42 engine bent a weapon (like a bow) ready to be discharged

  44 bedfellows are seen close together, despite their apparent contradiction; cf. ‘strange bedfellows’ (Tem 2.2.40).

  45 aspect expression (stressed on second syllable)

  46 graved engraved, furrowed; also a play on bury

  47 to according to

  48 quality nature

  * * *

  40 SD] Dyce subst.; Exeunt Theseus, Hipolita, Perithous, &c. Q

  51–3 Cf. Cleopatra’s praise of Antony’s ‘heavenly mingle’ of ‘sad’ and ‘merry’ (AC 1.5.53–61).

  53–5 Those … dwelling Emilia uses two different antitheses: darker versus fair and stick versus live. The darker sides of Arcite and Palamon – anger and melancholy – are set against their amiable appearance and also contrasted with the less natural, and thus less attractive, combination of humours in other men.

  56 spurs to spirit the trumpets (which supposedly inspire courage). They are first specified at this point – to indicate the beginning of the combat, by contrast with the horns and cornets of earlier scenes. Since the fight is meant to be taking place at a distance, they may have been blown from outside the auditorium.

  57 proof trial

  58–9 to … figure so that he is left mutilated. Figure is more likely to mean face than body.

  59–60 what pity / Enough ‘Would be’ is understood; cf. the use of ‘enough’ in 4.3.38.

  60–5 If … not there Thompson (203) points out that Sidney, Astrophil and Stella, Sonnet 53, depicts this situation from the man’s point of view.

  63 fail to take defensive action or miss the chance of a successful attack

  64 SD ‘A Palamon!’ shouts of support and praise for Palamon. Since Emilia expects to hear the fight (see 7–10), Shirley (63) suggests that the offstage sounds include not only shouts but the clash of swords on armour, such as Arcite hears at 5.1.61 SD.

  * * *

  54 them] Q; him Seward 65 SD] after 64 Q

  66 What … chance? ‘What has happened?’ The Servant has not gone far enough to get a view of the fight, and can only report what the crowd is shouting.

  69 success (stressed on the first syllable); cf. 1.1.209.

  70 prim’st best (cf. 1.2.2)

  72 Poor servant Emilia apparently addresses the portrait of Arcite, who became her ‘servant’ in 2.5.33–4.

  73 still always

  75 end purpose

  else Though else usually means ‘otherwise’, in this passage it is redundant. Some editors suggest emending, for instance by placing it with the next word, but this does not really help.

  76 sinister left (from the Latin; stressed on second syllable)

  77 best-boding chance the best luck, as indicated by the omens

  * * *

  66 SD] after chance Q 67–8 Then … likely.] one line Q 72 SD] Dyce subst.; not in Q 75 in’t else;] Dyce; in’t; else Q; in’t; chance Seward 77 SD] after 75 Q

  82 Th’assistants … redemption Arcite’s three knights rescued him.

  83 titlers Palamon and Arcite (fighting over their title to Emilia)

  84 Hand to hand in single combat

  Were they if only they were

  84–6 Were … man Emilia wishes the two men could be one, so that she would not have to choose between them, then, with characteristic self-abasement, retracts this wish on the grounds that each on his own is already worth more than any woman. Cf. the description of the meeting of the French and English rulers at the Field of the Cloth of Gold: ‘they clung / In their embracement, as they grew together, / Which had they, what four thron’d ones could have weigh’d / Such a compounded one?’ (H8 1.1.9–12).

  87–9 gives … breathing ‘injures any lady living with an unequal comparison and shows her lack of value’ (Proudfoot)

  88 value’s shortness coming short in value

  94–5 The … instruments The cornets announce the end of the fight. Oddly phrased: perhaps (since Emilia has already been deceived once as to whether the combat is over) the Servant is explaining the musical code to her.

  94 consummation conclusion

  * * *

  88 value’s] 1778; values Q 89 SD] after 88 Q

  95 Half-sights saw even someone half-blind could see

  96 God’s lid a rather strong oath for Emilia, based originally on ‘God’s eyelid’ and usually abbreviated to ‘?’slid’

  96–7 his richness … him By contrast with Theseus and Pirithous in 4.2, Emilia sees the battle as one of spirit against spirit. Having spoken earlier of Arcite’s apparent gentleness, she now stresses the energy beneath that surface. Richness may mean that she recalls his humble appearance when she first saw him in 2.5.

  97 costliness rarity

  looked through Cf. ‘your spirits shine through you’ (Mac 3.1.127).

  98 fire in flax conflates two proverbs: ‘Fire that’s close kept burns most of all’ (Dent, F265) and ‘Put not fire to flax’ (Dent, F278), based on the fact that flax is quick to catch fire

  99–100 The ironic idea of river banks trying to sue the water that floods them adds another, undeveloped, image of lawlessness and tyranny.

  100 drift winds driving winds (Skeat)

  103 coming off leaving the tournament field

  104.1–2 This is the third victory procession in the play. Arcite may be wearing a garland, or it may be borne in front of him.

  106 unsettled unfixed, both metaphorically and more literally – she has not yet been attached to the winner

  107 arbitrament decision

  109 As … head Cf. the similar reference to Palamon in 115–16.

  * * *

  103 SD] after 104 Q 104 SD attendants.] attendants, &c. Q

  110 plighted betrothed. Perhaps Theseus joins their hands at this point, but the action may be delayed (see 138n.).

  111 *Emilia the 1778 editors’ substitution; it scans better and is perhaps more appropriate at this point

  112 what’s … me Palamon

  117 his race his descendants – like those of the Titans who warred on the Olympian gods and were almost totally destroyed by Jupiter (see Ovid, 6)

  119 Alcides Hercules (‘so named because Amphitryon, his step-father, was the son of Alcaeus’ (Skeat))

  120 To by comparison with

  a sow of lead literally, an ingot; figuratively, dull and heavy. ‘Lead, when first cast, is run into large masses, called sows or pigs, according to the size of them’ (Skeat). Cf. ‘A sow of Lead is swifter’ (Fletcher, The Woman’s Prize (c.1611), Bowers, 4: 4.1.19).

  120–1 If … spoke if I could say as much about each part of him as I have said about him as a whole

  122 Did would

  127 out-breasted out-sung. ‘Breast’ could mean voice, as in TN 2.3.20. the sense (of hearing)

  129 Good space a good while

  * * *

  111 Emilia] 1778; Emily Q 121 to th’all] to’ thall Q

  130 hardly with difficulty, after a hard fight (Skeat)

  130–1 Wear … won Theseus may emphasize wear (perhaps Arcite has taken off the garland) or with joy. Bawcutt glosses With joy … won as ‘rejoice in your victory’.

  132 our present justice immediate death

  133 Their … ’em To live in dishonour would be torture to them. ‘This doom of Palamon and his three knights would be revolting, if it were not that the spectators might be expected to know enough of Chaucer’s story to make them suspect that the sentence would not really be executed’ (Skeat).

  134 for our seeing for us to see

  135 Arm ‘offer your arm’ (Knight). Skeat suggests ‘embrace, like the German umarmen’.

  136 will not loose are unwilling to part with

  137 conceives With deliver, this compares her tear to the birth of a child (cf. Tim 1.2.110–11). Perhaps Theseus consoles Hippolyta in silence while Emilia is speaking her next lines.

  138 SD The flourish, presumably at a signal from Theseus, might be expected to come at the end of the scene to signal the departure of the royal party. If it is not an error, it may mark the moment at which Arcite and Emilia finally take hands in sign of betrothal, or, as Bawcutt suggests, Arcite’s taking Emilia’s arm. In any case, the triumphant music contrasts ironically with Emilia’s words at 138.

  141 unfriended bereaved of his friend

  144 should and would ought to and would want to

  145 one one person (Emilia)

  146 two two of those four eyes

  blind closed forever (in death)

  So it is Theseus either agrees with Hippolyta or states that Palamon’s death is the will of fate (and therefore not a cause for pity).

  5.4

  5.4.0.1–2 In some productions, 5.3 and 5.4 are continuous: Palamon and his knights enter at 5.3.104, remaining on stage as the bridal party leaves and the execution party enters. Though Palamon’s presence can give extra point to the betrothal of Arcite and Emilia, the pause created by the processional entry and the setting up of a scaffold may be designed to allow a more plausible period of time for all the events described in 48–85. Possibly Palamon addresses his friends downstage while the scaffold is being erected or ‘put out’ behind him (as in Fletcher and Massinger’s Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt (1619), 5.3.55)). Proudfoot suggests that this ‘stage of death’ may be ‘the same structure as the altar in 5.1’, thus sustaining the imagery of sacrifice (see 5.1.34). For a possible change of intention about this scene. pinioned Probably only their hands are bound, either before or behind them; the actions implied at 21 and 32–5 would be possible, if awkward. They may be released at a later stage.

  5–6 to live … wishes ‘We have their good wishes, that our lives might be prolonged’ (Skeat).

  6 prevent anticipate (and thus avoid)

  7 beguile outwit

  8 rheum catarrh, resulting in coughing and spitting

  lag late-coming. Skeat compares ‘I could be well content / To entertain the lag end of my life / With quiet hours’ (1H4 5.1.24–6).

  attend lie in wait

  9 grey approachers people who approach death in old age

  10 unwappered unexhausted. OED gives this as the only example of the negative, but ‘wappered’ occurs as an earlier variant of the later colloquial ‘woppered’ or wearied.

  halting limping (under the weight of their sins)

  * * *

  5.4] Scæna 4. Q 0.2 and … axe] Oxf subst.; not in Q 1 SP] 1711; not in Q 1 outlived] (out liv’d) 10 unwappered] Q; unwarp’d Seward; unwappen’d Knight

  11 stale old (and unrepentant: hence, not purified)

  That refers to we in 9

  12 such the grey approachers. Cf. his earlier words at 2.2.105–10.

  nectar the drink served at the table of the Olympian gods, to which heroes were invited

  13 For because

  clear refined, uncorrupted; there may be a submerged pun on spirits and nectar. Cf. ‘Clear-spirited cousin’ (1.2.74), ‘pure spirits’ (2.2.75 and 1.2.97n.)

  kinsmen Arcite’s knights were also called his ‘kinsmen’ in 5.1.34, and Palamon is his ‘prime cousin’ (1.2.2), so the tournament has been a fight within a single family.

  16–19 O’er us … o’erweigh us The victors have the advantage over us only in fortune, not honour.

  17–18 whose … certain This parallelism with too many variables is particularly characteristic of late Shakespeare (e.g., Cym 1.1.1–3). The short duration of the victor’s good luck is compared with the certainty of death for the vanquished. Ironically, the first part of the statement will prove true before the second.

  17 title possession

  momentary short-lived

  19 bid farewell (to each other)

  20–1 tottering … reels Fortune is often pictured standing on a wheel or a turning ball, as Fluellen describes her in H5 3.6.32–6.

  22 banquet perhaps the feast with the gods that Palamon has already envisaged (12), or else the feast with Death, described in, for instance, RJ 5.3.86 and Ham 5.2.365

  23 Taste act as taster before the others eat, to ensure that the food is whole- some. Cf. Webster, WD: ‘let you or I / Be her sad taster, teach her how to die’ (5.6.92–3).

  * * *

  11 stale.] this edn; stale: Q 21 SD] this edn; not in Q

  24–34 the only point at which Palamon shows any awareness of the Daughter’s existence (but cf. 4.1.18–24)

  25 You’ll see’t done you’ll give me freedom (in death); cf. Posthumus telling his Jailer, ‘I am call’d to be made free’ (Cym 5.4.193–4).

  26 her … ill the fact that her illness was insanity

  28 By … life adapting the common oath ‘By my life’

  29 latest last

  31 piece improve, repair (an image drawn from sewing, meaning to patch). According to 4.1.21–4, Palamon has already made such a gift. This is not necessarily inconsistent (see 32n.), but Spalding suggested, and some have agreed (see Proudfoot), that the dialogue from 23 to 36 is an interpolation intended to tie the two plots together.

  portion dowry

  32 Tender offer

  Nay … all Since it was customary for the condemned person to give gifts to those officiating at an execution (see, e.g., the end of Chapman’s Tragedy of the Duke of Byron (1607–8)), the knights offer money ear-marked for a special purpose. ‘Nay’ may mean that the knight stops Palamon and adds something to the purse he was about to hand over.

  33 Is … maid? ‘Is this her first marriage?’ but with a double meaning. Cf. The London Prodigal, where someone who has received a ribald reply to this question corrects himself with ‘Is she married, I meane, syr?’ (Brooke, 1.2.82–6). Palamon’s answer does not necessarily mean that he knew of her love for him (as he does in Davenant’s version), but an actor might take this opportunity to show it.

  35 ’quite requite, recompense

  * * *

  32 SD] Dyce; not in Q 35 SP] this edn; All K. Q

  38 SD Q’s Lies on the block probably indicates that he was meant to lie prostrate with his head on the block. Dyce moved the direction to follow 39 – but see note to 41–2.

  40 Most directors eliminate this apparently unnecessary character, making Pirithous himself the one to stop the execution. The reason for the duplication may be that it was found impossible for an actor to enter breathless with haste and then give a convincing rendition of the very difficult speech that follows.

  41–2 Hold … quickly It looks as if the execution is meant to be stopped at the last possible moment, as the executioner is raising his axe. Pirithous’ words (the verbs are in the indicative, not the conditional) suggest that he does not yet know whether Palamon is still alive; perhaps the audience is meant to be in equal suspense. Decapitations could be convincingly staged, as in The Tragedy of the Duke of Byron and Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt, where Fletcher even included the gruesome, detail of the executioner, in his haste, striking off the victim’s fingers along with his head. For the last-minute rescue in Edwards’s Damon and Pithias.

  43 will show are determined to show

  45 When … false He has not said this, unless to himself.

  * * *

  38 SD] this edn; Lies on the Blocke. Q 39 SP] Littledale, subst.; 1.2.K. Q

  47 *rarely Q reads early. Seward substituted dearly, pointing out the parallel with 129; his colleague Sympson suggested rarely (cf. 4.1.110). Early has been defended by Bawcutt and Bowers, but the concept of strangely bittersweet news is easier to convey than that of news that is first sweet (Palamon is safe) and then bitter (Arcite is dying).

  47–8 What … dream? He may mean either that he was half-way to the sleep of death or simply that life is a dream, a common theme of the late romances. For another possible explanation.

  48–85 List … appears For the language of this ‘messenger speech’, which stands out even in this linguistically remarkable play.

  50 owing owning

  51 Not a hair-worth The common phrase ‘not worth a hair’ (Dent H19) is here literally true. Not all writers shared this belief about all-black horses (Topsell does not), but Weber quotes Cotgrave’s definition of the French zain ‘A horse that’s al of one dark colour, without any starry spot or mark about him, and thereby commonly vicious.’ In some allegories the good and bad horses of Plato’s Phaedrus are also white and black, and in Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato a black horse faster than the wind is the gift of an evil ruler.

  53 note characteristic

  54 allowance confirmation

  55 calkins the parts of a horse-shoe which are turned up and pointed to prevent the horse from slipping

  56 tell count (see 58)

  56–8 for … him The horse is so light on his feet that he barely touches the stones and seems capable of taking ‘mile-long paces’ (Leech). Renaissance romances feature a number of horses who actually had this power, notably Brigliadoro, who appears both in Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato and in Ariosto’s sequel, Orlando Furioso.

  58 put … him encourage his mettle. (Pride here has the sense of OED sh. B II 10.)

  * * *

  47 rarely] 1778 (Sympson); early Q; dearly Seward

  60–1 from iron … origin a belief found in the story of Jubal (Genesis, 4.21–2)

  62 Cold … Saturn In KT, the monster which frightens Arcite’s horse is actually sent by Saturn; here ‘Shakespeare reduces Saturn to a simile’ (Thompson, 207) and the cause of the accident remains mysterious.