126 bury lose forever

  127 crosses obstacles

  come … come echoes his words at 2.3.18

  129 fears frightens

  130 Neither of us will have the honour of killing, or being killed by, the other.

  131 SD Montgomery inserts a direction for Theseus to separate the two men, on the grounds that he later says ‘I sundered you’ (5.4.100). Less dramatically, his guards might halt the fight; they probably watch over Palamon and Arcite until 304.

  133 tenor purpose, meaning

  134 appointed armed. What angers Theseus is not simply that the two men are fighting but that, by wearing armour, they show that they are engaging in a trial by combat without any of the proper formalities (which would have included an attempt to reconcile their quarrel). Skeat compares KT: ‘But telleth me what myster men ye been, / That been so hardy for to fighten heere / Withouten juge or oother officere, / As it were in a lystes roially’ (1710–13).

  * * *

  122 guard –] Proudfoot; guard. Q

  136 By Castor In KT Theseus swears by Mars. ‘By Castor’, in Roman comedy, is a mild oath, and some commentators (as Proudfoot points out) claim that only women used it. However, it is clear from later references in 157 and 228, and in 4.1.11, that in this context it is a serious commitment.

  Hold keep

  137–8 despisers / Of in (legal) contempt of

  142–3 the man … begged the man for whom freedom was begged (by Pirithous)

  145 edict (of banishment); stressed on last syllable

  follows both pursues and serves (in his official capacity)

  147 servant in the courtly love tradition: Palamon contrasts his justly deserved role of servant with Arcite’s usurped one

  147–8 if … soul to expanding ‘I saw her first’ (2.2.160)

  151 to answer (in combat)

  152 spoken said to be

  156 Then after I have killed Arcite (emphatic)

  * * *

  145 thine own] Dyce; this owne Q; this known 1711

  158–60 ’tis … moved The syntax is confused, but the meaning is clear: Arcite is ready to die as quickly, and with as little emotion, as Theseus can order his death. Skeat notes that thee is a dative meaning ‘for thee’.

  160 Where whereas

  168 For scorning ‘as for his charge that I scorned’; Arcite is dealing with the accusations in sequence. See Waith (86–98) for the forensic background to the ‘Beaumont and Fletcher’ plays.

  170 she The 1778 reading, ‘If she say traitor’, conforms to the sense of the passage and the natural stress of the line.

  175 thy cousin’s Hercules’. That Palamon calls him Theseus’ cousin shows his eagerness to make the relationship of Theseus and Hercules a parallel to that of himself and his cousin.

  183 None here speak an imperative

  186 not … denied too persuasively to be withstood

  190 kill ’em This is a statement, not a wish, though the verb has been influenced by the plural ‘eyes’; Davenant’s adaptation shows that he so understood it: ‘My Face is guiltless of their ruine; but / The Misadventure of their own Eyes kills e’m’ (Act 4, p. 44). To avoid giving the impression that Emilia was willing their deaths (all her subsequent lines show the contrary), Seward altered kill to ‘kills’.

  191 Yet that to show that (Bawcutt)

  192 but unless

  193–4 Help me … with us Q’s punctuation links ‘in such a virtuous deed’ both with the previous words and with those that follow the phrase.

  195–211 The antiphonal pleading (as Waith, Oxf1, points out) is characteristic of Fletcher’s style, but also parallels that of the three queens in the Shakespearean 1.1. Each speaker overlaps with the previous one; hence the dashes with which most editors since 1778 have punctuated the passage.

  198 ‘by whatever that you would invoke to arouse pity in someone else’ (Riv)

  * * *

  190 kill ’em] Q; kills ’em Seward 194 SD] Weber (after brother); not in Q 195 SD] Weber; not in Q

  200 chaste nights nights of chaste (i.e., married) love-making

  204–5 By … maid by your sacred duty as a knight to help maidens in distress. Also, as Proudfoot notes, Theseus has already made a promise to Emilia (230–2).

  209 want be lacking in; Skeat suggests a reminiscence of ‘Chaucer’s favourite line – “For pitee renneth sone in gentil herte”.’

  212 Ye … reel You are shaking my constancy to my oath. RA compares 1.2.65–6 and 5.4.20–1.

  213 SD Some editors place this direction (not present in Q) at 269. The decision lies with the director.

  * * *

  201–2 Nay … Dangers] one line Q 201 SD] Dyce subst.; not in Q 213 SD] Weber; not in Q

  215 right typical (in a derogatory sense)

  222 question quarrel. Probably in a double meaning: they would quarrel publicly over her, and thereby bring her honour into question.

  223 credit reputation

  226 Bow … honour Do not make me bend my oath (perhaps by contrast with stand in 229 and stands in 289) and thereby lose my honour.

  227–8 That … hold it ‘With clear overtones of the homily “Against Swearing and Perjury”?’ (Shaheen) – e.g., ‘He that taketh an oath, must doe it with iudgement, not rashly and vnadvisedly’; cf. 4.1.10–11.

  228 hold uphold

  229 Stand … will be taken as final decisions

  all … perish perhaps a necessarily oblique allusion to biblical passages where God is depicted changing his intention of destroying a whole people, as in Genesis, 19.18–21 and Jonah, 3.10

  232 passion anger

  good heed with full consideration

  236 fail cf. 272.

  237 *Tell me not The difficult state of the text at this point, and the apparent incompleteness of the line, suggests that something may have dropped out. Emilia clearly wants to refute Theseus’ view that the continuing existence of two men so openly in love with her might damage her reputation; she also says that she is deaf to anything else he can say, so some such interpolation seems justified.

  240 *A difficult line, as punctuated in Q. ‘Opinion’ may refer to Emilia’s reputation or to the sort of general gossip that she claims to disregard.

  242 were would be

  242–4 Do … rotten Emilia stresses may (and perhaps also might at 240). Cf. Brutus in JC, deciding to assassinate Caesar in case he ‘might’ later become dangerous (2.1.31). By contrast, she uses the future tense at 247 when she envisages the consequences of their deaths for her reputation.

  245 groaned (in childbirth)

  246 the longing maids Maidens are frequently imagined, like a chorus, reacting to events of the play (cf. 2.2.37 and 2.6.13–17).

  249 woe worth me woe become of me; Skeat explains that ‘worth’ is cognate with the German werden (to become).

  252 Swear ’em make them swear

  * * *

  236 fail] Seward; fall Q 237 Tell me not] this edn; not in Q 240 name. Opinion!] this edn; name; Opinion, Q; name – Opinion; Seward; name, opinion! 1778; name’s opinion (Theobald) 242 prune] (proyne)

  253 their contention the reason for their quarrel

  know me show that they know me

  263 piece (of ground)

  265 The tone of this line and its likely effect in performance are uncertain, though admiration is perhaps more consistent than irony with Pirithous’ behaviour in 3.5 and 4.2. Cf. ‘This is a man, a woman’ (Nathan Field, The Triumph of Honour, Bowers, 8: 1.181, from Four Plays in One, a collaboration with Fletcher).

  267–8 Though … her possibly the same kind of awareness as in 40–2. Or he may recognize, as Palamon does not, that Emilia, while begging their lives, has shown no reluctance to see them banished forever.

  269 The honour of affection the honour of having loved her, or, perhaps, the honour due to love

  270 however fearful a death you make for me

  * * *

  255–6 strangers / To one another] Seward; one line Q

  272 fall sometimes emended to ‘fail’, which is what it means (cf. 236), but the older form is consistent with the scene’s preoccupation with falling honourably

  273 must must be

  276 goodly … eyes Cf. ‘to love as one’s own eye’ (Dent, E249.1).

  278 can The metre seems to require a stress on this word, underlining Theseus’ sarcastic tone towards Emilia in this scene.

  difference dispute

  282–5 If … epitaph the first clear indication that the two men are followers of Venus and Mars respectively

  282 from that mouth as the result of words spoken by her

  286–7 *I … men Q’s lack of punctuation at the end of 284 leaves it uncertain whether Emilia is saying that both men are too good for her (see 5.3.84–9), or that she will not let either of them suffer on her account (see 4.2.3–4). In Davenant’s adaptation she states in a soliloquy that her refusal to choose results from her unwillingness to condemn either man. Here, by contrast, the responsibility for explaining Emilia’s motives rests with the performer.

  * * *

  272 fall] Q; fail Skeat 274 the other] Seward; th’other Q

  287 a hair … men Shaheen cites Acts, 27.34: ‘There shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.’

  289 once … stands Like his previous oath, just modified, this one is to be immutable (see stand in 229).

  291–2 within … place The idea that the battle should take place on the same spot as the interrupted duel derives from KT, but Chaucer’s Theseus proclaims a tournament with a hundred men on each side and allows fifty weeks for its preparation.

  293 plant fix in the ground

  pyramid This word was interchangeable with ‘obelisk’, and Theseus must mean the latter, since at 294 he refers to it as a pillar. In KT the winner is to be the one who either kills his opponent or drives him out of the lists, but Skeat points out that ‘Chaucer mentions two stakes, one at each side of the lists.’

  whether whichever of the two men (also used in this sense in KT, 1856)

  297 And … friends i.e., his three knights will also be beheaded. The awkward syntax lends itself to potentially comic misunderstanding. All commentators note the contrast with KT, where Theseus takes precautions that there shall be as few deaths as possible. Seward suggested that ‘our authors altered it to render the catastrophe more interesting’, comparing Fletcher and Massinger’s The Little French Lawyer (c. 1621), where the seconds also take part in a duel. Both Sidney’s Arcadia and Spenser’s Faerie Queene depict a number of combats with three or four knights on a side, all of whom are expected to risk their lives in the cause. The prototype may be the fight between the two sets of triplets, the Horatii and the Curiatii, described in Livy, 1.24.

  297–8 Nor … lady He shall not publicly complain or continue to urge his claim to Emilia. This sounds like the precautions sometimes taken to ensure that speeches from the scaffold did not become inflammatory.

  * * *

  299 SD] this edn; not in Q

  300 I embrace ye Perhaps (despite Theseus’ ‘shake hands again’) Arcite does more than simply take the hand that Palamon offers.

  301 I must (be content); cf. 273.

  302 miscarry die

  304 hold your course keep your promise (the handclasp is to confirm the oath); perhaps a metaphor from sailing, contrasted with ‘tack about’ (Abrams, ‘Bourgeois’, 157).

  307 settle here enable him to live, as Emilia’s husband, in Athens instead of Thebes. Though the play does not raise the question of succession, the winner would presumably be Theseus’ heir until Hippolyta had a child. Proudfoot suggests that here means ‘in my heart’.

  * * *

  304 SD] this edn; not in Q 4.1] Actus Quartus. / Scæna I. Q 0.1 First] this edn; his Q 1 Heard] Bawcutt; heare Q

  4.1

  4.1 Lawrence (48) notes that the two heroes are absent for the whole of Act 4 – a structural feature which A. C. Bradley (57) finds typical of Shakespeare tragedies.

  1 *Heard Q’s Heare is possible, but both characters speak in the past tense throughout. The Jailer has evidently just learned of Palamon’s recapture.

  4 I came home Thus, this character (who has no identity in 3.6 except as a member of Theseus’ train) ought logically to have made his exit somewhere around 3.6.201–13. But the inconsistency is perceived only in retrospect. RP compares the successive entries of messengers in WT 5.2.

  business (three syllables)

  7 their Palamon and Arcite’s

  10 staggering in doubt (cf. ‘Ye make my faith reel’ (3.6.212))

  14 Half … heart It may be too literal to say that the other half of Theseus’ heart is Hippolyta’s; the phrase simply expresses intensity of affection. Cf. ‘Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas!’ (AC 2.2.172).

  set in put in his word (Skeat); cf. Pirithous’ ‘Nay, then, I’ll in too’ (3.6.201).

  that so that

  16 hold continue

  18 They the news. The word was plural as well as singular well into the nineteenth century.

  19 discovered revealed

  * * *

  19–20 discovered how / And] Seward; discoverd / How Q 20 ‘scaped] F subst.; escapt Q

  21 the prisoner Palamon

  23 a sum of money Proudfoot compares Palamon’s later gift (5.4.32) and the Jailer’s remarks at 2.1.1–5.

  to towards, for

  24–5 You’re … news probably alluding to the proverb, ‘From good men comes goodness’ (Tilley, M518)

  27 But they prevailed without getting what they asked for

  fairly fully

  30 I hope … honourable The Friend’s distinction between good and honourable may or may not be a cautious critique of the chivalric solution.

  31 ’Twill be known (how good the conditions are)

  33 How he looks! a comment on the Wooer’s haste and agitation (see 51); looks may also refer to the intensity of his attention to the Jailer’s reply

  * * *

  24 You’re] this edn.; (Ye are) Q

  35 questions (three syllables, as often with words ending in ‘ion’)

  37 mind her call her to mind

  but only

  this very day Unless the Daughter returned home after the morris dance, the Jailer must be talking about her behaviour before she fled in search of Palamon – which would mean that all the events of Act 3 took place in a single day and night. But perhaps there is no point in trying to reconcile the time-scheme of the play (see 4.3.1n.).

  39 what she was her usual behaviour (Riv)

  41 An innocent a guileless person, or child. Cyril Tourneur’s The Atheist’s Tragedy (pub. 1611–12) makes a distinction between fools and ‘those fools that we term innocents’ (5.1.28).

  42 Nothing … pity ‘I want only to express my pity.’ Bawcutt suggests that he is disclaiming any intention of mockery (the Jailer may have reacted with suspicion).

  43 by from

  45 right in her right mind

  45–6 In Q, the Wooer’s ‘No sir, not well’ is placed on the same line as the Second Friend’s, and preceded by a long dash, which suggests that it may have been written in the margin and misplaced by the compositor – the more so, as the speech prefix is repeated before his next line (see t.n.) Some editors have suggested realignment (see TxC, p. 632).

  * * *

  34–5 1Was … sleep?] 1778; one line Q 42–3 Nothing … me] Seward; one line Q 45–6] Q (2 Fr Not well? – Wooer, No Sir not well, / Woo. Tis too true,) Q

  47 Believe See 2.5.19n.

  48 *What … me The added have seems needed both logically and metrically.

  49 her … Palamon We are not told how the Jailer and Wooer have come to know of this love, but even in 2.1 it was becoming obvious and they now know that she had freed Palamon.

  50 miscarrying on being punished for

  52–153 The remainder of the scene is often compared to the scenes of Ophelia’s madness (Ham 4.5.21–73 and 155–201) and Gertrude’s description of her death (4.7.166–83). The unexpected lyricism of the Wooer’s narrative associates it with a traditional genre, the complaint of the forsaken lover: it bears some resemblance to A Lover’s Complaint (probably by Shakespeare), where an unhappy maiden, also sitting by a river, is observed by a sympathetic male listener (see Underwood, passim, and Kerrigan, 394), but in TNK it gains unusual poignancy from the fact that the narrator is in love with the woman whose condition he describes.

  52 late probably in the sense of ‘late in the day’ or at night (see 37n.), but the other meaning, ‘recently’, ‘just now’, is also possible

  angling fishing

  55 attending sport waiting for a fish to bite

  58 smallness high pitch. Skeat quotes TN: ‘Thy small pipe / Is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound’ (1.4.32–3); both examples, of course, also allude to the boy-actor convention.

  59 angle rod and line

  60 To … skill to fish by itself (tied or stuck into the ground)

  * * *

  48 have told] Dyce; told Q

  62 encompassed it surrounded the place where the singer was

  64 glade an opening in the reeds

  67–8 Palamon … mulberries Gathering berries seems to have been synonymous with truancy. Chaucer’s Pardoner says that he does not care whether the souls of his parishioners ‘goon a–blakeberyed’ once they are dead (Pardoner’s Prologue, 406). The Daughter is anxious about Palamon’s safety, but also recalls his apparent abandonment of her.

  71 bevy gathering

  73 chaplets garlands

  daffadillies daffodils

  74 damask red; a variety originally from Damascus (Oxf1)

  75 all we’ll For this unusual construction, cf. ‘All we like sheep have gone astray’ (Isaiah 53.6).