England we love; and for that England's sake And this is Geffrey's in the name of God; 106. Geffrey's ... God;] Geffreyes in the name of God: Ff 1, 2, 3 (Geffreys F 3); Geffreys, in the name of God, F 4; Geffrey's : in the name of God Cambridge Editors. 95. That ... king] that thou hast the larger volume, Geffrey. Compare undermined the lawful king of Eng. Edward III. 11. i. 82: land. His is the neuter possessive pro “Whose body is an abstract or a noun. Collier MS. reads her, to agree brief with the personification of England. Contains each general virtue in 97. Out-faced infant state] Gould the world." conjectures “Out-raced infant right.” 106. And this is Geffrey's ... Mr. Wright explains the line as God] Apart from the variations in the “ browbeaten, put down by intimida. punctuation of the Folios this reading tion or bravado, the state that belongs has much exercised the critics. The to an infant." " Out-faced” is simple difficulty lies in the phrase “ And this enough, but “infant state” offers is Geffrey's." We cannot add "son" some difficulty. How can the state because of the previous line. Vaughan or majesty that belongs to an infant suggests “And is this Geffrey's," i.e. be browbeaten ? And can John's Arthur's, as opposed to "that" conduct be described in this way? Geffrey's the dead father's. FailCan "out-raced” mean "out- ing that, and following out the same rooted"? Compare "a race of idea, he would read " And this is ginger” = a root of ginger. Geffrey." In default of better, 101. This little abstract, etc.] Vaughan's suggestion is preferable Philip calls Arthur a small copy of to the others. How comes it then that thou art calld a king, Which owe the crown that thou o'ermasterest ? France, To draw my answer from thy articles ? In any breast of strong authority, And by whose help I mean to chastise it. 120 Const. Let me make answer ; thy usurping son. Eli. Out, insolent! thy bastard shall be king, That thou mayst be a queen, and check the world! Const. My bed was ever to thy son as true 113. breast] beast F 1. 119. Excuse ;] so Malone ; Excuse it is Ff. 109. owel own. Frequent in Staunton, with great probability, Shakespeare. Compare Comedy of claims this as a metaphor taken from Errors, Ill. i. 42: chess. “ What art thou that keepest me 124, 125. My bed ... husband] out from the house I owe?” It seems strange that Constance 111. from thy articles] Hanmer should compare her own fidelity with prints “to." "Articles " are the sec. that of the person whom she accuses tions of a formal document, and the of infidelity a moment later (line idea conveyed here is that Philip has 130). Elinor too had been divorced been taxing John as if he were reading from Louis VII. for infidelity. To a formal indictment. avoid the difficulty Vaughan proposes 112. supernal] This is the sole use to read : “As to me was my husband." of the word by Shakespeare, but it is It may be that Shakespeare was confound in contemporaries. See Cot. tent to make Constance femininely grave, Sir Thomas More, Milton. illogical in her passion. Mr. Craig's Formed by analogy with infernal suggestion that Constance meant (Mr. Wright). “My bed was at least as true as 123. That thou ... world] yours” avoids the difficulty. As thine was to thy husband; and this boy 125 130 thee. Aust. Peace! Bast. Hear the crier. Aust. What the devil art thou ? Bast. One that will play the devil, sir, with you, 135 An a' may catch your hide and you alone: 140 127. John in manners; being] Capell; John, in manners being Ff. 133. There's ... thee] Pope ; two lines in Ff, ending boy, ... thee. 127. John in manners ; being] in this connection by Elizabethan Vaughan suggests “manners, - writers. being," for the comparison of devil 136. your hide] Austria was wearing and his dam is, of course, more closely the lion's skin he had taken from connected with John and his mother Cour-de-lion. than with Arthur and Constance, 137, the proverb] Given by Erasmus The “devil and his dam” are evi. amongst his Adagia : “mortuo leoni dently two personages from the Moral. et lepores insultant." Compare Re. ity plays. Compare Ralph Roister turn from Parnassus (p. 71, ed. MacDoister, 11. iv. 38: “the devil's dam ray): “Soe hares may pull deade was ne'er so bang'd in hell.” “ Play lions by the bearde.” the devil” (line 135) would mean 139. smoke] beat. Halliwell says “ play as violent a part as the devil that in Devonshire it means “to abuse of the Moralities." a person," and in the North “ to beat 132. blots] impute dishonour to. severely." To strike one so violently Continually used as noun and verb as to make dust fly out of the coat. Blanch. O, well did he become that lion's robe That did disrobe the lion of that robe ! As great Alcides shows upon an ass: Or lay on that shall make your shoulders crack. With this abundance of superfluous breath ? King Philip, determine what we shall do straight. King John, this is the very sum of all; Wilt thou resign them and lay down thy arms? 152. Anjou] Theobald ; Angiers Ff. 144. Alcides shows] The Folios posing that Shakespeare was guilty read “Alcides shooes” (“shoos,” of a most senseless confusion. There F 4). Editors quote a proverb from is no possible point in speaking of an Gosson's Schoole of Abuse : “Too ass wearing the shoes of Hercules, draw the Lyon's skin upon Aesop's and as Vaughan pointed out, the Asse, Hercules shoes on a childes question concerns something worn or feete." It may therefore be possible borne upon the back. that Shakespeare had a confused 147. cracker] boaster. Cotgrave recollection of Gosson's lines in his has “se vanter, ... to crack.” mind and that the reading of the Compare Ralph Roister Doister, 1. i. Folios is correct. Fleay prints 35:-. “shoes ... ape," and suggests “ All the day long is he facing “ dwarf” or “child" to take the and cracking place of “ass.” Rejecting “shows" Of his great acts in fighting and and “shoes,” Keightley reads fraymaking." “ shew'd,” and suggests « should.” And compare the modern“a thing Hudson, following a conjecture of much cracked-up," i.e. boasted about, Vaughan's, reads “does." Kinnear and "a crack player.” conjectures "spoil," and Gould 149. King Philip] The Folios read “ robes." Mr. Worrall (see Warwick “ King Lewis.” The emendation is ed.) suggests that if "shows" is Theobald's. Lewis was not king, right, it is a verb. The reading in and Austria was not likely to appeal the text is that of Theobald, followed to him for a final decision in anything by most modern editors. It is in any of moment. We must, therefore, case preferable to the Folios' reading, suppose a mistaken substitution of which can only be defended by sup- Lewis for Philip. ce. Eli. K. John. My life as soon: I do defy thee, France. 155 Arthur of Bretagne, yield thee to my hand; Come to thy grandam, child.' 160 Give grandam kingdom, and it grandam will Give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig: There's a good grandam. Arth. Good my mother, peace ! I would that I were low laid in my grave: I am not worth this coil that's made for me. 165 Eli. His mother shames him so, poor boy, he weeps. Const. Now shame upon you, whether she does or no! His grandam's wrongs, and not his mother's shames 156. Bretagne) Hanmer; Britaine Ff 1, 2; Britain F 3; Brittain F 4. 168. wrongs] Ff 1, 2, 3; wrong F 4. 156. Bretagne) This spelling of be Celtic in origin, like many other Hanmer's, in spite of its suggestion words of untraceable pedigree. Proof French pronunciation, is adopted bably of slang derivation (see New by most modern editors to avoid Eng. Dict.). confusion with Britain. Shake- 168, 169. wrongs, ... shames speare spelt Britanny and Britain in Draws] The usual defence of this the same way. grammatical error, that a singular 160, etc. it] Baby talk. Capell phrase has been slipped in between could not suffer "it" to remain and the nominative and verb, does not reads “it's "! Pope put the whole hold good here. We have either to passage down as spurious, from suppose a misprint or believe with Dr. “ Submit thee” to“ repetitions,” in Abbott that the Elizabethan ear, owing spite of such lines as 165, 168- to dialectic influences, was less sensi tive than ours. It seems preferable 165. coil] Cotgrave has "vacarme, to blame the printer's eye rather than ...a tumultuous garboil, hurly- Shakespeare's ear. Folio 4 corrects burly, stir, coil.” Once thought to the error, but not happily. 172 |