England; Isabel entreats, and finally secures his recall; he is summoned; and, after a general pacification of kings and barons, a new resistance is threatened all in the single scene." (E. T. McLaughlin.) 336: 378. cousin. Here used for niece. She was Margaret de Clare, daughter of the elder Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, and Johanna of Acre, daughter of King Edward I. She was married to Gaveston in 1307. 338. The scene, Dyce suggests, is in a hall in Gloucester house. 339:55. to form a verb. A slang phrase meaning to put a thing neatly; to say the right thing. 341 20. Æque tandem. Gaveston, the canker, will 28. Undique mors est. On Justly at length. The meaning is that 345 143. the broad seal. "A brief, or letters patent, under the Great Seal, authorizing a person to collect alms for a particular purpose." (O. W. Tancock.) 346168. Valois. This title is not accurately used as Isabella's three brothers (Louis X, Philip V, Charles IV) did not belong to the house of Valois. Her cousin (Philip IV of Valois) ascended the throne in 1328. — 185. this jig. This song is taken almost entirely from Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 420. It does not occur in Holinshed. - 192. Wigmore shall fly. Wigmore (Castle) shall be sold. This property of the Mortimer family was in Hereford, on the Welsh border. 348 254. the only heir. In reality her two sisters were also heiresses in equal right. 349. The scene is in the neighbourhood of Tynemouth Castle. 5. of policy. In deceit, in craft. 22-23. that Dead Sea . Mortimer. An erroneous explanation of the origin of the name. A famous ancestor of the Mortimer family had been a crusader and won renown by the shores of the Dead Sea (Mortuum Mare). This fact and the similarity of the Latin name to de Mortuo mari, the Latinized form of Mortemer, a town in Normandy, readily suggested such an origin. Cunningham says, "In all Latin deeds the Mortimers are called 'de mortuo mari.'” 350. The scene is inside Tynemouth Castle. 352. Scene: the open country. 353 15. Greekish strumpet. Helen of Troy. 29. That heading . . . other. A soldier and nobleman would expect beheading, which was honourable; a felon would expect hanging. 355 82. "had I wist." "An exclamation implying repentance of a rash deed." (Dyce.) ... - 5. Centre 357. The scene is laid near Deddington or Warwick. · bliss. "The meaning is: Must this day, which was to be, which seemed to be, the point on which all bliss centred, since on it I was to see the King, must this day be the end of my life? What a melancholy contrast! The very thought of the bliss bids him urge Pembroke's men to speed to the King." (O. W. Tancock.) Cf. IV, vi, 61-62. 358. The scene is near Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire. — 16. magnanimity. Cf. the classical use of this word, as in the Æneid, VI, 649, and III, 704. Here it means the courage of a man superior to all control. - 27. steel it. Try this matter with our swords; compare, try our steel. 359. the Elder Spenser. This scene represents the elder Spenser as a stranger, introduced to the King by his son, although actually he must have been well known to him, as he was one of the most influential of the barons. 360: 66. Sib. According to Wagner, "An endearing abbreviation of Isabel." More probably an abbreviation of gossip. 362: 145. merely. Of my pure love, and for no other reason. 365. The scene is laid in another part of the battle-field. 10. in regard of. In care for; having regard to. 366 25. Winchester. The elder Spenser, who was Earl of Winchester. 36-37. can ragged stony walls. . . Heaven? Cf. the lines of Lovelace: "Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage." 367: 56. clap so close. Strike so secretly. 368. The scene is in the neighbourhood of the Tower of London. Scene ii is in Paris. 370 44. not I. "I will not advance my standard against the King my father." (O. W. Tancock.) — I trow. I assure you. 371 66. to bid .. a base. To challenge to a race or encounter. The phrase probably refers to the old game of prisoner's base. The scene is an apartment in the King's palace at Westminster. 3. uncontrolled. The word refers to Edward, not to friends. 373. The scene is in the neighbourhood of Harwich. 374. The scene is in the neighbourhood of Bristol. - 6. reinforce. The word is here used in the sense of encourage, hearien, rather than in the modern sense of strength by reinforcements. : 26. be not 375 14. of all unkind. Most unnatural of all. suspect. Be not found walking alone (lest thereby you fall a victim of foul play), because of suspicion against you.-10-27. This way he fled thy walks. This soliloquy is introduced for the purpose of informing the audience of the views and character of Kent. 376 60. Catiline. The allusion is merely general abuse. 377 79. the prince. The King. -81. Rice ap Howel. Holinshed, p. 339, says, "Lord Henry, Earl of Leicester, and the Lord William de la Zouche and one Rice ap Howell that was lately delivered out of the Tower where he was prisoner were sent by the Queen into Wales "to see if they might find means to apprehend the King by help of their acquaintance in those parts, all three of them having lands thereabouts."-The scene is in the abbey of Neath. 378 19. Thou suck'dst . . . Aristotle. Plato, and particularly Aristotle, were read in Latin translations at the Universities during the Middle Ages. Not many in England knew Greek at that time. - 26. sit secure. Be free from care. Cf. Judges xviii. 7.— 34. sore. A dissyllable. 379 50. cannot. - 53-54. Quem . 62. O day the last Cannot do. The verb is here used absolutely. . jacentem. Seneca, Thyestes, 613. — 61 . misfortune. Cf. note on III, i, 5. 382. The scene is an apartment in Kenilworth Castle. “Tisiphone . . . torvosque sinistra 384 84. Trussel. Sir William Trussel was proctor for the parliament which met at Westminster on January 7, 1327. A few days later he renounced homage and fealty to the King, who had already given his consent to the election of his son and who was then in confinement at Kenilworth. 385 115. protect. Be Protector of. love for his son," as Mr. Tancock remarks, "The King's fear and are delicately used to draw the sympathy of the audience and to prevent his complaints from being too wearisome and unmanly." 387. The scene is an apartment in the royal palace. · 7. Wolf. "The allusion is to the Greek proverb, Tòv λÚKOV TŵV TWV EXW." (Wagner.) Wolf refers to the King. - II. to erect your son. Το make your son king. 391. The scene is inside Kenilworth Castle. Breath of life. Latin, aura vitæ. - 19. dungeon. 17. air of life. It is conjectured that the castle in which the King was confined was Berkeley, though he was undoubtedly removed thence later to Kenilworth. His description of the vault or dungeon would seem to apply to the former. 392 23. old Edward. He was only forty-three at the time of his murder. Stow often speaks of him as the "old king." 393. The scene is an apartment in the royal palace. 6. this letter. The story of the ambiguous Latin line, as Professor Ward (Hist. of Dram. Lit., I, 198) points out, is "taken from a contemporary account of Thomas de la Moor, who was an eyewitness of Edward II's resignation." Probably Marlowe derived it from Holinshed. 394: 14. being dead. He being dead. -31. poison flowers. Cf. The Jew of Malta, III, v, 65-106, and IV, vi, 45-49. Poisoning was a fashionable crime in Marlowe's time. Gifts, such as flowers, were ingeniously employed to poison persons at a distance. 32. To strangle . . throat. Lawn is a piece or strip of linen. "There was a species of torture in which a man was bound tightly to a frame, his nostrils were plugged, and a jet of water was sent down his throat carrying with it a strip of linen, which was drawn out from time to time to prevent complete suffocation. Cf. Engl. Hist. Review, April, 1889, p. 237. Such a mode of stopping the breath would have left no mark. For a notice of a different kind of water torture, compare Aurora Leigh, p. 17." (O. W. Tancock.) 395: 60-62. onus provinciam. These are Ciceronianisms, taking off the precise Latinity of the puritan, i.e. purist who affects them. -68. Major . . . nocere. Cf. Ovid, Metam., VI, 195. — The scene is now at Westminster. 397. The scene is within Berkeley Castle. "A 398 25. lock. Lake in the old edition. Lock is suggested by Mr. Bullen, who also thinks lake may mean the dungeon. change of scene is supposed to the dungeon. The actor who personated Lightborn most probably drew a curtain and discovered the captive king." (Dyce.) 399 71. bed. It is not clear just what were the stage arrangements in this scene. There was very probably no bed in the dunDyce suggests that the bed was thrust upon the stage from the wing, after Gurney and Matrevis withdrew. geon. 401. The scene is an apartment in the royal palace. 402 10. Jove's huge tree. The oak. A common allusion in the Elizabethan dramatists. Cf. As you Like It, III, ii, 218. GLOSSARY Terms readily found in an unabridged dictionary, an encyclopædia, or a gazetteer are for the most part not included in this list. Avouch, maintain as true, make But, only; for no other reason than. good. Azamor, a maritime town of Bagdeth, Bagdad. Baliol, probably a misprint for Balsera, Bassora or Basra, a city spitfire. Byather, Biafra, on the African west coast, north of the equator. Call, offer salvation to. Cf. St. Matthew, xxii. 14, "Many are Cast, consider; conjecture; plot. Cavalieros, mounds for the mount- Cazzo (Italian), a vulgar Italian prob- Champion, an old spelling of ably = Belgia, Lower Germany, or the Netherlands, in which Hainault, a part of modern Belgium, was included. Coal-black Sea, the Black Sea. |