!: Long live die mass!
101 Douai… Rheims: Under the patronage of the duke of Guise, a number of students who had been expelled from the seminary at Douai were resettled at Rheims. The Elizabethan authorities were deeply fearful of the seminary at Rheims which was often used to harbour Catholic converts from England (see Introduction, p. xi).
103 Spain’s huge fleet: I.e. the Spanish Armada.
105 monsieur that’s deceased: The duke of Alençon, whose death in 1584 left Navarre the heir to the throne. Cf. 14.63–4n
109 make me monk: Subject me to a life of monastic austerity.
114 yoked: Restrained (as by a yoke).
126 that… cardinal: The Cardinal of Lorraine, whom Marlowe has already made partly responsible for the massacre of 1572.
130 These two… Guise: Together these two are as dangerous as one duke of Guise.
144 changeling: Unnatural children were sometimes supposed to be substitutes left by fairies who stole the real child from its cradle.
145 exclaim thee miscreant: Proclaim you an evildoer (infidel).
155 insult: Exult (over the Catholics).
158 all for thee: All as a result of your death.
Scene 22
13 drench: Drown.
16 pluck amain: Pull with full force.
Scene 23
3 The king’s alone… satisfy: The King’s death alone is not enough (to avenge the death of my brother).
5 stay: Support.
11 He: I.e. King Henry.
13–14 But that’s… Rome: Syntax and punctuation are unclear (and O repeats His life at the beginning of line 14). Dumaine can forestall (‘prevent’) the plot against him by killing the king and the other enemies of the Church.
15 durst: Dared.
23–4, 27–8 I am… meritorious: Religious orders were regarded with
deep suspicion by Protestants in England, who believed that the Catholic Church sanctioned the murder of Protestant monarchs (such as Elizabeth).
24 Jacobins: Dominicans (from the church of St Jacques in Paris).
Scene 24
13 lie before Lutetia walls: Besiege Paris, here given its Latin name (for O’s Lucrecia).
14 strumpet: Disloyal (Paris supported the Guisards).
16 cast: (i) Vomit up, (ii) throw down.
stomach: (i) Stomach-contents, (ii) courage.
18 President of Paris: The chief officer of the parlement (local assembly) of Paris.
30 speedy: Hastily written.
33 Sancte Jacobus: Inconsistently inflected Latin vocatives.
41 pagans’ parts: Unchristian actions.
42 . hold them of: Claim to belong to.
47 his: Emended from O’s their.
52 search: Examine with probe.
60–63 These bloody hands… holy earth: These lines are a mangled recollection of Edward the Second, 4.99–101.
62 crazèd: Unsound.
66 practices: Plots.
78 new-found death: Newly devised method of killing.
98 whet… Sixtus’ bones: Sharpen your sword on the Pope’s bones (i.e. if Sixtus V is, as he was at the time of Henri Ill’s murder in 1589, still alive, kill him).
109–10 As Rome… king: For the unintended historical irony, see headnote to this play.
The Complete Plays Page 65