Act 1 Flashcards
(171 cards)
1
Q
You do not meet a man but frowns
A
Every man you meet today is frowning
2
Q
Our bloods no more obey the heavens than our courtiers still seem as does the King
A
Our dispositions are not influenced by the heavens any more than our courtiers are governed by the reactions of the king, although they imitate him
3
Q
[his daughter ] hath referred herself unto
A
has bestowed herself to
4
Q
[Although they wear their faces] to the bent
[of the king’s looks]
A
inclination/disposition
5
Q
there would be something failing in him that should compare
A
there would be something lacking in him that was chosen to compare (with post Posthumus)
6
Q
extend him… within himself
A
enlarge him only as far as his worth
7
Q
I cannot delve him to the root
A
I can’t tell his ancestry entirely, delve = dig
8
Q
who did join his honour
Against the Romans with Cassibelan,
A
who did give him fame against the Romans (i.e. fought against) with Cassibelan
Cassibelan= British King who was attacked by Julius Caesar 55-54BC & made tributary to Rome
9
Q
- fond of issue + stylistic point
2. Gentleman: Sur-addition
A
- obsessed with (the loss of?) his children
n.b. •Posthumous’ mother was pregnant at the time that father committed suicide out of grief for deceased children
•Despairing of having more children or doting on his children- productive tension
- Additional name/title awarded for commendatory service
10
Q
(and his gentle lady,) Big of (this gentleman our theme)
A
pregnant with
11
Q
[The King] Breeds him
A
brings him up
12
Q
[to the more mature] A glass that feated them
A
a mirror that showed them good behaviour
13
Q
dotards
A
old men/fools
14
Q
[I honour posthumus] even out of your report
A
on the grounds of your account
15
Q
That a king’s children should be so conveyed [So slackly guarded, and the search so slow,
That could not trace them!]
A
so carried away/stolen
16
Q
Queen: [you shall not find me] evil-eyed [unto you]
+ stylistic point
A
full of ill-will/malice
Draws attention to the evil stepmother trope; in doing so, shows the truth in cliché
17
Q
Queen to Innogen: [Your gaoler shall deliver you the keys] that lock up your restraint
A
that put you under house arrest
18
Q
Queen: [ ‘twere good you] leaned unto his sentence [with what patience/Your wisdom may inform you.]
A
deferred to his sentence (of banishment)
19
Q
Queen: I’ll fetch a turn about the garden, pitying
The pangs of barr’d affections
A
I’ll take a walk around the garden, and pity the ache of forbidden love
20
Q
Innogen: [How fine this tyrant can] tickle where she wounds
A
flatter that which she hurts
21
Q
Innogen: My dearest husband,
I something fear my father’s wrath; but nothing—
Always reserved my holy duty—what
His rage can do on me
A
My dear husband, I am sometimes afraid of my father’s anger, but not at all—except for my responsibility as a daughter to ‘honour my father—what he could do to me because of it.
n.b. Duty of child to parent as said by 5th commandment
22
Q
Innogen: [And I shall here abide] the hourly shot of angry eyes
A
the continual hostile glances (n.b. shot is contained within the translation of ‘hostile glances’)
23
Q
P: [I will remain
The loyal’st husband that did e’er] plight troth
A
make a vow of marriage
24
Q
Queen, aside: [I never do him wrong,] “he does buy my injuries, to be friends”
A
He allows what I do wrong in order that we remain friends OR he interprets the wrongs as favours (imagery of commerce with “buy”)
25
1. Posthumus: Should we be taking leave
As long a term as yet we have to live,
The loathness to depart would grow. Adieu!
2. Innogen: [Nay, stay a little]:
Were you but riding forth to air yourself
1. Even if we kept saying goodbye for the rest of our lives, it would keep getting harder to leave. Goodbye!
2. Even if you were riding off TO EXERCISE
26
Innogen: [such parting were] too petty
to brief/inadequate
27
Posthumus (in response to I saying he should take another woman): [You gentle gods, give me but this I have] "cere up my embracements from a next / With bonds of death"
[kind gods,j ust give me this one I have], and wrap up my corpse in grave clothes rather than that I embrace a second wife
28
Posthumus: [As I my poor self did exchange for you,] to your so infinite loss
which was such a bad bargain/disadvantage for you
29
P: So in our *trifles*/I still win of you
I'm still getting a better deal in this exchange of *love tokens*
30
P: It is a manacle of love
It is a bracelet/shackle of love
n.b. use of manacle registers his deisre to contain I's sexuality in marriage whilst he is absent
31
Cymb: [If after this command thou] fraught [the court
| With thy unworthiness...]
burden
32
Innogen: [I beseech you, sir,
Harm not yourself with your vexation
I am senseless of your wrath;] a touch more rare
[Subdues all pangs, all fears.]
a more exquisite pain - pain as perfect as death
33
Innogen: "I chose an eagle, / And did avoid a puttock"
Eagle is king of birds, puttock is the lesser kite
34
Innogen: [Posthumus] "over-buys me / Almost the sum he pays"
the amount he suffers on my account is almost too high a price to pay for me
35
Innogen: [Would I were a] neatherd ['s daughter]
cowherd - representative of simple rural life and anticipatory of the life to come in Wales
36
Section 1: Cym: Nay, let her languish
A drop of blood a day; and, being aged,
Die of this folly!
Section 2: Pisanio (talking about P's fight with C): [But that my master rather play'd than fought] had no help of anger
1. No, let her suffer as though she sheds a drop of blood every day and finally, when she is old, let her die of this foolishness!
2. was not moved by anger (thereby preserving self-control)
37
Innogen (talking about P and C's fight): I would they were in Afric both together;/Myself by with a needle, that I might prick
The goer-back.
I wish they were both in Africa together, and that I were near them with a needle, to poke whichever one retreated from the fight.
38
First Lord to Cloten: [Sir, I would advise you to] shift a shirt. The violence of action hath made you reek as a sacrifice.
change your shirt. The violent of the fight has made you give off vapours, like the smoke from a sacrificial animal
39
Cloten: Have I hurt him?
| 2 Lord: No, faith, not so much as his patientce.
Even Posthumus' patience has not been tried by the encounter
40
First Lord (buttering up Cloten): "Where air comes out, air comes in. There's none abroad / so wholesome as that you vent."
'he must take air in to supply what he loses, and the outer air is less wholesome than that of his own sweet body.'
41
First Lord: "His [Posthumus's, after fight) body's a passable carcass"
Intensifying using passable, punning on something you can pass swords through in order to turn them into a carcass
42
Second Lord: "His steel was in debt, it went o'th' backside the town."
His sword was like a debtor, taking to the back-streets of a town to avoid arrest (i.e. it missed Posthumus).
backside the town meaning 'back-streets',:
James l's visit to Cambridge cited by Dowden: Jesuits were 'carried over the back side of the town' to prison, not through the town centre.
43
2 Lord: [Sarcastically Referring to how far Posthumus retreated during the fight] As many inches as you have oceans. Puppies!
He gave you as many inches as you have oceans. (i.e. none!) Fools!
44
Innogen to Pisanio: "I would thou grew'st unto the shores o'th' haven" And question'dst every sail
I wish you'd become organically fixed to the shores of the harbour and asked every sail of every boat for information about Posthumus.
45
Innogen: Still waving, as *the fits and stirs of 's mind*
Could best express how slow his soul sail'd on,
How swift his ship
He kept waving, as though expressing his *mental disturbance* through this action could show how slowly his soul sailed on, and how quickly his ship did
i.e. Posthumus' soul moves at a slower rate than the ship as it leaves the shore
46
"as little as a crow"
Receding, disappearance, he will become as small as a bird in the sky before disappearing
47
eye-strings
the muscles of the eye, thought to break at death or at the loss of sight
48
Pisanio: (Be assured, madam,)
| With his next vantage.with his next vantage
at his earliest opportunity
49
Innogen: [Before I could ask him to] "At the sixth hour of morn, at noon, at midnight
T'encounter me with orisons"
And before I could tell him that, at six in the morning, at noon, and at midnight, he should meet me in prayer.
50
I am in heaven for him
I am lifted spiritually for him
51
Innogen: [before I could give him a parting kiss, my father came in] "like the tyrannous breathing of the north, Shakes all our buds from growing."
The north wind dashes the spring buds and so prevents them from developing (as the love of Innogen and Posthumus is prevented from maturing).
52
Iachimo (referring to P): of a crescent note
growing in reputation. Posthumus' star is rising, like the increasing, crescent-shaped moon.
53
Philario: "now he is with that which makes him both without and within"
has those qualities which make him what he is both in appearance (judgement of others) and personality (personal character)
54
Frenchman: "we had very many there could behold the sun with as firm eyes as he."
He couldn't look straight at the sun any more easily than other people could.
The ability to stare directly into the sun was thought to be the prerogative of the eagle, but the Frenchman implies that Posthumus is no more exceptional than many of his countrymen. The ideal image of Posthumus given at the start of the play is starting to be modified
55
Iachimo: "words him, I doubt not, a great deal from the matter."
amplifies his reputation beyond what it really is
56
Iachimo: " the approbation of those that weep this lamentable divorce under her colours are wonderfully to extend him"
'the approval of those who take Innogen's side (under her colours) and therefore lament her separation from Posthumus has the effect of greatly inflating his reputation.'
57
Iachimo: To fortify her judgement, / Which else an easy battery might lay flat for taking a / Beggar without less quality
+ stylistic point
In order to ratify Innogen's judgement, which otherwise an easy assault might demolish for taking someone of no rank
n.b. Without less quality: a double negative, designed to emphasize Posthumus' worthlessness
58
Philario: [let him be so entertained
amongst you] as suits, with gentlemen of your
knowing, [to a stranger of his quality.]
As befits gentlemen of your experience in society
59
Frenchman: Sir, we [Posthumus and I] have known together in Orleans
Sir, we have been acquainted in Orleans
60
Frenchman [I was glad I did] atone [my countryman and you].
reconcile
61
Frenchman: (it had been a pity you should have been) put together (with so mortal a purpose as then each bore...)
opposed in combat
62
Posthumus: [I] rather shunned to go even with what I heard than in my every action to be guided by others' experiences:
I preferred to resist assent (go even) to the advice of others than allow myself to be influenced by them
63
confounded one the other
one would have destroyed the other
64
warrant of bloody affirmation
pledge to support his claim by shedding blood
65
abate her nothing
lessen my estimation of her in no respect
66
a kind of hand-in-hand comparison
a comparison on the basis of equality, not superiority
67
" If she went before others I have seen, as that diamond of yours outlustres many"
- reducing any idea that Innogen is special:
- 'Even if she excelled some women, that is all she did'
- or perhaps 'if she excelled others to the same extent as your diamond'.
- his parenthetical equation of her to Posthumus' ring suggests that her value is less divine than commercial.
- This prepares for the wager, and focuses attention on the ring that will be wagered.
68
I rated her
I estimated/valued her (quantified worth). Compare to Othello when Iago does the same
69
More than the world enjoys
beyond all the world's wealth
70
Or she's outprized by a trifle
she is worth less than the ring
71
You may wear her in title yours
enjoy her as if she were your own
72
"strange fowl light upon neighbouring ponds"
flippant view of how men's wives are seduced by their neighbours (also used by Leontes in WT)
73
the one is but frail and the other casual
the one is but weak and the other temporary
74
(would hazard the winning) both of first and last
of both things
75
in the holding or loss of that, you term her frail
regardless of the retention or the loss of loyalty
76
we are familiar at first
on familiar terms from the start
77
make her go back even to the yielding
make her retreat and finally yield to me
78
(had I admittance and opportunity) to friend
befriend
79
and to bar your offence herein too
to prevent you taking personal affront
80
you sustain what you're worthy of by your attempt
you will receive what you deserve in attempting this
81
would I had put my estate and my neighbour's on th'approbation of what I have spoke
I wish I had bet both my property and my neighbor's to prove what I said!
82
commend me to the court
give me a letter of introduction
83
(with no more advantage than the opportunity of a) second conference
the opportunity to converse twice with her
84
Iachimo: You are a friend and therein the wiser
Idea that the wager establishes a bond between the them as 'friends' - idea that if Iachimo wins the wager, Posthumus will no longer be his enemy since if women are false, then men who wager on them are friends
85
if you buy ladies' flesh at a million a dram
even women of the highest quality are easily corrupted
86
" I see you have some religion in you, that you fear"
You show some signs of religious belief since you are afraid (in the sense of showing awe of God; compare Psalm 111: 10: 'The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord'),
implies ironically that Posthumus' religion is to show a wise doubt about his goddess, Innogen.
87
this is but a custom in your tongue
conventional way of speaking, associated with the stereotype of the misogynist
88
I will have it no lay
I will not permit the wager
89
provided I have your commendation for my more free entertainment
Provided that I have your introduction for a ready reception (with Innogen)
90
have articles
procure a legal agreement
91
Queen: dispatch (p. 174)
be quick
92
distill
extract the essence from flowers
93
woo me oft/for my confections
entreat me often for my mixtures
94
(to try the vigour of them and) apply allayments to their act (and by them gather their several virtues and effects)
(To test how strong the potions are) and then try their antidotes (allayments) to their action (act) to determine how they work
95
O content thee
set your mind at rest
96
"He's (factor) for his master"
factor - agent for
97
"She will not quench"
an obsolete use meaning 'cool down'—presumably implying 'cool her passion'.
98
"His fortunes all lie speechless, and his name
| Is at last gasp."
His fortunes and his name are like a body beyond speech, taking it's last death (his powerless is emphasised by personifying his fortunes as at the point of death)
99
to shift his being
to change his location
100
"every day that comes comes to decay
| A day's work in him."
Either 'every day that comes has the effect of destroying a day's work in him' (i.e. he simply wastes another day of his life) or 'on every day that comes, a day's work comes to decay' (i.e. is wasted).
101
"What shalt thou expect
| To be depender on a thing that leans,"
depending on something that cannot even stand upright
102
Cordial
Restorative
103
(it is an) earnest (of a farther good that I mean to thee)
(It is a) first repayment to seal a bargain)
104
"Think what a chance thou changest on"
consider what an opportunity for advancement you have by changing sides.
105
"the remembrancer of her to hold
| The hand-fast to her lord"
one who reminds her (a legal term, preparing for the next phrase) to stay faithful to the betrothal or marriage contract
106
shall quite unpeople her/of liegers for her sweet
shall remove those (literally, those resident ambassadors) who remind her of her husband
107
except she bend her humour
unless she change her disposition
108
my supreme crown of grief
the crowning cause of my grief
109
but most miserable is the desire that's glorious
most miserable is the desire that stems from those of a high disposition
110
"Blessed be those,
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
Which seasons comfort."
Those of low status, however, humble they are who can have their plain desire (honest wills) which increases (seasons - in the sense of strengthens - think of salad seasoning) their comfort, are nonetheless blessed
111
(bring the flowers to) my closet
my private chamber
112
change you madam
do you change colour/change your expression
113
all of her that is out of door
all of her that is external, visible to the eye
114
"She is alone th'Arabian bird"
the Phoenix, a mythical bird of which only one existed at any one time, and therefore an image of uniqueness
115
"Or like the Parthian I shall flying fight;
| Rather, directly fly."
If boldness and audacity cannot help him, he will have to adopt more devious methods, like the Parthians, whose fighting method was to retreat, shooting arrows at their pursuers as they went—but probably not even something like that will work, so he will have to flee outright (directly fly).
116
(Hath nature given them eyes to see) this vaulted arch (and) the rich crop of sea and land, (which can distinguish 'twixt) the fiery orbs above (and the twinned stones upon th'unnumbered beach, and can we not) partition make with spectacles so precious 'twixt fair and foul?
(Has nature given them the ability to see) the sky or heavens (and) the harvest of the eye, including both sea and land (which can distinguish between) the stars above (and the indistinguishable stones upon the innumerable beaches, and can we not establish a) distinction between foul and fair with such sensitive eyes?
117
twixt two such shes would chatter this way and contemn with mows the others
between two such women, who would make approving noises to indicate their preference, and despise with grimaces the other
118
For idiots in this case of favour would be wisely definite
for idiots in this question of beauty would be wisely decisive
119
th'appetite
sexual desire
120
"Sluttery, to such neat excellence opposed,
Should make desire vomit emptiness,
Not so allured to feed."
Sexual desire would retch on an empty stomach, rather than hunger to taste such a debased woman, so different from a refined one (next excellence)
desire meaning both 'appetite' and 'sexual desire'
121
"What is the matter, trow?"
What are you talking about? Trow is hardly more than an expletive, deriving from 'Trow you', 'do you believe'.
122
the cloyed will/that satiate yet unsatisfied desire
the lust overfed to the point of surfeit, that is glutted (i.e. completely overfed) yes still hungers for more
123
"that tub/Both filled and running, ravening first the lamb,/Longs after for the garbage."
The desire which is unsatisfied even after intercourse is emphasized by evoking both the classical legend of the leaky tub which the Danaïds were condemned to keep filling in Hades and the more down-to-earth 'sweating tub' used to cure venereal diseases.
Running = emptying out
124
"What ... raps you?"
what transports you
125
Desire my man's abode where I did leave him
ask my man to wait for me where I left him
126
He's strange and peevish
He's foreign and temperamental
127
none a stranger there
no other foreigner there
128
when he was here/he did incline to sadness
he did incline to *seriousness* (not sadness)
129
"He furnaces
| The thick sighs from him"
heaves sighs that are close together as if they were smoke from a furnace
130
'whiles the jolly Briton'
reference to Theagenes in Heliodorus' Aethiopian History; implies lustful, licentious behaviour
131
"will's free hours languish
| For assurèd bondage?'"
will waste his independent hours pining with love (to someone to whom he is bound)
Assured bondage = certain bondage, that is, the bond of marriage
132
"In himself, 'tis much;/ In you, which I account his, beyond all talents."
Heaven's bounty in granting personal endowments to Posthumus is considerable; when including you, since you are his, heaven has given him something far beyond his merits and beyond price.
133
What wrack discern you in me
What *ruin* do you discern in me
134
"To hide me from the radiant sun, and solace
| I'th' dungeon by a snuff?"
not to himself but to Posthumus, hiding from the sun of innogen and taking comfort (solace) with a prostitute in the dark.
i.e. he is subtly insinuating that Posthumus has been cavorting with prostitutes in the absence of Innogen
135
For certainties/either are past remedies or, timely knowing, the remedy then born
things we know for certain are either beyond our ability to do anything about or, if we know in time, a solution can be created...
136
"discover to me/What both you spur and stop."
reveal to me what you both urge on and hold back. The expression is from horse-riding, spurring the horse on and suddenly pulling it back
137
"Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
| To th'oath of loyalty"
compel the person who is touching to be (or remain) loyal
138
the wild motion of mine eye/fixing it only here
the wanton movement of mine [Posthumus'] eye is made more constant (by Innogen)
139
"Slaver with lips as common as the stairs
| That mount the Capitol"
kiss lips as much-used as are the hundred steps that ascend the Capitoline Hill to the temple of Jupiter in Rome
140
"hands
| Made hard with hourly falsehood"
made hard with clasping and fondling different men every hour
141
"by-peeping"
peeping sideways, seductively
142
"illustrous"
lack-lustre
143
It were fit that all the plagues of hell should at one time/encounter such revolt
It would be better that all the afflictions of hell should punish such betrayal
144
Stinking tallow
smelly candle made from animal fat
145
(the) beggary (of his change)
the contemptible meanness
146
(that from my) mutest conscience (to my tongue charms this report out)
most silent and secret thoughts
147
fastened to an empery/would make the great'st king double to be partnered
joined with an empire (Britain) would double the territory of any king by marriage/association to such a woman
148
tomboys
prostitutes
149
with that self exhibition/which your own coffers yield
with that same allowance of money that he received from you
150
with diseased ventures that play with all infirmities for gold which rottenness can lend nature
with all the veneral diseases that debauchery can bestow on nature, they engage with for money
151
"such boiled stuff
| As well might poison poison!"
prostitutes who have been treated for venereal disease by sweating in tubs of steam from boiling water.
and they are so diseased that they would infect even poison itself.
152
(and you) recoil (from your great) stock
(and you) degenerate (from your) royal ancestry
153
"I have such a heart that both mine ears
| Must not in haste abuse"
what my ears have heard (about Posthumus) must not easily mislead my heart (away from my love for him)
154
vaulting variable ramps/in your despite, upon your purse
whilst he is copulating with numerous prostitutes, in contempt of you, with your moniessss $$$
155
(more noble than that) runagate (to your bed)
runaway/vagabond
156
let my service tender on your lips
let my devotion present itself on your lips
157
(if he shall think it fit) a saucy stranger...
an insolent/lascivious stranger
158
to mart as in a Romish stew
should do business with (mart) a Roman brothel (Romish stew)
159
(I have spoke this to know if your) affiance (were deeply rooted)
marriage vow
160
and shall make your lord/that which he is new o'er
I will construct your husband as he has always been
i.e. I will re-validate the original image you had of your husband
161
a holy witch
non gendered enchanter of white, holy, not black magic
162
Half all men's hearts are his
every man has given Posthumus half of his affection
163
To try your taking
to test your reception of
164
"Made me to fan you thus"
blow upon in order to winnow (i.e. separate the chaff from the grain, or, figuratively, the good from the bad)
165
"chaffless"
pure grain, uncontaminated with chaff (i.e. perfect)
166
the best feather of our wing
the finest of our company
167
(Which I), the factor for the rest
the agent for the rest
168
I am something curious, being strange/to have them in safe stowage
I am somewhat anxious, being foreign, to have the in secure storage
169
"I shall short my word"
I'll break my word
170
"I have outstood my time, which is material
| To th' tender of our present."
outstayed my time, which is crucial to the offering of the present
171
truly yielded
faithfully returned
