The Tragedy of Arthur_ A Novel - Arthur Phillips [172]
7. to make a match of heaven to make a perfect match.
8. pastance recreation, pastime.
9. strived As an example of stylometry, the computer report of Arthur noted that Shakespeare tended to use “strived” early in his career and “strove” later. [RV]
10. wit mind, awareness. No implication of comic acuity. [RV]
11. blasted damaged, ruined, stricken.
12. hale haul.
13. addeemed adjudged.
14. jade contemptuous term for low-quality horse.
15. cote overtake. [A term from hunting with dogs. —RV]
16. imperfect incomplete.
Act II, Scene IX
1. balsamo balsam.
2. thanes Scottish nobility.
3. birlinns the large rowboats of western Scotland’s chieftains.
4. Colmekill the traditional burial site of Scottish kings, on the northwestern Scottish island of Iona; cf Macbeth II iv. 33. [RV]
5. clan Again, as with birlinn, Shakespeare’s use of Scottish dialect is noteworthy. [RV]
6. The line is short by two syllables, implying a pause, perhaps indicating that Mordred waits for Loth to reply. [RV]
7. singly in single combat.
8. raught reached for, grasped.
9. It is not clear whether the messenger is still delivering Arthur’s words or is expressing his own (understandable) feelings. [RV]
10. site grief. [Only in Scottish use in the sixteenth century. One is tempted to imagine Shakespeare quizzing Scottish friends for dialect words.—RV]
11. “You would hold my own correct criticism against me.” [RV]
12. Note short line for stage business: removal of head, reaction. [RV]
13. unjointed incoherent.
14. malt-horse brewer’s horse, an idiot.
15. Again, a short line. Mordred hears Loth say something? Or pretends to hear something? Or realizes his opportunity? Here, again, a director will have a chance to make the play his or her own. [RV]
16. table writing tablet. “The slate is clean.”
17. gimmaled hinged or ringed, as in armor. [Used by Shakespeare twice more, in Edward III and Henry V.—RV]
18. loquacity earliest recorded use. The OED shows subsequent usage in 1603. [RV]
Act III, Scene I
1. Mon duc de Gloosestayre The French ambassador presumably has a thick accent. His efforts to pronounce “Gloucester” are transliterated in a three-syllable mock-French concoction: Glue-suh-stair. Shakespeare did, on occasion, mock the French and did try to transcribe the sound of foreign accents in his plays. However, in this case, I am unable to shake the memory of my father’s fondness for the Warner Brothers cartoon skunk Pepé Le Pew.
2. Arthur In the ambassador’s accent, “Arthur,” a troublesome trochee (AR-thur) becomes a convenient iamb (ar-TOOR). [RV]
3. German Ocean the North Sea.
4. Rebels again, spoken with a French accent, presumably this is iambic: re-BELS. [RV]
5. revolter a rebel. [Perhaps a faux-French neologism, but it appears in English as of 1602, though nowhere else in Shakespeare.—RV]
6. girdle not a ladies’ undergarment, just a belt, though still the image is quite odd! [RV]
7. portrait covered The stage business with the foreign princess’s portrait may give another clue to Arthur’s disappearance. Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, agreed to wed his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, based on a portrait of her. He sued for an annulment after meeting her. This episode of Arthur and Matilde may have been viewed as too close to home. [RV]
8. doge the supreme ruler of Venice.
9. cavilling petty argument.
10. prate idle talk.
11. weal well-being, prosperity.
12. Mend my soul a very mild oath, probably used ironically here, as in “Heavens to Betsy!” [RV]
13. peroration rhetoric.
14. synecdoche Arthur plays dim, claiming not to understand Gloucester’s point, but his request for less synecdoche is surely ironic, since “this crowned head” is an example of synecdoche. [RV]
15. affects feelings.
16. Note the short line: a pause of hesitation. [RV]
17. Again, a shortened line. [RV]
18. cockerel young rooster.
19. pippin a variety of apple.
20. crabs and costards types of apples.
21. scruple iota, jot.
22. bill of charge official accusation.
23. An intriguing puzzle. Alexander