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Richard III (Modern Library Classics)

Page 25

by William Shakespeare


  111 seat throne

  112 Threat threaten

  113 avouch't affirm, declare it

  114 adventure risk

  115 pains efforts (made on behalf of the king)

  116 Out exclamation of outrage and impatience

  119 Ere before

  120 packhorse workhorse

  121 proud ambitious, arrogant

  126 factious for on the side of, promoting dissent in the interests of 127 husband ... slain historically, Elizabeth's first husband, Sir John Grey, was killed fighting for the Lancastrians, although in 3 Henry VI (Act 3 Scene 2) he is depicted as having fought for the Yorkists 128 battle army

  130 ere this before now

  131 Withal moreover

  133 Clarence ... Warwick Clarence and the Earl of Warwick deserted the Yorkists; Clarence married Warwick's daughter, but later returned to the Yorkist cause, events that are depicted in 3 Henry VI

  133 father father-in-law

  134 forswore himself broke his oath (of loyalty)

  137 meed reward

  139 pitiful full of pity, compassionate

  140 childish-foolish innocent, inexperienced

  141 Hie hurry

  142 cacodemon evil spirit

  144 urge bring forward, offer as evidence

  157 pilled pillaged, robbed

  159 If ... rebels Even if you do not bow to me as your queen, then you tremble like the rebels who deposed me 161 gentle noble, high-born/kind

  161 villain low-born, rustic/scoundrel: the phrase is oxymoronic 162 mak'st thou are you doing

  163 But repetition of merely recounting

  163 marred destroyed

  164 make do

  167 abode remaining

  169 thou i.e. Elizabeth

  172 curse ... paper before his death, Richard Duke of York curses Margaret after she mockingly places a paper crown on his head (see 3 Henry VI, Act 1 Scene 4) 175 clout cloth

  176 pretty youthful, fine-looking

  176 Rutland York's young son; the episode with the cloth also appears in 3 Henry VI, Act 1 Scene 4

  179 plagued punished ceaselessly

  181 that babe i.e. Rutland

  184 No ... prophesied there was no man who did not prophesy 187 catch seize

  192 but answer for merely equal

  192 peevish foolish, childish/obstinate

  194 dull thick, dark, sluggish

  194 quick vigorous, lively, sharp

  195 surfeit sickness resulting from overindulgence

  199 like the same

  204 Decked adorned, dressed

  204 stalled installed

  208 standers-by bystanders, lookers-on

  212 unlooked unforeseen, unexpected

  213 charm magic spell, curse

  213 hag witch

  217 them i.e. the heavens

  220 still constantly

  220 begnaw eat away at, gnaw

  221 for to be

  223 deadly murderous

  226 elvish-marked physically marked by evil elves at birth 226 abortive monstrous, deformed

  226 rooting hog i.e. hunched and greedy; alludes to the boar on Richard's crest 227 sealed ... nativity branded at birth

  228 slave of nature slave to bestial natural impulses/one irredeemably marked out by nature 229 slander disgrace, shame

  229 heavy pregnant, weighty/sorrowful

  230 issue offspring

  231 rag discarded scrap

  232 Margaret Richard makes Margaret the subject of her insults to him 236 cry thee mercy beg your pardon

  238 looked for expected

  239 period end

  242 painted artificial/made-up with cosmetics

  242 vain flourish meaningless, frivolous adornment

  242 fortune (rightful) position

  243 bottled swollen (with venom), rounded, bottle-shaped 245 thou whet'st you are sharpening

  247 bunch-backed hunchbacked

  248 False-boding falsely prophesying

  248 frantic deranged, mad

  251 well served treated as befits you (Margaret maintains the sense of "treated" and adds the sense of "obeyed, paid respect to") 252 duty respect, deference

  256 Master Marquis Margaret contemptuously prefaces the aristocratic "marquis" with the form of address for an untitled man 256 malapert impertinent

  257 fire-new brand new, newly minted

  257 current valid, legitimate

  258 nobility continues the coining imagery with a quibble on "noble" (a gold coin) 264 so high this high (i.e. noble)

  265 eyrie nest/brood of young birds of prey (especially eagles, king of birds)/noble stock of children 266 dallies with teases, plays with

  266 scorns the sun eagles were thought to be able to gaze unblinkingly into the sun 267 sun puns on son

  272 suffer endure, permit

  278 My charity the charity I feel/the charity I am shown 278 outrage violence, hostility

  278 life my shame the only life I am allowed is a dishonorable one/I am ashamed to live 279 still perpetually

  283 fair good fortune

  285 compass bounds

  286 pass go any further than

  288 but anything other than that

  291 Look when whenever

  292 venom poisonous

  292 rankle inflict a festering wound

  294 marks blemishes/identifying insignia/aims, sights

  297 respect deem worthy of listening to

  299 soothe flatter, humor

  311 vantage advantages, benefits (i.e. being queen)

  311 her wrong the wrong done to her

  312 hot eager

  312 do somebody good i.e. help Edward to the crown 313 cold ungrateful, indifferent

  315 franked ... fatting penned in to be fattened up (for slaughter) 318 scathe harm

  319 well advised cautious

  324 wait upon attend

  326 mischiefs wicked, evil deeds

  326 abroach in motion

  327 lay ... of impose as a serious accusation against (i.e. blame on) 328 cast in darkness caused to be imprisoned (with connotations of death) 329 beweep cry over

  329 gulls idiots, gullible people

  331 allies supporters, relatives

  332 stir incite, stir up

  333 whet encourage, incite

  338 ends scraps

  341 hardy bold

  342 dispatch carry out (plays on the sense of "kill")

  346 repair make your way

  347 sudden swift

  348 obdurate inflexible, determined

  349 well-spoken articulate, persuasive

  350 mark pay attention to, listen to

  351 prate chat

  354 eyes drop millstones proverbial image of hard-heartedness 354 fall let fall, drop

  355 straight straightaway

  Act 1 Scene 4

  1.4 Location: the Tower of London

  1.4 Keeper guard (this role could be conflated with Brackenbury) 1 heavily sadly

  5 spend pass/expend (like money)

  6 Though 'twere even if it were

  7 dismal ominous, sinister

  13 hatches deck

  14 cited up recalled

  17 giddy swaying, unstable

  19 stay steady, restrain

  20 main sea

  27 Inestimable impossible to count or value

  27 unvalued priceless

  37 yield the ghost die

  37 envious flood malicious sea

  38 Stopped in shut up, blocked in

  39 vast boundless/empty

  40 bulk body

  42 sore serious, extreme

  45 melancholy flood the River Styx, which had to be crossed to get to Hades, the classical underworld 46 sour ferryman Charon, who ferried souls to Hades

  47 kingdom ... night Hades, the underworld

  48 stranger foreign, newly arrived

  50 perjury oath-breaking; Clarence broke his oath of allegiance to Warwick by returning to fight for the Yorkists after he and Warwi
ck had changed sides to support the Lancastrians 51 monarchy kingdom (the underworld)

  51 afford offer, give to

  53 shadow ghost (of Prince Edward, Henry VI's son)

  54 shrieked ghosts were traditionally supposed to speak in shrill voices 55 fleeting fickle, capricious

  56 field battlefield

  57 Furies in classical mythology, three female spirits of vengeance 58 legion army

  59 Environed surrounded

  61 season while, time

  64 though if

  68 requites rewards, repays

  73 prithee beg you (literally "I pray thee")

  74 heavy oppressed, burdened, sorrowful

  76 breaks cracks, disrupts

  76 seasons natural rhythms of time

  76 reposing hours time for rest

  77 noontide midday

  78 for as

  79 for at the cost of, as the result of

  80 for in exchange for

  80 unfelt imaginations abstract concepts that cannot actually be experienced, illusory glories 81 cares anxieties

  82 low name those of ordinary humble status

  83 fame reputation, name

  93 reason deduce, work out

  94 will want to

  96 signify to inform

  107 urging of bringing forth/emphasis on

  117 stay wait

  118 passionate humour emotional mood

  118 It ... me it usually lasts

  119 tells twenty counts to twenty

  130 entertain receive, be hospitable to

  134 checks rebukes

  134 lie have sex

  137 restore return

  138 keeps retains/maintains, supports

  139 for as

  140 well prosperously/virtuously

  144 him i.e. conscience

  145 insinuate ingratiate himself

  148 tall brave

  150 Take strike

  150 costard head (literally, a type of large apple)

  151 malmsey-butt barrel of strong, sweet wine from Greece 153 device plan

  153 sop piece of bread soaked in wine

  156 reason converse, talk

  158 anon soon

  167 Wherefore why

  177 drawn forth selected

  180 quest inquest, those holding a judicial inquiry

  183 convict convicted

  185 charge command

  190 Erroneous misguided, erring

  190 vassals servants, slaves

  190 king of kings i.e. God

  191 table ... law i.e. the Ten Commandments

  192 do no murder the Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13)

  193 Spurn at reject, scorn

  197 false forswearing breaking your oath (forbidden by the Ninth Commandment) 198 receive the sacrament take Communion as a means of affirming your oath 199 In quarrel of in the cause of

  202 Unripp'dst tore open

  202 bowels intestines, entrails

  202 sovereign's son i.e. Prince Edward, son of Henry VI 204 dreadful inspiring dread and awe

  205 dear extreme, grievous (a)

  212 quarrel (settling of the) dispute

  213 indirect devious, oblique

  214 cut off kill

  215 bloody violent, bloodthirsty

  216 gallant-springing gallant and youthful, growing promisingly 217 novice youth, beginner

  218 My brother's love love for my brother

  223 meed money, reward

  233 friendship also kinship

  235 lessoned taught

  236 is kind is gentle, well-meaning/has feelings of natural kinship 242 labour my delivery strive to obtain my release

  244 thraldom servitude, enslavement

  246 feeling sensibility, awareness

  255 pent shut up

  260 beastly not human, lacking in reason

  268 desperately dispatched carried out in desperation, executed recklessly (desperately has connotations of spiritual hopelessness) 269 fain willingly

  269 Pilate ... murder Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea involved in the crucifixion of Christ, washed his hands before the discontented crowd as a means of exonerating himself from blame 280 out get out, be known ("murder will out" was proverbial) Act 2 Scene 1

  2.1 Location: the royal court, London

  2.1 Flourish trumpet fanfare signaling the arrival of a person in authority 3 embassage message

  8 Dissemble not (in shaking hands) do not conceal, disguise

  9 from of

  10 true honest, faithful

  11 thrive I may I thrive

  12 dally trifle, feign, mock

  13 king of kings i.e. God

  14 Confound overthrow, catch out

  14 award sentence, appoint

  15 end (cause of) death

  19 son i.e. stepson

  20 factious divisive, generators of factions

  22 unfeignedly sincerely, without deception

  26 protest declare

  30 allies relatives

  33 but ... Doth i.e. and does not, with all duteous love 38 Deep cunning

  38 hollow insincere

  38 guile cunning, deceit

  41 cordial heart-restoring medicine

  43 wanteth only lacks

  44 period end, completion

  45 in good time right on time, at the perfect moment

  47 morrow morning

  52 swelling proud, arrogant/incensed, angry

  52 wrong-incensed full of wrongly directed anger/enraged by perceived wrongs 54 heap gathering, group (casual and demeaning term in this context) 55 intelligence information

  55 surmise assumption, conjecture

  57 is hardly borne has caused offense, is resented

  67 desert deserving, justification

  68 Lord Scales actually another title of Lord Rivers; Shakespeare erroneously supposes another character; some editors omit the line 72 the ... tonight a newborn baby

  75 well compounded settled as effectively

  77 to your grace into your favor

  79 flouted mocked

  80 gentle kind, mild/noble

  86 forsook abandoned

  89 that i.e. that first order

  89 Mercury swift messenger of the Roman gods, usually depicted with wings on his cap and sandals 90 tardy slow

  90 bare the countermand brought the order revoking the first 91 lag late, slowly

  92 God ... suspicion I pray God there are none, less noble and loyal than Clarence, more involved in treachery yet less closely related to the king, who deserve worse than Clarence's fate yet go free from suspicion (a pointed remark aimed at Elizabeth and her relatives) 95 go current pass as legitimate coin

  96 boon request for a favor

  100 forfeit ... life revocation of the death penalty that his servant has incurred 103 doom ... death sentence (doom) my brother to death

  107 sued pleaded

  108 be advised to reconsider, reflect/to be cautious

  110 forsake abandon, renounce

  112 field battlefield

  113 down on the ground, unhorsed/at his mercy

  116 lap enfold, swathe

  118 thin thinly dressed

  118 numb numbing

  119 remembrance memory

  122 carters cart drivers

  122 waiting vassals attendant servants

  123 defaced ... Redeemer i.e. committed murder (since man is made in God's image) 125 straight straightaway

  127 But yet

  128 ungracious wickedly, lacking divine grace

  129 proudest most splendid, eminent/most self-esteeming

  130 beholding beholden, indebted

  133 On of

  133 you i.e. the assembled company

  134 closet private room/bedchamber

  136 Marked observed, noticed

  139 still constantly

  Act 2 Scene 2

  1 grandam grandmother

  6 wretches exiles/miserable people

  6 castaways rejected ones

&
nbsp; 8 cousins a general term for relatives

  10 As being

  11 lost wasted, pointless (sense then shifts to "gone")

  14 importune urge, entreat persistently

  18 Incapable inexperienced, unknowing

  18 shallow naive

  22 impeachments accusations, charges

  24 kindly gently, benevolently/as a family member

  27 gentle shape an appearance of nobility, a benevolent guise 28 visor mask

  30 dugs breasts (breast milk was popularly thought to convey some of the qualities of the mother) 33.1 hair ... ears disheveled and loose hair was a theatrical convention signifying distress 35 chide berate, chastise

  36 black profound, dark, hellish

  37 to ... enemy i.e. commit suicide

  38 rude impatience uncontrolled outburst, violent want of endurance 39 act deed/division of a play (continuing the theatrical image begun with scene) 42 want lack

  43 brief quick

  44 catch catch up with

  47 interest right, entitlement

  48 title in claim on (as Edward's mother)

  50 his images i.e. his sons

  51 mirrors i.e. images, reflections

  51 semblance likeness

  53 false glass i.e. Richard, a distorted, false image of his father 60 moiety small portion

  61 overgo exceed

  63 kindred similar, belonging to relatives

  64 unmoaned unlamented, not grieved for

  65 widow-dolour widow's grief

  65 be shall be

  67 barren to so infertile that I cannot

  67 complaints grief, lamentations

  68 reduce return, bring together

  69 watery moon i.e. the moon, which controls the tides 74 stay support

  77 Was never widow there was never a widow who

  77 dear grievous/costly

  81 parcelled in specific parts, divided between them

  81 general all-encompassing

  87 nurse nourisher, feeder

  88 pamper cram, feed luxuriously

  92 dull sluggish, reluctant

  94 opposite antagonistic, adversarial

  95 For it requires because it reclaims

  96 careful caring

  104 cry you mercy beg your pardon

  107 meekness humility

  110 butt-end concluding part

  111 grace quibbling on the duchess' title and on the sense of "religious virtue"

  112 cloudy gloomy

  113 moan sorrow, grief

  117 broken rancour divisive animosity (broken begins an image of an injured limb) high-swoll'n very inflamed/proud 118 But lately splintered only recently splinted, reset (though at the same time continuing the imagery of fragmentation) 119 kept looked after

  120 Meseemeth it seems to me

  120 little train small retinue of attendants and accompanying nobles 121 Forthwith immediately Ludlow Ludlow Castle, in Shropshire, near the Welsh border fet fetched 124 multitude large group

  127 estate state, kingdom green new, vulnerable (with suggestions of the prince's youth) 128 Where ... himself when each horse is in control of his own reins and may go where he pleases (i.e. in the absence of a strong rider to govern) 130 As ... apparent both the fear of possible harm as well as actual harm 132 with between

  133 compact agreement, contract

  135 green new, not tested

  136 apparent evident, real breach breakage, rupture 137 haply perhaps/probably urged encouraged 139 meet appropriate, suitable

  142 post hasten

 

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