The Tragedy of Arthur_ A Novel - Arthur Phillips [167]
Act I, Scene III
1. Heirs to the throne of Scotland were from 1398 until 1603 known as Dukes of Rothesay, much as the English heirs were the Princes of Wales. In this case, however, Shakespeare was committing both an anachronism (if Holinshed is to be believed, these events occurred in the 500s) and an error of place (wherever this ancient kingdom of Pictland was, it probably covered only what is today eastern Scotland. Rothesay is in the west). [RV]
2. Alda This seems to be an error of my father’s, as she never speaks.
3. Alda Likely not. Queen Alda’s silent presence in this scene is specifically requested by Shakespeare and is worth noting. Arthur is—as other commentators have noted elsewhere, and will no doubt be discussed in some coming work of scholarship on Shakespeare and feminism—a very feminine play, despite its clash of kings and battle scenes. Guenhera’s birth labors and marital sorrows, the abandoned mothers, and Alda’s enforced presence here—where her right to speak is openly scorned—reveal a sensitivity to women’s issues unsurpassed, in my opinion, anywhere else in Shakespeare’s works. One might even add—with only a trace of irony—the boar in I.i, which is described in terms both sexual and violent, and which is compared explicitly (“To her!”) to the shepherdess Arthur seduces and abandons. [RV]
4. too hot We are in the midst of conversation. Loth is replying to Mordred’s heated words. [RV]
5. blast blow violently.
6. crabbed cross, grouchy.
7. bangstry violence. [Perhaps especially a Scottish term, as it appears in Scottish law codes under James VI. —RV]
8. Grampian mount one of Scotland’s three mountain ranges.
9. gall the gall bladder, supposedly the seat of bile and anger.
10. deathsman executioner.
11. Hold on Continue.
12. forward prematurely.
13. seigniory realm.
14. chafe to warm.
15. below downstairs.
16. Roman tower The Tower of London (in fact begun in 1078) was popularly believed to have been left behind by the Romans. [RV]
17. make … head to raise an army.
18. butt a pun: Arthur will use his “head” to butt the crown. [RV]
19. sway force, authority.
20. Mouldwarp Mole.
21. liberal licentious, promiscuous. [And here pronounced in two syllables. —RV]
22. whinyards short swords.
23. buttoned belts armored belts. [RV]
24. bluntly stupidly.
25. bonny beautiful (ironic), and specifically Scottish. [RV]
26. Distract driven to distraction.
27. parallel remain equal to.
28. overcharged overburdened.
29. ell about a yard. [45 inches to the English, 37.2 for the Scotch! —RV]
30. wind … racks a pun. Lit: “All your talk doesn’t change things.” Fig: “All your wind isn’t strong enough to move the air [heir, i.e., Arthur].” [RV]
31. with steel with force, or at point of a sword.
32. scratch … th’ resisting itch to satisfy his sexual appetite, which satisfaction was literally resistant, as the earl’s wife was raped. [RV]
33. David of the Jews In the Second Book of Samuel, King David sent to war (and certain death) Uriah, whose wife, Bathsheba, David had impregnated.
34. shade make.
35. blown tainted.
36. fracted broken.
37. What speaks my aunt in this? nothing, as Alda stands silent now. Cf note to stage direction above. [RV]
38. enfeoffèd sworn as a subordinate, given land in exchange for obedience.
39. forward early, premature.
40. privy secret.
41. false-troubled feigning concern.
42. If they but On condition that.
43. vassalage humble subjects.
44. smoking steaming.
45. lover friend.
46. hardly with great difficulty.
47. circummured walled in securely.
48. uplands highlands.
49. weens thinks, imagines, has the ambition.
50. puppy foolish young man.
51. laystalls toilets, outhouses.
52. Physic doctor.
53. drench a drink.
54. frame shape, prepare.
55. sense Likely the sense of smell is intended here. [RV]
56. toadstool as an adjective, unique to Shakespeare. [RV]
57. passioning derive enthusiastically explain.
Act I, Scene IV
1. Holinshed’s Chronicles, Shakespeare’s source for this play, says only the following: “The Britons disdainfully