Act 1 Scene 2

  1.2 Location: the residence of the Duke of Gloucester

  2 Ceres Roman goddess of agriculture and the harvest

  4 As as though

  5 sullen drab, somber, dull in color

  8 Enchased adorned, decorated as with jewels

  9 grovel lie facedown, prostrate

  12 is’t is your arm

  16 vouchsafe allow

  18 canker infection, ulcer

  19 imagine ill formulate evil plans

  21 breathing breath

  22 this night last night

  23 requite repay, recompense

  24 rehearsal recounting morning’s dream according to popular belief, morning dreams were supposed to tell the truth

  25 staff formal rod of office

  25 office-badge badge of office

  26 twain two

  32 an argument proof, evidence

  33 breaks … grove i.e. damages Gloucester in the slightest

  35 list listen

  38 chair throne

  41 chide rebuke

  42 ill-nurtured ill-mannered, poorly bred

  44 of by

  46 compass scope, limit

  47 hammering thinking insistently on/devising

  51 choleric angry (choler was one of the four bodily humors thought to govern temperament)

  52 but only

  54 checked scolded

  57 St Albans town about twenty-five miles north of London

  58 Where as where

  58 hawk hunt with trained hawks

  60 presently immediately/shortly

  62 base unambitious, lowly

  67 pageant spectacle, entertainment

  68 Sir conventional form of address for clergymen

  71 grace the correct term of address for a duchess

  73 multiplied amplified, increased

  75 cunning skilled in magic

  76 conjurer magician, one who conjures spirits

  81 propounded asked of, put to

  88 Marry by the Virgin Mary

  89 mum silence

  93 flies that flies, comes

  93 coast quarter, source

  97 aspiring humour ambitious frame of mind

  99 buzz whisper

  99 conjurations incantations

  100 broker agent, go-between

  102 go near come close

  105 wrack wreck, ruin

  106 attainture conviction for treason

  107 Sort … will however it falls out

  Act 1 Scene 3

  1.3 Location: the royal court, London Petitioners those with formal requests to make to those in authority

  1.3 armourer’s man servant or apprentice to a maker of armor

  1 My masters gentlemen

  1 close near one another as a group

  3 in the quill as a group; possibly “in their written forms”

  4 protect plays on the title of Lord Protector

  6 a he

  10 wouldst do you want

  15 an’t if it

  16 man servant, agent

  21 enclosing the commons fencing in common land available to all and converting it to private use

  30 forsooth in truth

  33 pursuivant state messenger with the power to execute warrants

  37 sue to entreat

  38 cullions rogues, wretches

  40 guise manner, style

  41 fashions customs, practices

  43 Albion ancient name for England

  46 style mode of address, formal title

  48 Pole de la Pole, Suffolk’s family name

  49 ran’st a-tilt took part in a jousting tournament

  52 proportion physical form

  53 bent directed

  54 number count

  54 Ave-Maries Hail Marys, prayers frequently recited over a rosary

  54 beads rosary

  55 champions most admired combatants/defenders, those who fight on behalf of another

  56 saws sayings, maxims

  57 tilt-yard tournament ground

  58 brazen images bronze statues

  59 college … cardinals highest council of the Catholic Church, responsible for electing new Popes

  61 triple crown i.e. the crown worn by the Pope

  62 state status

  62 his holiness plays on the Pope’s official title

  65 work enable, effect

  69 not … But even the least of them

  72 simple ordinary, humble

  75 sweeps it parades, struts

  77 Strangers foreigners

  78 bears … back i.e. dresses in a magnificent style

  78 revenues wealth, income

  81 Contemptuous contemptible/scornful

  81 callet whore

  82 vaunted boasted

  82 minions favorites

  83 worst wearing most unfashionable

  84 better worth worth more

  85 Till … daughter before Suffolk handed over two dukedoms (Anjou and Maine) as part of the dowry from Henry VI

  86 limed a bush created a trap (from the process of smearing twigs with birdlime, a sticky substance used to catch birds)

  87 enticing birds i.e. decoys

  88 light alight lays songs

  92 fancy favor, incline to

  95 late complaint i.e. Peter’s allegation that his master said York was the rightful heir to the throne

  96 make … benefit do him little service

  97 weed uproot, weed out

  97 sennet trumpet call signaling a procession

  100 Or either

  101 ill demeaned badly conducted

  102 regentship position of ruling in France on the king’s behalf

  108 field battlefield

  109 presence royal reception chamber, presence of the king

  115 censure judgment, opinion

  120 leave stop, give up

  123 dauphin title of the French king’s eldest son, heir to the throne (here used to refer to Charles VII as the English considered Henry VI the rightful king of France)

  123 prevailed gained in strength and influence

  125 bondmen slaves

  126 racked ruined, exhausted (through taxation)

  126 bags moneybags

  127 lank shrunken

  129 treasury money

  133 offices official functions, positions

  134 suspect suspicion

  135 hop … head be beheaded, executed

  136 minion hussy, servant

  137 cry you mercy beg your pardon (sarcastic)

  140 set … commandments i.e. scratch with my fingernails

  141 against her will unintentional, a mistake

  142 Look to’t beware

  143 hamper obstruct, fetter

  143 dandle pamper, pet

  144 most master the greatest master (i.e. the queen)

  147 listen after watch out for

  148 tickled vexed, provoked

  153 objections accusations

  158 meetest the most suitable

  160 election choice

  160 give me leave permit me

  164 for … pride because my self-respect will not allow me to flatter you/because I cannot flatter your pride

  167 discharge payment

  167 furniture military equipment

  171 fouler fact more wicked deed, crime

  174 Image embodiment

  177 for of being

  178 what who

  185 An’t if it

  188 ten bones i.e. fingers

  189 garret turret, watch tower

  190 scouring cleaning

  191 mechanical manual worker, laborer

  196 prentice apprentice

  196 correct punish

  202 doom judgment, sentence

  204 this i.e. the business involving Peter and Horner

  206 convenient appropriate, suitable

  215 Sirrah sir (used to an inferior) or either

  Act 1 Scene 4

  1.4 Location: the residence of the Duke of Gloucester

  3 therefore provided equipped to that end

  4 exorcisms conjuring up of spirits aloft i.e. on the upper staging level or gallery

  13 said done gear business, matter

  17 Troy … fire under cover of darkness the city of Troy was set on fire and destroyed by the Greeks, who had entered the city concealed in the Trojan horse

  18 screech-owls barn owls, so-named from their discordant cry and considered birds of ill omen bandogs fierce tied-up watchdogs

  19 up open, out of

  22 make fast secure, restrain

  22 hallowed verge magic circle

  22 belonging necessary, appropriate ‘Conjuro te’ “I conjure you” (Latin; the beginning of an invocation) Asnath an anagram of “Sathan,” i.e. Satan

  22 riseth presumably through a trapdoor

  23 Adsum “I am here” (Latin)

  26 that that which

  28 that i.e. would that (I wish that)

  37 mounted situated on a mount

  40 False treacherous

  40 avoid be gone

  41 trash rubbish, paraphernalia

  42 Beldam hag, witch

  42 at an inch very closely

  44 piece of pains trouble you have taken

  46 guerdoned rewarded

  46 deserts deserving deeds

  48 Injurious insulting

  48 threatest threatens

  50 clapped up close securely locked up

  51 asunder apart

  52 to with

  53 trinkets trifles, rubbish (used for conjuring)

  53 all forthcoming safe and ready to be produced as evidence in court

  56 pretty artful, cunning plot scheme/plot of land

  57 devil’s writ as opposed to “holy writ,” i.e. Scripture

  61 just exactly

  62 ‘Aio … posse’ words spoken by the oracle at Delphi to Pyrrhus when he asked whether he would conquer Rome; they may be interpreted to mean either “I proclaim that you, the descendant of Aeacus, can conquer the Romans” or “I proclaim that the Romans can conquer you, the descendant of Aeacus”

  71 hardly attained obtained with difficulty

  72 hardly barely

  73 in progress on a state journey or procession

  78 post messenger

  81 sup take supper

  81 severally separately

  Act 2 Scene 1

  2.1 Location: St. Albans (a town about twenty-five miles north of London)

  2.1 hallooing calling out to the dogs

  1 flying … brook hunting waterfowl by using dogs to drive the birds from the bankside bushes so that trained hawks might swoop upon them

  2 these … day for the last seven years, i.e. for a long time (proverbial)

  4 And … out i.e. the odds were against the hawk Joan being able to fly (letting birds out in a high wind risked losing them)

  5 point advantageous position from which to swoop on the fowl

  6 pitch height (literally, the highest point in a falcon’s flight)

  8 fain of inclined to, fond of

  9 an it like if it please

  10 tower soar in circling movements to the highest point

  11 aloft up high, dominant

  16 how … that what do you mean by that

  21 Pernicious destructive, wicked

  22 smooth’st it flatters, speaks plausibly

  24 peremptory unchallengeable, overbearing

  25 Tantaene … irae? “Is there so much anger in heavenly minds?” (Latin; from Virgil’s Aeneid, 1.11)

  26 hot hot-tempered, angry

  36 whet not on do not encourage

  37 blessèd … earth biblical; the king cites Matthew 5:9

  41 Marry by the Virgin Mary

  42 Make … matter do not bring any of your supporters into the business

  43 abuse wrongdoing, insult (to me)

  44 peep appear, show your face

  44 an if if

  48 your man i.e. the falconer

  48 put up raised, provoked from cover into flight

  49 had had would have had

  49 two-hand sword long, heavy sword

  51 Are ye advised? Do you understand?

  55 God’s mother i.e. the Virgin Mary

  55 crown the tonsure, the shaved crown of a priest’s head

  56 fence fencing skills, swordsmanship

  57 Medice, teipsum “Physician, heal thyself” (Latin; from the Bible, Luke 4:23)

  59 stomachs tempers, angry appetites

  61 jar sound discordant

  62 compound settle

  67 Forsooth in truth

  67 Saint Alban’s shrine allegedly the first Christian martyr in England, Saint Alban was executed in the early fourth century for sheltering Christian converts brethren members of the town corporation

  74 earthly vale i.e. the earth, the mortal world

  75 by … multiplied i.e. as he will be subject to more temptations

  78 circumstance details

  85 thou … told you would have been in a better position to say so (i.e. that he had been blind from birth)

  87 Berwick Berwick-upon-Tweed, town on the border between Scotland and England

  89 unhallowed unholy

  89 unhallowed pass i.e. pass without saying your prayers

  90 still continually

  92 of out of, from

  96 offer make an offering

  102 fall … tree “climbing a plum tree” could be euphemistic for copulation

  107 But that only that time, once

  109 Mass by the (religious) Mass

  110 damsons plays on sense of “testicles”

  111 climb plays on sense of “mount sexually”

  112 subtle crafty

  112 shall not serve will not hold, suffice

  113 wink close your eyes

  114 yet still

  116 Say’st … so do you say so

  122 many multitude

  135 several various of between

  136 nominate name

  138 cunning skill

  141 beadles parish constables

  144 presently immediately

  145 straight straightaway

  146 by and by immediately

  149 alone unsupported

  154 doublet close-fitting jacket

  156 bearest (do you) endure it

  158 drab whore

  165 towns i.e. the French towns given away as part of Margaret’s dowry

  168 sort gang naughty wicked, villainous

  168 lewdly bent bent on evil

  169 Under … confederacy supported by and in collusion with

  171 rout gang, crowd

  172 practised plotted

  174 apprehended … fact caught in the act, arrested as they committed the crime

  176 Demanding of asking about

  178 at large at length

  180 forthcoming yet in custody, awaiting trial

  181 turned blunted

  182 like likely

  182 hour appointed time

  183 leave to afflict stop tormenting

  186 meanest groom humblest servingman

  188 confusion destruction, devastation

  189 tainture defilement

  190 look make sure, take care

  193 how it stands the full circumstances

  196 conversed kept company, associated

  197 like to pitch resembling pitch (a black, tarlike substance)

  205 poise weigh, balance

  205 cause court case

  206 beam stands sure scales are evenly balanced

  Act 2 Scene 2

  2.2 Location: York’s private garden

  3 close secluded, private

  19 Richard i.e. Richard II

  26 Pomfret Pontefract, near York

  32 issue offspring

  38 Edmund i.e. Edmund Mortimer, fifth Earl of March, declared heir presumptive by Richard II

  39 This Edmund following an error in the historical sources he used, Shakespeare now confuses Edmund Mortimer with his uncle of the same name, the man who was captured by Welsh rebel leader Owen Glendower but went on to marry Glendower’s daughter and fight on the rebel side

  42 Who i.e. Glendower

  42 captivity … died another error

  54 proceedings line of descent

  57 issue descendants, line of descent

  57 fails dies out, comes to an end

  59 slips cuttings

  59 stock tree

  61 plot ground

  65 We York uses the royal pronoun

  66 that until the time that

  68 suddenly immediately/impetuously

  69 with advice advisedly, prudently

  71 Wink at shut your eyes to, ignore

  81 Neville Warwick’s family name

  83 but except for

  Act 2 Scene 3

  2.3 Location: London, a place of judgment (exact location unspecified)

  4 God’s book i.e. the Bible

  4 adjudged to judged in advance to be worthy of

  7 Smithfield area in the City of London; the customary place for the execution of heretics

  8 strangled i.e. hanged

  9 for because

  10 Despoilèd stripped, deprived

  10 in i.e. for the rest of

  11 open public

  13 With i.e. in the custody of

  13 Isle of Man small island off the northwest coast of England

  14 were would be

  16 justify excuse

  21 would desires, would have

  22 Stay wait

  23 staff the official symbol of the Protector’s role

  25 God … feet Henry draws on the words of several Psalms

  25 stay support

  28 of years of maturity

  29 be to be need to be

  31 king his king’s

  41 bears … maim suffers such a serious injury

  41 pulls wrenches

  43 raught seized

  45 pine possibly alludes to the emblem adopted by Henry IV, Gloucester’s father

  45 sprays branches (offspring)

  46 her youngest days its prime

  47 let him go i.e. forget him

  49 appellant challenger, accuser

  50 lists designated combat area

  52 purposely therefore specifically for that reason

  54 A in

  54 fit prepared

  56 bestead prepared

  56.1 Drum drummer

  56.2 staff … it a basic but potentially vicious type of weapon

  60 sack type of Spanish sweet white wine

  63 charneco sweet Portuguese wine, a kind of port

  64 double very strong

  66 pledge toast

  66 fig from old Spanish figo; exclamation of contempt, often accompanied by an obscene gesture that consisted of thrusting the thumb between the index and middle fingers

  76 deal fight

  76 fence fencing

  86 touching concerning