Cor. Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides; Well may you prosper! France. Come, my fair Cordelia. [Exeunt France and Cordelia. Gon. Sister, it is not little I have to say of what most nearly appertains to us both. I think 285 our father will hence to-night. Reg. That's most certain, and with you; next month with us. Gon. You see how full of changes his age is; the observation we have made of it hath not been 290 Reg. 'Tis the infirmity of his age; yet he hath ever 295 282. cover] 283. 281. plighted] F, pleated Q, plaited Pope, ed. 2 (Theobald). Jennyns; covers Q, F; shame them derides] Q, with shame derides F. my] F, omitted Q. 284. little] F, a little Q. 290. hath not been]Q, hath been F. 293. too] Q, F; too too F 2; grossly] F, gross Q. 301. And see Lucrece, line 93: "Hid- 282. Who] those who. 293. grossly] plainly, obviously. See Henry V. II. ii. 103: "though the truth of it stands off as gross As black and white." 294-301. 'Tis . . . them] Gonerill in the old play says of Leir, "For he, you know, is always in extremes," Six Old Plays, etc., Nichols, ii. 385. Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash; then must we look to receive from his age, not alone the imperfections of longengraffed condition, but therewithal the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric years 300 bring with them. Reg. Such unconstant starts are we like to have from him as this of Kent's banishment. Gon. There is further compliment of leave-taking between France and him. Pray you, let's hit 305 together: if our father carry authority with such disposition as he bears, this last surrender of his will but offend us. 297, 298. look to receive from his age] Q, look from his age, to receive F. 298. imperfections] F, imperfection Q; long-engraffed] hyphened Pope, ingraffed F, ingrafted Q. 299. the] F, omitted Q. 302. starts] Q 1, F; stars Q2. 305. Pray you] F, Pray Q; let's hit] Q, let us sit F. disposition] F, dispositions Q. 297. rash] hasty, hot-headed; so Othello, II. i. 279, "he is rash and very sudden in choler." The Welshman, Fluellen, is described as when "touched with choler, hot (i.e. impulsive) as gunpowder." See Henry V. iv. vii. 188. Several attempts have been made to prove that Shakespeare in his portrait of Lear was attempting to depict the fiery, impulsive Celtic nature, "the blind hysterics of the Celt." But this is most unlikely. He found indeed the mere outline of Lear in the story, ready to his hand. It is not Shakespeare's method to sketch, like Marlow, types of men, but man. 298, 299. long-engraffed condition] Malone explains "qualities of mind, confirmed by long habit. Condition here, is disposition." See Othello, IV. i. 204. 302. starts] impulsive whims; a metaphor from the language of horsemanship. See Macbeth, III. iv. 63: And 307. "O, these flaws and starts Impostors to true fear." Venus and Adonis, line 302 (referring to a horse): "Sometime he scuds far off, and there he stares; Anon he starts at stirring of a feather." 304. compliment] formality. See Romeo and Juliet, 11. ii. 89: “farewell compliment." 305, 306. hit together] probably agree together, act vigorously and in unison. Perhaps in this dialogue there is an echo of the old play. See History of King Leir; Six Old Plays, etc., Nichols, 1779, ii. 415. Ragan there says: "Yet I will make fair weather, to procure Convenient means, and then I'll strike it sure. Schmidt adopts "sit together" of the Folio, explaining "take counsel together," and he quotes in support of Reg. We shall further think on 't Gon. We must do something, and i' th' heat. 310 [Exeunt. SCENE II-A Hall in the Earl of Gloucester's Castle. Enter EDMUND, with a letter., Edm. Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines 5 A Hall... Castle] Capell; omitted Q, F. Enter. . . letter] Theobald; Enter Bastard, Solus Q; Enter Bastard F. it many instances, including Pericles, II. iii. 92, "Come, gentlemen, we sit too long on trifles." 310. th' heat] at once "while the iron is hot." See Merry Wives, IV. ii. 239: "Come, to the forge with it, then; shape it; I would not have things cool"; also 2 Henry IV. 11. iv. 325: "he will drive you out of your revenge... if you take not the heat." Could it be explained "in one continuous effort"? See Winter's Tale, 1. ii. 96. The expression is found in Malory's Life of King Arthur, book xx. chap. vii.: It is fallen so, said the king, that I may not with my worship, but (i.e. unless) the queen suffer the death. So then there was made great ordinance in this heat, that the queen must be judged to the death." Scene II. 3. Stand... custom] stand on, be dependent on. Wright aptly quotes from the Prayer-Book version of Psalm xxxviii. 17: "And I truly am set in the plague.' Staunton thinks it may possibly mean place or boundary (Lat. plaga). Edmund's meaning is, Why should I put myself in a position to suffer what custom enforces? Why should I bide the cruel brunt of her decree? 4. curiosity] squeamishness, false delicacy, over-particularity or fastidiousness. See line 6, sc. i., and North, Plutarch's Lives (Caius Marius), ed. 1595, p. 472: "Who overthrew himself in his doinges, not so much for lack of reasonable skill of warres, as through his unprofitable curiositie and strictness in observing the law." 4. deprive me] debar me, keep me out of my rights. See the prose Hystorie of Hamblet, chap. iv.: "rather than he would deprive (i.e. disinherit) himself." 5. For] because. Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base? When my dimensions are as well compact, My mind as generous, and my shape as true, Who in the lusty stealth of nature take 10. With... base] F, with base, base bastardie Q. 6. Lag of] younger than, behind in years. Gloucester tells us (I. i. 20) that Edgar was "some year" older than his brother. See Richard III. II. i. 90: came too lag to see him buried." And Florio, His First Fruits, 1598: Serotino, late, lag. 6. Why. base] The expression "base son," for bastard, is to be met with in Sidney's Arcadia, and in the Chronicles of Holinshed and Hall; but bastard has apparently no etymological connection with the adjective base, coming from quite a different source. See Murray, New English Dictionary, under the word. So 7. dimensions] proportions. Merchant of Venice, III. i. 62; also Cyril Tourneur, The Atheist's Tragedy, v. 1; Works, Collins, 1878, i. 147: "Methinks my parts and my dimen ΙΟ 13. dull, stale] 14. the creat 8. generous] gallant, high-spirited, courageous, befitting a person of noble birth. See Troilus and Cressida, 11. ii. 154: "can it be That so degenerate a strain as this Should once set footing in your generous bosoms?" 8. as true] as truly stamped, hit off, as true a likeness of my father. See Winter's Taie, v. i. 127: "Your father's image is so hit in you." 12. More composition] a fuller blending, mixture. See King John, I. i. 88: "Do you not read some tokens of my son In the large composition of this man?" Spoken of the bastard, Falconbridge. 14. fops] silly, foolish persons, not dandies. See foppish, I. iv. 166, and foppery, 1. ii. 116. See also Mat, a fool, a fop, a gul, a mad pash, a harebrained ninny. Cotgrave, French Dictionary; also Lodge, Rosalind, p. 101 (Shaks. Library, Hazlitt, vol. ii.): "So foolish, that like a fop she forgets that she must have a large harvest for a little corn." Got 'tween asleep and wake? Well then, Enter GLOUCESTER. 15 20 Glou. Kent banish'd thus! And France in choler parted! And the king gone to-night! subscribed his power! Confin'd to exhibition! All this done 25 Upon the gad!-Edmund, how now! what news? 15. asleep] Capell (a-sleep Pope); a sleepe Q1, F; sleepe Q2; then]F, the Q. 18. Fine..."legitimate"] F, omitted Q. to' th' F), shall top Capell (Edwards conject.). 21. Shall to the] I retain the old reading. "Top" first suggested by Edwards in his Canons of Criticism, and first put into the text by Capell, is generally adopted. But "Shall to may be explained shall come up to, or shall assail and get the better of; and it appears to me to make fair sense, and to be in the manner of Shakespeare. 23. And France... parted!] In the recorded parting between Lear and France, 1. i., there is no appearance of any choler in France; but see I. i. 302, where another interview is spoken of; this may have been described in a scene, afterwards struck out by Shakespeare or by the players; also see 11. iv. 215, where the epithet "hot-blooded" is applied to France. 24. subscribed] Johnson explained "transferred by signing or subscribing a writing or testimony." This is possibly right, but it may mean, as it is commonly explained, "having yielded up." For an example of this sense, see 21. Shall to the] Q, F (tooth' Q, 24. subscribed] Q, prescrib'd F. Troilus and Cressida, IV. v. 105. Schmidt prefers the Folio word "prescribed," and explains "his power is restricted, limited, confined in its exercise." Tovey explains "cancelled." 25. Confin'd to exhibition] restricted to an allowance or sum of money for one's support, a term still in use at the universities; and see Two Gentlemen of Verona, 1. iii. 69: "What maintenance he from his friends receives, Like exhibition thou shalt have from me." See also The London Prodigal, i. 1: "Father. What! doth he spend be yond the allowance I left him? Uncle. How? Beyond that and far. Your exhibition is nothing." And Cotgrave's French Dictionary: "Exhibition, a gift or exhibition." 26. Upon the gad!] suddenly as if pricked by a gad or goad. Compare on the spur of the moment," and the expression "on the spur," at full |