Titus Andronicus & Timon of Athens (53 page)

40
friendly
kindly (ironic; also plays on the sense of “like a lover”)

42
At … bay
cornered thus (hunting metaphor referring to the cornered animal turning to face its pursuers)

42
by turn
one after the other (plays on the sense of “with copulation”)

42
serve
gratify sexually

45
more
i.e. more
Roman dames

50
Belike
probably

54
more
puns on
Moor

54
ne’er a whit
not a bit (perhaps plays on “white”)

55
what
what do you want

56
undone
ruined

67
issue
outcome/offspring

70
fair-faced breeders
light-skinned mothers

70
clime
climate/region, realm

71
thy … seal
i.e. with your mark upon it

74
blowse
ruddy fat-faced wench (here applied to the baby as a reaction to the nurse’s condemnation of his blackness)

78
done
had sex with

80
chance
luck

87
broach
stick, as on a spit

92
got
conceived

95
Enceladus
one of the giants who fought the Olympian gods

96
Typhon
another giant (and father of monsters) who fought against the gods

97
Alcides
Hercules, the Greek hero famed for feats of great strength

97
god of war
Mars

99
sanguine
red-faced

100
white-limed
whitewashed (puns on “white-limbed”)

100
ale-house painted
crudely painted

105
lave
wash

105
flood
sea/river

109
this
i.e. the baby

112
maugre
in spite of

113
smoke
i.e. suffer (an image drawn from burning at the stake)

115
escape
sexual transgression

117
ignomy
ignominy, disgrace

120
close enacts
secret actions

121
framed
made

121
leer
complexion/sly sideways glance

122
slave
villain

123
As … say
as if saying

124
sensibly
perceptibly/made capable of sensation

125
self-blood
selfsame blood

127
enfranchisèd
freed

128
the surer
i.e. the mother’s

131
Advise thee
consider

133
so
provided that

135
have … of
watch as a hunter does from the security of a downwind position

140
chafèd
angry/provoked

148
Weke, weke!
Aaron imitates the Nurse’s dying cry

150
policy
expedience, strategy

152
long-tongued
chattering

156
like to her
i.e. pale-skinned

157
pack
make an arrangement/conspire

158
circumstance
details

164
physic
medicine (ironic)

165
bestow
give

166
grooms
fellows/herdsmen/court officials responsible for organizing special events like funerals

167
days
time

168
presently
immediately

179
shifts
expedients/stratagems

181
curds and whey
coagulated milk, similar to yogurt

181
suck
drink the milk of

182
cabin
lodge

Act 4 Scene 3

4.3
Location: Rome
(
outside the emperor’s palace
)

3
draw home
draw the bow to its fullest extent

3
’tis there straight
it will reach its target straight away

4
Terras Astraea reliquit
“Astraea [goddess of justice] has left the earth” (Latin; from Ovid’s
Metamorphoses
)

4
be you remembered
remember

6
cousins
kinsmen

6
sound
measure the depth of

8
Haply
perhaps/hopefully

9
there’s
i.e. in the sea there is

11
mattock
agricultural tool similar to a pick, used to break up hard ground

13
Pluto’s region
the classical underworld, over which Pluto ruled

19
What time
when

19
suffrages
votes

22
man-of-war
warship

23
her
i.e. Astraea, Greek goddess of justice

24
pipe for
look in vain for, whistle for

25
heavy case
sad state of affairs

26
distract
deranged, mad

28
carefully
attentively/with solicitude

29
feed his humour
indulge, humor him

30
careful
comforting/costing trouble

32
Join … Goths
a line is missing before this in the early texts; it was probably something like “But let us live in hope that Lucius will”

33
wreak
vengeance

36
her
i.e. Astraea

39
for
as for

41
perforce
of necessity

41
stay
wait

43
burning lake
both
Acheron
and the fiery Phlegethon were rivers in the classical underworld

46
Cyclops
one-eyed giant

48
wrung
racked/wrenched/pressed down upon

49
sith
since

50
move
provoke/rouse/appeal to

51
for to
to

52
gear
business

53
“Ad … Martem”
“To Jove,” “To Apollo,” and “To Mars” (Latin)

57
You … wind
i.e. you might as well shoot against the wind as appeal to Saturninus

58
loose
let fly

59
Of
on

64
said
done

65
Virgo
the constellation of the virgin, associated with Astraea; shooting an arrow into her
lap
is sexually suggestive

65
Give it Pallas
shoot the arrow labeled “Pallas” (i.e. Pallas Athene, also associated with virginity)

70
Taurus
constellation of the
bull

72
galled
grazed

72
Aries
constellation of the
ram

73
horns
the signs of cuckoldry (i.e. having an unfaithful wife); Marcus imagines Aaron giving them to Saturninus

74
villain
servant/doer of wicked deeds

77
there it goes
a hunter’s cry of encouragement

77
Clown
a rustic/the actor who played low-comic parts

78
post
messenger

81
gibbet-maker
the Clown has misheard or misunderstood the word
Jupiter

81
taken them down
i.e. taken down the gallows (because the execution has been postponed)

87
carrier
messenger (the Clown responds to the literal sense of “bearer”)

91
press
aspire

92
tribunal plebs
malapropism for “tribuni plebis”—the tribunes in their capacity as magistrates protecting the plebeians in law

93
take up
amicably settle (a legal dispute; the pigeons are to serve as a peace offering)

94
emperial’s
malapropism for “emperor’s”

96
oration
petition

99
with a grace
courteously, pleasingly, with propriety (the Clown understands “along with a prayer before meals”)

101
ado
fuss

104
Hold
stop, wait

104
charges
expenses

106
supplication
written request

111
look for
expect

112
bravely
in good style

113
let me alone
leave it to me

Act 4 Scene 4

4.4
Location: action continues, but shifting to interior of palace

2
overborne
oppressed

3
for the extent
in return for his exercising

5
mightful
mighty

7
passed
happened/been legally determined

8
even
in accordance

11
wreaks
acts of vengeance

18
blazoning
proclaiming/displaying

19
humour
whim, caprice

24
she
i.e. justice

33
meanest
lowest

35
High-witted
clever, sharp

35
gloze
use fair, false words

35
withal
along with the rest

40
forsooth
in truth

42
good e’en
good evening (i.e. any time after noon)

45
must I
am I to

47
By’r lady
by Our Lady (i.e. the Virgin Mary)

47
brought up
raised (plays on the sense of “given utterance to a report or legal claim”)

47
neck
plays on the sense of “the laying of a charge at law”

48
end
i.e. death (plays on the sense of “completion of a legal case”)

51
device
trick/plot

56
shape privilege
create immunity from prosecution

57
slaughterman
executioner

58
frantic
mad

58
holp’st
helped

62
gathered head
raised an army

62
power
army

63
bent … spoil
determined on destruction

64
amain
in full force/at full speed

64
conduct
leadership

67
Coriolanus
Roman war hero who, having been exiled from Rome, joined forces with his former enemy to march against the city, events that are dramatized in Shakespeare’s
Coriolanus

69
nip me
cut off my growth/blight me with frost

74
walkèd … man
i.e. gone among his citizens in disguise

75
wrongfully
wrongfully done

80
thy name
i.e. Saturninus, with its suggestion of Saturn, supposedly King of Rome in the golden age

82
suffers
allows

83
is not careful
does not care

85
stint
stop

86
giddy
fickle in allegiance/intoxicated with the thought of revolt

90
honey-stalks
clover flowers, the overeating of which causes sheep to become bloated and die

92
rotted
destroyed/corrupted by the rot, a disease that affects sheep

95
smooth
flatter

100
parley
peace negotiations during which hostilities are suspended

101
appoint
arrange

104
stand in
insist upon

106
effectually
adequately, to the purpose

108
temper
work on