King Lear: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

Z26 NOTES 3.6.

Faustus, 2. I. 40, 'Solamen miseris socios habuisse
doloris' (Greg, Dr Faustus: A Reconstruction, 1950).
alone Emphatic, suffers, suffers most (Theob.) Q
'suffers suffers, most'.
no . high noises rumours from court—wh. will
give him the cue when to 'bewray' (see G.) himself.
112. In...proof"=when thou hast been proved just.
reconciles thee sc. to thy father.
114. S.D. (<Theob.'Exit Edgar.') Qom.



3-7
S.D. Loc. (Cap. subs.) Entry (<Fsubs.).
1. S.D. (Furn.)
2. this letter Cf. 3. 3.10-11, 21; 3. 5. n-13 . We
are left to suppose that Edm. filched it from Glo.'s
closet.
3. Cap. (+Camb.) gives here a S.D. 'Exeunt some
of the Servants.' But 'Corn, is as yet only laying out his
plans. At 11. 22-3 he gives his order, and a stage-direc--
tion is necessary' (Sisson).
8,10. bound to see G. 9. Duke, where (alledd.)
Q, F 'Duke where'. where=to whom. Cf. 1. 1.
10. /o=to make, festinate (F 2) F I 'festiuate'.
12-13. my...Gloucester Spoken pointedly. Cf. 3* 5..
18. 13. S.D. (<Q,F'Enter Steward.').
15. My...Gloucester i.e. old Glo. The contrast with,
s
11. 12-13 i effective.
16-17. Some...Hotquestrists Cf.2.4.65 fi:,T\..adfin.
Sh. never explains how Lear comes to be separated
from his reduced retinue and deliberately keeps their
whereabouts vague. See Greg (M.L.R., 1940,
p. 434, v n.) for an attempt to trace their movements.
18. of the lord's dependants, (Pope) F ' of the Lords,
dependants,'. Sc. of Glo.'s.
22. S.D. (Dyce subs.) Q 'Exit Gon. and Bast.\

3.7. NOTE S 227
F'Exit'(both at! 21). 23. S.D. (Cap. subs:) £>,Fom.
24. pass upon see G. 26. court'sy see G.
27. S.D. (<Cap. after 'traitor?') F (placed as
here). 'Enter Gloucester, and Seruants.'
29. corky arms see G. 'corky'; cf. Harsnett, p. 25,
'an old corkie woman' [Muir].
32. S.D. (Cainb.) Hard=tlght.
34. S.D. (J.D.W.) At 1. 32 his arms are bound to
his body; here he is tied down to the chair, find— (Q)
F'finde.'. S.D. (J.)
37. Naughty see G. 39. quicken see G-
40. hospitable favours=the features of your host.
43. Be simple-answered (Han.) 'Give a straight
answer' (Muir), F 'Be simple answer'd', Q (+Camb.)
'Be simple answerer'.
46. You have (Q, F) Q 2 (+Camb.) 'haue you*.
king...Speak. (J.D.W.) F. 'King: Speake.' Q 'King
speake ?'. Edd. usually follow Han.—'To whose hands
hayeyou...king?| Speak.'. Al. and Muir restore F, and
Sisson notes that 'To whose...King:' refers back to
'traitors' (1. 44). The F colon=a pause, wh. fills out
the line. Reg. need not ask: she 'knows the truth'
(1. 43); cf. her 'And false' (1. 49).
51. peril— (Q) F 'peril!.'.
52. answer (F) Q ( + Camb.)'first answere*.
53. / am...course sc. like a bear attacked by dogs at
a bear-baiting. Cf. Macb. 5. 7. 1-2 (almost word for
word).
54. Dover? (F) Q (+Camb.) 'Douersir?'.
57. rash (Q + Ridley) F (+Camb.) 'sticke', c£
R.III G. 'raze off'.
62. dearn (£>+Ridley'dern') F(+Camb.)'sterne\
Greg {Variants, p. 156) like Ridley takes Q readings here-,
as 'unquestionably Sh.'s'; but, being 'unusual or obso-
lescent', the words have been altered in F 'by either
prompter or editor' for the sake of readier under-

428 NOTES 3.7.
standing, though 'stern' is inappropriate to the context.
Sisson accepts F considering Q's 'flesh rash borish fangs',
'disastrous to speak:' Are not sibilants apt to the
situation described? See G. 'rash', 'dearn'.
58. as his loved (G.I.D.; withdrawing 1949
reading) F (+Camb.) 'as his bare' Q uncorr. 'of his
lou'd', corr. 'on his lowd'. Most edd. accept F but
'loved' adds a touch of emotion, which is surely Sh.'s,
in this speech of high passion, while the colourless 'bare'
looks like a careless substitution by the prompter (cf.
'bare-headed' 3. 2. 60) if it be not a simple and not im-
probable misreading of 'loud'; cf. the Q 'layd' for F
'buoy'd' (prob. copy-sp. 'boyd') in 1. 59. The F 'as' on
the other hand must be correct and might in its turn
have been misread 'of by the Q compositor. As the
F collator was working here on an uncorr. sheet of Q,
we do not need to bother with 'on his lowd' (>Rid.
'low'd'). See Greg, Variants, pp. 168-9.
59. buoyed {<¥) Q uncorr.'layd', corr.'bod*.
60. quenched...fires Cf. Temp. 1. 2. 4-5, 'the sea,
mounting to th'welkin's cheek, Dashes the fire out'.
stelle'd fires=the fire of the stars, 'stelle'd' lit.=»
studded with stars (like a ceiling—e.g. prob. the Globe
'heavens'). Cf. Ham. 2. 2. 304, 'this brave o'erhanging
firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire'.
See G. 'stelle'd'.
61. holp...rain sc. by his tears. CH.Macb. 1.7.25,11.
(N.S.) and Introd. to Titus, p. lii.
63. 'Good...key 1 J.'s quot. marks. Most edd.
follow, but Furn. reads 'Good...subscribe'—see next
note.
64. Jllcruels else subscribe :(F) Q(+Camb.)'All...
subscrib'd*. Much debated. Taking 'cruels' as 'cruel
creatures' (see G. and Schmidt) and 'subscribe' as
'yield to pity' (as in Troil. 4. 5. 105-6), G.I.D.
interprets U. 64-5: 'AH other cruel creatures yield to

3 .7. NOTES 229
feelings of compassion under strong provocation: you
alone do not: but you and your sister will be divinely-
punished for your unparalleled cruelly to your father'
(1949 ed. p. 154; Muir agrees).
69. help... F 'helpe.—'. A long dash in F marks
the moment of the deed. 70. One...another=One
side will make the other look ridiculous.
71. If...vengeance— Cf. 11. 64-5. vengeance—(Q)
F'vengeance.'. I Servant. (Cap., subs.) Q'Seruant.',
F 'Seru.'. We follow Cap. also at 11. 75, 78, 80,98, etc.
76. Regan. What...mean? (K. <Craigconj.) Con-
tinued to the Servant in Q, F (+Camb.). Given to
Corn. (Furn. conj.). G.I.D. now accepts K.
77. villain? 79. thus? (F). Question marks in
F may often=exclam. marks, and Camb. prints them
here. But Corn, and Reg. are incredulous—can a
menial be so bold? See G.'villain'.
77-8. S.D.s (G.I.D.) Q (+Camb.) 'draw and
fight.'(1. 77); Fom.
78. take...anger—risk fighting with an angry man.
79. (i) S.D. (G.I.D.) Q, F om. (ii) S.D. (£) F
'Killes him.'.
81. S.D. (<£>2) Q, Fom.
85. nature filial affection.
88. overture see G. Accented 'overture*.
93. S.D. (G.I.D.) F 'Exit with Glouster.'. Etna
look you?=mod. 'How do you seem ?'.
95. Turn...villain. Preoccupied with his Wound, he
does not notice that Glo. has gone.
97. S.D. <Theob.'Exit Cornwall, led by Regan.',
F 'Exeunt.'.
98-106. From Q. Fom. 'Reduces the number of
speaking parts in the sc. by two' (G.I.D. 1949 ed. p. 8).
Cf. 4. 7. 85-97, n.
98, 102. sp.-hdgs. <Cap.; Q 'Seruant.' at 1. 98,
'1 Ser.'atl. 102.

Z3© NOTES 3.7.
99. If...good i.e. if Corn, escapes divine punish-
ment.
99,105. sp.-hdgs. (<Cap.) Q '2 Seruant.'; '2 Ser.*
100. old see G. course see G.
101. /«r» monsters sc. they'll never care either.
102. the bedlam A double though trivial incon-
sistency: (i) most unlikely that the disguised Edg. wd
be known to servants in the Castle, see 2. 3 head-note;
4
(ii) in .1. Glo. is led by an old man, who resigns him to
'the bedlam' with reluctance (cf. 4. 1. 45).
103. he would: his Here 'he' = (Glo.) and 'his' =
the Bedlam's, roguish (Q uncorr.) Q corr. om.
Needed for the metre, and prob. removed from Q corr.
by accident [Greg, Variants, p. 169].
104. Allows...anything i.e. 'can be persuaded to do
anything'; cf. On. 'lends itself (J.C.M.).
105-6. some flax...face Banister's Popular Treatise
of Surgery (1575) prescribes the white of eggs spread
upon flax for a hurt eye [Ver.]; and Sir Geoffrey Keynes
privately supplies this from a medical text-book of
1698:

Take of the white of an Egg, beat it in a Pewter-dish with
a piece of Allum very well, till it come to the consistence of
an Oyntment, which you must spread upon a linen-cloth
and apply it warm to the eye.
See below 4. 1. 10, n.
106. S.D. g'Exit.*.



4 . 1
S.D. loc. (Cap.) Entry (Q, F).
1-9. Yet...blasts This cheerful declaration that he
has faced the worst is deeply ironical in view of what
immediately follows.
I. thus i.e. like a beggar, known sc. to myself.

4.i. NOTES 231
2. still...flattered sc. as at court, flattered. To be
worst, (Pope) Q 'flattered to be worst,', F 'flatter'd, to
be worst:'. The Q and F punct. amount to the same
thing; defended by Muir, who reads 'flatter'd to be
worst.'. But 'the worst' here must tally with 'the
worst' (1. 6) and contrast with 'the best' (1. 5). Cf.
Sisson.
2-4. To be worst...lives not in fear=cL Bunyan's
'He that is down needs fear no fall'. 4. still=always.
6. returns...laughter, i.e. is bound to change for the
better. 6-9. Welcome...blasts. From F. Q om.
9. Owes...blasts, sc. therefore need fear nothing
further from you, since he has paid to the uttermost.
S.D. (Q—at 1.12) F 'Enter Gloster and an Oldman.'.
10. poorly eyed! (G.I.D.)=with something wrong
with his sight! Cf. Spenser, F.Q. iv. iii. 7, 'watchfull and
well eyde'. The modern coll. 'poorly' = 'in a poor state
of health' is post-Sh. (see O.E.D. 'poorly'). The texts
are: F 'poorely led?'; Q uncorr. 'poorlie, leed,'; Q
corr. 'parti,eyd,\ As F here derives from Q uncorr.
wh. Greg notes is not only 'exceedingly feeble' but
can hardly have been even 'approximately the reading of
the Quarto copy', since 'if it was, there is no apparent
reason why the corrector should have altered it', we
must look to Q corr. for a solution, though of course it
will be what the reporter wrote and only poss. Sh.'s.
The 'eyd' seems convincing and the mis-correction.of
'poorlie' to 'parti' may be explained if the Q copy read
'porli'. Cf. Greg, Variants, pp. 169-70. J.D.W. first
conj. 'pearly' (<sp. 'parli')=with cataracts, cf. Gent.
5. 2. 13. But he now feels it too definite for the con-
text, though the white plasters provided at 3. 7. 105-6
(see n.) might suggest cataracts. N.B. The eyes were
not bandaged, as on the mod. stage; see 4. 6. 136, 143;
5. 3. 188.
11-12. But...age. 'We are only reconciled to

232 NOTES 4.1.
growing old...by the chances and changes of this mortal
fife which make us hate it' (Muir).
17. You (F) £> (+Camb.) 'Alack sir, you'—prob.
memory of 1. 45.
19. / stumbled when I saw 'One of the central
paradoxes of the play' (Muir). Cf. 5. 3. 171-2.
20-1. Our.. .commodities. ' Prosperity makes us care-
less, and adversity ("our mere defects") proves to bean
advantage' (K.). See G. 'secure', 'means' 'mere'.
21. O F 'Oh', Q (+Camb.) 'ah'.
22. The food...wrath Cf.Z.Z.Z.4.1.92 'food for his
rage' [K.].
23. see...in my touch i.e.'hold thee in my embrace*
(K.).
25»27»37>5i» 53-. J-'s asides.
31. reason i.e. sanity.
33. a man a worm. Perh. Sh. echoes Job xxv. 6.
35. I...since. Cf. 3. 7. 87-9.
36-7. As flies...sport. See Introd. §X and 5. 3.
169-72, n.
37. kill (F) Q 'bitt'—literal misreading. How..*
&/='How can this have come about?'—a cry of
anguished astonishment. He had heard his father 'i'the
lastnight'sstorm'speakofhim(3.4.145-6, i66-7o)in
very different terms, had seen him with eyes that could
see—and now! What was the meaning of it all?
38-9. Bad...others. An apology [by Sh. to his
audience] for the strange part Edg. is now to play in
company with his,sorrowing and suffering father. Cf.
*And yet I must' (1. 53), though it is never explained
why he must, and 'O fault!' etc. (5. 3. 191). Edg.
plays fool to Glo. as the Fool himself does to Lear.
39. Ang'ring (F, Q) K.'s gloss 'distressing' is not
a sense recorded in O.E.D. after 1400. Poss. a common
error; Han.'sconj. 'Anguishing' being attractive. Note
the anguish in 11. 51-3.

4 .i. NOTES 233

41. Then prithee (<Q+Camb.) F om. 'Then'is
needed for the sequence. See G.I.D. 1949 ed. p. 180.
away (F) Q (+Camb.) 'gone'.
45. Which (F) Q(+Camb.)'Who\
46. time's (Rowe) £), F 'times'. Cap. (+Camb.)
'times''; see G. It is the world's calamity that rulers are
mad and their subjects blind. 'Time' (=the world) is
generally sing, elsewh. in Sh.
48. Above the rest=Above all.
50. S.D. F 'Exit', Q om.
51. a-cold (Rowe). Q, F' a cold', dauh it='carry
on this miserable counterfeiting' (K.).
51, 53. 'Asides' (all edd.) Q, F om.
5 3. Bless.. .bleed! He now sees the full horror of it.
Cf. 4. 1. 10, n.
57. good man's son Poss. 'goodman's son', i.e. sou
of the old 'tenant' (1. 13) who has just left him.
'Good-man'='a man of substance, not of gentle birth.*
(O.E.D.).
57-62. Five fiends...master! (Q) Fom.—'because,
I suppose, as the story [Harsnett's revelation of the
Jesuits' dealing with demoniacs] was forgotten, the jest
was lost'(J.). Cf. 3.4. 115,11. Five fiends...Tom Cf.
Harsnett, p. 136, 'the devil in Ma. Mainy confessed
his name to be Modu, and that he had besides himself
seaven other Spirits' [Mai.].
58. as Obidicut, of lust/(M.\nT<S.Walker). Q'Of
lust, as Obidicut,'. This parallels 'Mahu, of stealing',
etc. The reporter is more likely to have written disorderly
than Sh. [J.D.W.]. G.I.D. feels it safer to follow Q.
<7J=namely. Obidicut...Hobbididence. Since the re-
porter wd find it difficult to remember these names it
may be that Sh. wrote 'Hoberdicut' and 'Hoberdi-
dance', Harsnett's forms.
darkness (J.D.W.) Q 'dumbness'—literal mis-
reading; cf. Q 'bitt' for 'kill' (F) in 1. 37. In Harsnett

234 NOTES 4.x.
(p. 119) Hoberdicut is 'the Prince of hel' and the
present passage echoes 3. 4. 143-4 where Modo and
Mahu are mentioned in conjunction with 'the Prince of
Darkness'. A fiend 'of dumbness' is intelligible; but
what is a 'Prince of Dumbness'? Cap. read 'darkness'
but corrected it in Errata.
60. Flibbertigibbet (Pope)—as in F at 3. 4. 115.
Q 'Stiberdigebit'. Harsnett's form is 'Fliberdigibbet'.
We adopt the usual modern spelling.
60-1. of mocking andmowing, who (G.I.D.) Q 'of
Mobing, & Mohing who'. Theob. ( + Camb.) 'of mop-
ping and mowing; who' 'Mohing' being an aural
error. But 'mop and mow' and 'mock and mow' mean
the same and are both found in Temp. (4. 1. 47; 3. 3.
82 S.D.), while 'mock' has the better claim here on
graphic grounds. Cf. 2. 2. 130 (Q uncorr.) 'Stobing'
for 'Stoking'. F 'moking' would imply 'mocking', and
a misreading of'p' and' b' seems unlikely. True, as Mai.
noted, 'mow and mop' occurs in Harsnett; but Sh. may
have chosen the alternative phrase.
61. since i.e. since he left Tom. chambermaids
Perh. suggested by the three mentioned in Harsnett,
supposed to be possessed by devils. But also a general
ref. to serving-women who make derisive grimaces at
their mistresses behind their backs.
l
64. Have...strokes= have brought so low as to
accept humbly the bitterest strokes of Fortune' (Muir).
64—5. that.. .happier sc. because in my wretchedness
I enrich you with the purse. But prob. there is another
meaning, as at 3. 6. 103; see n.
65. Heavens, deal No comma in Q, F; but 'your' in
II. 67-8 suggests a vocative here, still! (Camb.) F 'still:'.
66-70. Let.. .enough Cf. Lear's prayer at 3.4.2 8-36.
66. lust-dieted Gen. explained 'whose desires are
fed to the full'; cf. Oth. 2. 1. 288, 'to diet my revenge'.
But as 'diet' more often = 'feed ace. to medical prescrip-

4.i. NOTES 235
tion', 'lust-dieted' may mean 'whose appetite (of all
kinds) is ruled solely by his lusts or desires'—wh. wd
pointedly cover Glo.'s own case.
67. slaves (F) i.e. as if the social order were his
slave not a master imposing obligations. Q 'stands'—
graphic misreading, ordinance see G.
67-8. that will...notfeel i.e. who refuses to see the
misery he does not feel. Now Glo. cannot see, he begins
to feel.
68. quickly Perh. a triple pun—(a) very soon;
(3) while he is still alive; (c) sharply, piercingly (cf.
Per. 4. 1. 28). 69. distribution Quibble; see G.
73. in the confine'd deep—over the Narrows, the
Straits of Dover [Cap.]. 78. S.D. F'Exeunt.'. Qom.


4.3
Gon., Edm. and Osw. having journeyed from Glo.'s
castle to the palace of Gon. and Alb. (cf. 3.7.1-20) have
now arrived. Gon. has sent Osw. to find Alb., and
proceeds to welcome Edm. to her dwelling.
S.D. Loc. (Cap., subs.) Entry (Theob.) £) 'Enter
Gonorill and Bastard.', F 'Enter Gonerill, Bastard, and
Steward.'.
2. S.D. (Theob., subs. <Q'Enter Steward.', after
'maister'). F om. (cf. previous note). It is significant of
Osw.'s intimacy with Gon. that she appears to let him
hear all that follows.
11. S.D. (Han) Q,Fom. 12. cozoishterror(F)
W.A.W.'s conj. 'currish terror' wd be far less appro-
priate to the 'mild' Alb. See G. 'cowish'.
13. undertake see G. 13-14. he*II...answer, i.e.
he'll ignore injuries 'which a man of spirit would resent'
(Ver.).
14. Ourwishes i.e.thatEdmundmightsupplantAlb.
as her husband, on the way=talked of on our way together.

236 NOTES 4.2.
15. May prove effects=will perhaps be realized.
brother i.e. brother-in-law.
17. arms (Q +Camb.) F'names'. I.e. she will lead
the army, taking 'cowish' Alb.'s sword. K. cites Cymb.
5. 3. 33-4, 'which could have turned a distaff to a
lance', and Wint. I. 2. 37 where the distaffis a woman's
weapon. Budd (R.E.S. xi, 427) shows too thatthe Host's
complaint about his quarrelsome wife in Chaucer's
Pro/, to Monk's Tale (11.13-24) was prob. in Sh.'s mind
here; as was the Monk's Tale at 3. 6. 6-7 (see n.).
20. F's brackets indicate a significant change of
voice, Gon. 'is presumably going to ask Edm. to
murder Alb.' (Muir), and then to marry her. Q om.
21. mistress's=(a) liege lady's, (b) lady-love's. S.D.
(J. at end of line).
27. due Emphatic. Antithetical to'usurps'in 1. 28.
28. A...bed. (G.I.D. <Qcorr.) Q uncorr.'My
foote vsurps my body.', F 'My Foole vsurpes my body.'
F here depends on Q uncorr., edited. The editor altered
'foote' correctly; but reconsidering the 1949 reading,
G.I.D. now thinks that he should have also altered' My'
to 'A' and 'body' to 'bed'. In Variants (pp. 169-72)
Greg makes out a strong case for' bed' as against' body'.
On the other hand 'A fool' seems to us more likely to
be Sh.'s than 'My fool'—in Gon.'s eyes, Alb. is just 'a
fool' who has no business to be sharing her bed; and
nothing is easier than to suppose that the original Q' My'
was an accidental anticipation of the 'my' three words
ahead. Cf. A.W. p. 57.
S.D. (i) <Q'ExitStew.'. Fom. S.D.(ii)(F) Qom.
Presumably F comp. took Q editor's addition for a
substitution.
29. I...whistling. Alb. had not come to meet her'on
the way' (11. 1-2), and now comes belatedly. She says,
in effect,' Here have I been whistling for you, but there
was a time when you thought me worth whistling for.'

4.2. NOTES 237
For the quibble see G. 'whistle', Heywood's Proverbsi
'A poore dogge that is not woorth the whystlyng'
[Steev.]. Breton, Packet of Mad Lett, 1603 [cited
O.D.E.P. 'Poor', p. 510], 'There are more maids than.
Maulkin, and I count myself worth the whistling after',
and Tilley, W 311, 'Not worth a whistle'.
whistling (G.I.D. <Q corr.) Q uncorr. and F
*whistle\ A case can be made for either (cf. Greg,
Variants, p. 172, with A.W. p. 57) and both are pro-
verbial. But the vbl sb. suits the context best, and the
sense of 'waiting for'.
31-50. I..Jeep. FromQ. F om. Cf. Introd. § IX.
31. I...disposition Your character frightens me.
32. it (=its) origin i.e. Lear, it (Q uncorr.) Qcorr.
*ith'; see Greg, Variants, pp. 172-3.
3 3. Cannot...itself = cannot be trusted to keep withia
the bounds of the moral code.
36. to deadly use=to destruction; e.g. to be burnt
like a dead piece of wood. Perh. a hint of Hell-fire.
37. no more etc. You can spare me the sermon on so
foolish a text.
46. visible spirits i.e. lightning and thunderbolt (as
opposed to the invisible spirits).
47. quickly Cf. 4. i.68,n. these (Jennens+Camb.
<Heath conj.) Q uncorr. 'the', corr. 'this'.
48. // will come sc. come about that. Possibly
something has been lost or the words may be an actor's
addition; Pope om.
49-50. Humanity ...deep. Greg (Variants, p. 173)
compares the Sh. addition to Sir Thomas More, 11. 86-7
(see Sh.'s Hand, pp. 230-end)—'men lyke ravenous
fishes I woold feed on on [=one] another'. See also
Trot 1.1.3.121-4, Per. 2.1.2 8-9, n., and for Sh.'s vision
of cannibalism as the culmination of disorder, R. W.
Chambers, Man's Unconquerable Mind, pp. 226-8.
51. iear'st (F),Q'bearest\ SeeG. Poss.'bar'st'-—

238 NOTES 4.2.
an echo of Luke vi. 29—upbraiding him for Christian
long-suffering.
52-3. discerning...suffering which can discriminate
between dishonour and forbearance, eye discerning
(Rowe) F 'eye-discerning'.
53-9. that...so?' From Q. F om.
54. Fools...punished i.e. it is only fools who pity the
villains that get punished, etc. [<Ver.].
56. noiseless Because no drum is beating.
57. thy...threat (Jennens + Camb.) Q uncorr. 'thy
slayer begin threats', Q corr. 'thy state begins thereat*
(cf. 1. 75, n.). Despite the 1949 ed. pp. 406-7, G.I.D.
now agrees with A.W. (p. 52) that 'Jennens's emenda-
tion...satisfies the textual conditions' and 'makes per-
fectly good sense'. The subj. of the sentence is of course
'France'.
58. moral sermonizing; cf. 1. 37, n.
60—1. Proper deformity ...woman. A fiend's own
moral and physical deformity does not appear so horrid
as a woman's does, for it is natural to the Devil, un-
natural in a woman. Cf. G. 'proper', shows (Q corr.)
F (<Q uncorr.) 'seemes'. See Greg, Variants,
pp. 174-5. 61. vain silly.
62-8. Thou...mew! From Q. F om.
62. chang/d sc. from woman to fiend or monster.
self-covered i.e. she has 'hid the woman under the
fiend' (J.)—bemonstered herself.
63. feature=appearance, ffere't my fitness=If it
were fitting for me.
64. Metrically defective, perh. through accidental
omission. Steev. conj. 'hands of mine', Theob. 'boiling
blood'. 65. dislocate (Q 3) Qq 1, 2 'dislecate'.
65-6. dislocate and tear Thy flesh and bones A chi-
asmus.
66. howe'er.. .fiend'=however much of a fiend you are.
68. your manhood! mewl (Camb. <Daniel 'your

4.2. NOTES 239
manhood—Mew!* < Q corr. 'your manhood mew')
Cf, Greg, Variants, p. 175. Mew! 'A derisive exclama-
tion' (O.E.D.)—very apt to Gon. because suggesting a
cat. £) uncorr. 'your manhood now—' (adopted by
Theob., and others) 'seems to be a sarcastic withdrawal
of her former charge of want of courage' (Ver.). Some
explain 'mew' 'shut up', as hawks were shut up in their
'mews' or cages. S.D. (F).
72. eyes! (Camb. <Q 'eyes?') F'eyes.'.
75. To=against, thereat enraged (Camb. <Q) F
'threat-enrag'd'.
76. felled=they felled. Cf. Abbott, § 399.
79. You justicers (Steev. <Q corr. 'you Iustisers')
Q uncorr. 'your Iustices', F 'You Iustices'. The F
collator has made only a partial correction of Q uncorr.
See Greg, Variants, p. 175. nether=h.txe below.
80. 0...Gloucester! Bracketed in F.
83. S.D. (Coll. MS. subs.) Q, F om. Gon.'s
'aside' (].).
83-6. One...life. 'Gon.'s plan was to poison her
sister,—to marry Edm.,—to murder Alb.,—and to get
possession of the whole kingdom. As the death of Corn,
facilitated the last part of her scheme, she was pleased at
it; but disliked it, as it put it in the power of her sister to
marry Edm.' (Mason, ap. Furn.).
84. being i.e. she being. 84-5. May...life=may
pull down all my castles in the air (on top of me),
leaving me a hateful life.
87. S.D. Q 'Exit.', F om. 90. 6ack=onhisway
back. Cf. 1. 15. 97. S.D. F'Exeunt.'.


4-3
From Q; F om. whole sc. We correct Q's erroneous
punct. without comment. G.-B. (pp. 148-9, n., 228)
considers this' a carpentered scene if ever there was one',

240 N O T E S 4.3.
wh. explains the K. of France's sudden return in 'the
clumsiest few lines in the play' (11.1-6), and provides 'a
dramatically feeble excuse for the delay in handing Lear
over to his daughter's care' (11. 37-44), with none at all
'for the devoted Kent letting the distracted old man out
of his sight to roam the fields' (see 1. 5 2, n.). In a word
G.-B. thinks the F cut well advised 'on the principle—
and it is an excellent one in the theatre—of: "Never
explain, never apologize."' Cf. too Greg, M.L.R.
(1940), pp. 444—5. Both think the change in France's
plans (11. 1-6) conceal a change in Sh.'s, which was
prob. due, apart from the desire of avoiding the affront
to patriotism of a Fr. victory over Britain, to a general
reconstruction of the plot. Yet J. F. Danby points out
this scene is necessary for 'a full understanding of
Cordelia' (Sh.'s Doctrine of Nature, p. 229).
S.D. Loc. (Steev.) Entry (Q).
2 no 2
- (0, 1) Q (+Camb.) 'the'.
10. your letters One missive (cf. 1. 5.1). Sh. forgot
that at 3. 1. 35 ff. it was a verbal report Kent asked the
Gent, to give to Cord.
12. Jy, sir; (J.) Theob. I, sir,'. Q I say/.
'
'
15. rebel-like Cf. Caes. 2.1.67 ff. 'the state of man',
etc. (with n.); ibid. 3. 1. 40 'rebel blood'; and Tw.N.
G. 'revolt'.
16. it i.e. the letter. 17. rage see G.; patience
see G.; strove (Pope) Q 'streme'. 18. Who which.
18-25. You have...become it. Muir cites Sidney,
Arcadia 1590 (ed. Feuillerat, p. 376):

her teares came dropping downe like raine in Sunshine, and
she [Philoclea] not taking heede to wipe the teares, they
ranne downe upon her cheekes, and lips, as upon cherries
which the dropping tree bedeweth.

Cf. also Tilley, L 92 a. 'To laugh and cry at once (like
rain in sunshine)'.

4.3« NOTES 241
20. Were...way (K. <Singer) Q 'Were like a
better way'. I.e. were like that, but were even more
attractive. See n. in the 1949 ed., and for another inter-
pretation Jespersen in S.P.E. XLVIII, 270-1.
21. ripe='ie& and full' (On.) like cherries (see
H. 18-25, n.) seemed- (Pope) Q 'seeme'.
25. could...it=COVL11 make it so becoming, question
see G.
30. not believe it (<Pope) Q 'not be beleeft'. £> 2
(+Camb.; G.I.D. 1949) 'not be beleeu'd'—wh. Mai.
explained 'Let not such a thing as pity be supposed to
exist'. Pope's text gives better verse and a meaning apter
to the context. Poss. Q copy read 'not beleeft' (=not
believe it) and the 'be' was added in proof [J.D.W.].
30-1. There...eyes Cf. Introd. p. xx-xxi and G.
'holy water'.
31-2. eyes That clamour (J.D.W.) Q 'eyes, And
clamour*. Mai. interprets Q 'she moisten'd clamour,
or the exclamations she had uttered, with tears'. But it
is her clamour (cries of grief) that moistens her eyes, not
vice versa.
32. clamour moistened} then (Cap.+Camb.) Q
'clamour moystened her, then'. As Mai. noted, the Q
comp.'s eye caught the hypermetrical 'her' from the
line above. But the comp. had hold of the right meaning,
which Mai. had not.
34. conditions see G.
35. make see G.
38. King sc. of France. Cf. 1. T.
43. elbows him=either (i) 'stands at his elbow*
(W.A.W.) i.e. 'haunts' (Schmidt); K. ditto, citing
Marlowe, Ed. II, 5.1.32-3, 'this cave of care [ Where
sorrow at my elbow still attends'; or (ii) 'forcibly
thrusts him back' (Craig); cf. 'detains him' (1. 48).
44. turned her sc. out.
5 2. Some dear cause We are never told what.

342 NOTES 4,3.
54-5. When...acquaintance. Cf. his similar attitude
towards the other Gentleman at 3. 1. 46-9. Lending—
for having lent. 56. S.D. Q 'Exit.'.


4.4
S.D. F heads 'Scena Tertia'. Loc. (Muir) Rowe
'A Camp', Cap. 'The same. A tent'. Entry <F subs.,
but reading 'Doctor' for F 'Gentlemen' (^Gentle-
man'?). Q 'Enter Cordelia, Doctor and others.*
2. mad...sea Cf. Ham. 4. 1.7.
3-6. Crowned...corn Cf. the description of the weeds
in untilled France at H. F, 5. 2. 44 ff.; and for
'Crowned' 4. 6. 80, S.D. n.j 182, n.
3. fumiter (Theob.) Q 'femiter', F 'Fenitar'. F
gives 'femetary' at H. V, 5. 2.45—prob. Sh.'s spelling.
4. hardocks (F 3 subs.) Q 'gor-docks', F 1 'Hard-
okes'. Unidentified plant. Poss. error for 'charlocks'
or its dialect form 'harlocks' (see E.D.D.), as Farmer
conj.
6. sustaining Contrasted with 'idle weeds', century
Q 'centurie', F 'Center/'. Cf. 'cohorts', 1. 2. 151.
8. S.D. (<Cap.) Q, Fom. can sc. do.
9. sense? (Camb. <Q 2) Q 1 'sence', F 'Sense;'.
10. worth see G.
11. sp.-hdg. <Q 'Doct.', F 'Gent.' (see head S.D;).
16. virtues...earth = 'efficacious medicinal plants'
(K.). Abstract for concrete. See G. 'virtue'.
18. good man's distress!— Q 'good mans distresse,',
F 'Goodmans desires:'. Cf. 1949 ed. p. 182.
20. wants=lacks, the means i.e. reason. S.D. (F).
23-8. 0 dear...right For patriotic spectators. But
with 'O dear...go about' cf. St Luke ii. 49, and Introd.
p. xxi.
26. importuned (F) see G. 29. S.D. F'Exeunt.'.

4.5. NOTE S 243

4-5
S.D. F heads 'Scena Quarta'. Loc. (Cap., subs.)
Entry F 'Enter Regan, and Steward.'. F, Q sp.-hdgs.
for Osw. are 'Stew.' or 'Ste.' throughout.
4. lord (?) Q/lady'—which J. thought 'the better
reading'.
9. ignorance see G.
12. in...misery A thin cloak for parricide.
18. charged...duty made a special point of. See G.
'charge'.
21. Borne things (F) Q 'Some thing'. Camb
'Something'. I'll...much i.e. I'll make it well worth
your while, cf. K.J. 3. 3. 67-8, 'Hubert I love thee',
etc. 22. rather— (F).
25. ^///^(O.E.D.)'Eliads'(F).Rowe'ceiliads',
See G.
27. madam! (Muir) F 'Madam?' Osw. misin-
terprets 'bosom' (see G.) at first; cf. R. Ill, 1. 2. 124,
'in your sweet bosom'.
28. understanding=h\owledge; cf. Wint. r. 1. 20.
you are (Rowe+Camb.) F 'Y'are'—awkward in a
mod. text.
29. take this note=take note of this.
32. gather more i.e. guess the rest.
33. this Presumably a love-token.
39. him (Q) F om. 40. S.D. F 'Exeunt*.



4.6

S.D, F heads 'Scena Quinta'. Loc. (Theob.) Entry
(F+Theob.) Edg. has "received the 'best 'parel'
promised by the Old Man at 4. 1. 49.
1. I (F) Q ( + Camb.) 'we'.
7. speak'st (F) Q 'speakest'—perh. better.
N.S.K.L.-17

244 NOTE S 4.6.
11-22. how fearful...so high. Despite Addison's
praise of this passage, J. wrote:
I am far from thinking it wrought to the utmost excellence
of poetry. He that looks from a precipice finds himself
assailed by one great and dreadful image of irresistible
destruction. But this overwhelming idea is dissipated and
enfeebled from the instant that the mind can restore itself
to the observation of particulars and diffuse its attention to
distinct objects.
Brilliant psychology, as ever with J., but here non ad
rem because as C. Knight observed:
The mode in which Edg. describes the cliff is for the
special information of the blind Glouc,—one who could
not 'look from a precipice*. The crows and choughs, the
samphire gatherer, the fisherman, the bark, the surge that
is seen but not heard,—each of these, incidental to the place,
is selected as a standard by which Glouc. can measure the
altitude of the cliff. Transpose the description into generali-
ties ... and the dramatic propriety at least is utterly destroyed.
The height of the cliff is then only presented by an image
to Gkmc.'s mind upon the vague assertion of his conductor
[ap Furn.].
For Sh.'s description of a cliff to a man with eyes, see
Ham. I. 4. 69-78. J.C.M. compares Spenser's in
F.Q. in.x. 56-7; esp. 57,11.4-6, with 11. 49-52 below.
15. samphire (Q) F 'Sampire'. Cf. Dray ton, Poly-
Olbion, XVIII, 763-4, 'Dovers neighbouring Cleeves
[=cliffs, cf. 1. 57, n.j of Sampyre'.
17. walk (Q 'walke') F 'walk'd'.
?,l. unnumb're"d=innumerable. pebble (F, Q)
Collective, Q 2 (+Camb.) 'pebbles'.
24. Topple...headlong sc. taking me with it.
27. leap upright 'Even if he jumped straight up in
the air he would be in grave danger of toppling over the
edge' (Muir). 28. another Cf. 4. 1. 63.
29. Fairies K. refers to a popular superstition that

4.6. NOTES 245

'hidden' treasure is guarded by fairies and that they make
it multiply miraculously in the possession of the dis-
coverer'; cf. Wint. 3. 3. 117-18, and n.
32. ye (F) Q(+Camb.)'you\
33-4. Why...it. Cap.'s'Aside'. Colloquial syntax.
34. S.D. (Q) F om.
39. snuff see G. nature=human life.
39-40. should...out sc. like a stinking, spluttering
candle-end. What a picture of the old age that Sh. him-
self never reached!
41. S.D. (Camb.+K.) £> He fals.'; F om.
'
42-8. Cap.'s asides.
42-4. And...theft i.e. 'And yet Glo.'s merely
imagining that he is dying may be enough to kill him,
since he has no desire to stay alive'—a sequ el to 11. 3 3-4.
46. sir...speak (punct. Camb.) F'Sir: Friend, hear
you, Sir, speake:'.
49. gossamer (Campbell) Q'gozsmore', F'Goze-
more', Pope 'goss'mer'. 50. F's brackets.
53.' at each=one on top of another.
54. fell= fallen. See Abbott, § 344.
57. summit (Rowe, ed. 11) F'Somnet'; cf.Ham.i,
4. 70 (Q 2) 'the dreadfull somnet of the cleefe'.
58. a-height Theob.'s hyphen, shrill-gorged seeG.
'gorged'; cf. Ham. 1. 1. 151, 'shrill sounding throat'.
63. tyrant's F 'Tyranrs'.
66-7. strangeness. Upon...what (punct. Camb.) F
'strangeness, Vpon...o'th'Cliffe. What'.
71. whelked (Han.) F 'wealk'd'—a spelling, en-
ridg/d(Q) F 'enraged', poss. minim error; see 1949 ed.
p. 182.
72. father=old man. Edg. may take 'comfort in
thus addressing Glo.' (K.).
73-4. make...impossibilities- acquire honour by
working miracles. Cf. Luke xviii. 27; Tilley, M 471,
'Man's extremity is God's opportunity*.

246 N O T E S 4.6.
76-7. //// it do...die. 'till Affliction has had enough
of it, i.e. Affliction will tire before Glo. does' (J.C.M.).
80. S.D. (G.I.D.+J.D.W. See 'Crowned', etc.,
4. 4. 3-6). F 'Enter Lear.', Q 'Enter Lear mad.',
Cap. ( + Camb.) 'Enter Lear, fantastically dressed with
wild flowers.'. Sisson(n, p. 241) insists upon a hat. But
see 1.182, n. below. And is not Sh. thinking of Christ's
crown of thorns, wh. wd necessitate a bare head?
Cf. Introd. § VI.
81-2. The safer...thus. 'A sound mind wd never
let its possessor dress himself up in this fashion' (K.).
83 ff. No, they... He first imagines himself being
chased by officers anxious to arrest him as a counter-
feiter; then 'coin' suggests 'press-money', and that
suggests recruits shooting at the butts; at this point he
catches sight of a mouse, commands silence while he
tries to catch it with a piece of cheese, etc.—ideas
following each other with little more than verbal
connexion. 83. coining (<Q'coyning') F 'crying'.
85. Cap.'s 'aside', side-piercing Another Gospel
echo (cf. St John xix. 34).
86. Nature's...respect. A mad reference to a stock
theme of the period; the relation between Art and
Nature—a king who coins by divine right standing for
Nature & a forger for Art.
87—8. crow-keeper seeG.
88. drazo...yard=draw the bow to the full length of
the arrow. A difficult feat; yet the imaginary recruit in
1. 91 is supposed to bring it off. Steev. compares Chevy
Chase—'An arrow of a cloth-yard long | Up to the
head drew he'.
90. do't i.e. help me catch it. There's...giant. He
now imagines himself a champion throwing down his
gage, it i.e. my cause.
91. brown bills see G. His mind reverts to the army
and his archers.

4.6. NOTES 247
91-2. O...foiDgh! Addressed to- an imaginary
(feathered) arrow; the whistling sound, 'hewgh' (cf.
'whew' 1 H. IV, 2. 2. 40) being either an imitation of
the arrow, or a cry of astonishment at the success of the
shot. See G. 'clout', and cf. 1. 88 'draw...yard'.
hewgh! F 'Hewgh.' Coll. adds S.D.. 'Whistling'.
92. Give the word. Now a sentry, he challenges Edg.
"Whose 'word' (see G.) is 'marjoram'—'in allusion to
Lear's "wild flowers"' (Ver.), and because 'according
l
to Culpeper' (Physical/ Directory, 1657) this was &
blessed remedy for diseases of the brain.' (Blunden ap.
Bradby, p. 333). Cf. Son. 99. 7 'buds of marjoram'.
96. Ha!...beard? (<F) He takes Glo. for Gon.
disguised (K.).
96 ff. They flattered me etc. see Introd. p. liv.
97. flattered— fawned upon.
97—8. told.. .there, i.e.' told him he had the wisdom
of age before he had reached that of youth' (Cap.).
' They'=the world in general. Lear, in retrospect, sees
that his character had been spoilt since childhood—like
that of most princes.
97. the white (F) Q (+Camb.) 'white*.
98. my Emphatic.
e
98-9. To say 'ay' and no* A way of referring to
flattery. Cf. Palsgrave, Acolastus, 1540 (E.E.T.S. ed.),
14, 3-4, 'To flatter hym, and holde him vp with ye and
nay', and Cooper's Thesaurus, 1565, s.v. 'assentor',
'to flatter...to holde vp ones yea and nay' [J.C.M.].
100. no good divinity =not good theology (see Ep. of
James v. 12).
100-3. When the rain...'em out Cf. A.Y.L, 2. r.
6-12.
105. not ague-proof J.C.M. cites Florio, Montaigne,
I, xlii, 'Doth the ague...spare him [the king] more than
us?'.
n
107. S.D. (J.D.W.) Cf. 1. 80, S.D., n.; 1.182, .

348 NOTES 4.6.

108. the subject Collective=my people. Cf.Per.z.
X. 48, n.
109. cause see G.; cf. Oth. 5.2.1, 'It is the cause*,
etc. and Lev. xx. 10.
117. pell-mell see G.—suggests 'soldiers'.
118-31. Behold.. .thee. F prints as prose.
118-21. Beholdyond simp'ring dame etc. Cf. Hall,
Virgidemiarum (1598), iv. i. 156-7, 'sits shee simpring
in her pew | Like some chast dame, a shriued saynt—in.
shew' [J.C.M.].
119. Whose...snow i.e. 'Whose face presages snow
between her forks' (=legs). T. Edwards (1748) cites
Tint- 4. 3. 387 (the same image used conversely).
120. minces virtue—behaves in an affected way so as
to suggest chastity.
121. name Emphatic. 'It shocks her even to Hear
the word mentioned' (K.).
122. soilid see G. In mod. slang 'full of beans'.
Sh. seems to be echoing here Florio's Montaigne, n, xv,
'I have heretofore put forth an old stallion tosoile' (wh.
2
O.E.D. misunderstands, see 'soiled' ppl. a ).
124-7. Down...fiend's. Cf. Tilley, W 520, 'There
is no wisdom (law) below the girdle'. Cf. Introd. § IX
128. there is the (F) Q (+Camb.) 'ther's the'.
130-1. Give...for thee. As prose in Q and F, prob.
correctly. Punct. and text as in F (subs.). Most'edd.
follow Q—'Giuc.Ciuet, good Apottfocarie, to
sweeten...', civet see G. Prob. ironical, since the
perfume was made from 'the very uncleanly flux of a
cat' (A.Y.L. 3. 2. 64-5).
134. piece of Nature=Nature's masterpiece. This
great world'= the universe; cf. 3. 1. 10, n.
136. / remember...eyes Clearly Glo.'s were not
bandaged; cf. 4.1.10, n., ad fin.
137. blind Cupid Sometimes in Sh. 'hoodwinked
with a scarf {Rom. 1, 4. 4), sometimes without eyes

4.6. NOTES 249

(A.Y.L. 4. T. 208). For 'the sign of bKnd Cupid' at the
door of a brothel, see Ado, 1. 1. 238-39.
138. challenge sc. Cupid's, wh. he has just re-
jected. His mind reverts to 11.89-90. of it (F) Q'oft'
£ 2 (+Camb.) 'onY.
140. this sc. this spectacle. Han.'s 'aside'.
143. the case of eyes i.e. empty eye-sockets. Cf.
1. 136, n.; 4. I. 10, n.
144. are...me?=is that what you mean?
145. heavy case—svA plight. Quibble on *case'=»
socket.
148. feelingly Another quibble—(a) by feel,
(J>) keenly.
156. cur? (Q2+Camb.) F'Cur:'. Sisson, taking
'And' as = 'if', reads 'An the creature run from the cur,
there thou mightst...'. 157. a dog's Emphatic.
159-62. Thou, rascal...zvhipp'st her see Introd.
p. xxxvi. beadle see G. Cf. .2 H. IF, 5. 4. 5, n.
160. thy (F) £> (+Camb.) 'thine'.
162. The...cozener, i.e. one kind of cheat hangs
another. The usurer i.e. a money-lender on the bench;
usury being a respectable way of defrauding others.
163. Through (Q) F 'Thorough', great (F,
J.C.M.) Q (+all edd.) 'small'. 'In Q, Lear makes the
commonplace remark that the rich can get away with
murder, etc., while the poor are punished for petty
offences. But in F the whole drift of the speech is that
we are all "in the same boat, all offenders".' Theft,
whoredom, cozenage, etc., are not "small" vices but
sin (cf. 11. 164-6). The Q/F relationship here is of the
same kind as "last but not least"/"last and least"—•
(1. 1. 82) and "hours"/"years" (2. 2. 58)' [J.C.M.].
164. Robes and furred gowns App. refers to judges
and magistrates. Cf. Meas. 3. 2.6-10, which voices the
same complaint, viz. that usurers, allowed by law (i.e.
the Act of 15 71), became wealthy citizens and sat on the

NOTES 4.6.

magistrate's bench. For the rbbes used in the Law
Courts, see Sh. Eng. 11, 395-7. hide all i.e. cover a
multitude of sins. .Muir cites Lucr, 93, 'Hiding base
sin in plaits of majesty'.
164-9. P^te.,.lips (<F) Q om. Plate sin
(Theob. ii+Camb.) F 'Place sinnes'. For t; c mis-
reading cf. 3.1.10, n. With'it' (1.166) a sing, is needed.
167. None...none The scene of the woman taken in
adultery (St John viii. 3-11) seems to be at the back of
Lear's mind.
168-9. Take...lips. Hitherto unexplained. K.
thinks that 'Lear imagines that Glo. is a criminal, and
makes a gesture as if he were handing him a pardon
signed and sealed'; Muir alternatively that 'that'=this
'piece of information'. But the context suggests
prosecutors open to bribery: Lear having money (i.e.
'the power to seal th'accuser's lips') offers it to the
penniless Glo. (see 1.145) to 'able' (see G.) him, i.e. to
enable him to win his case or to escape a verdict. The
money is, of course, illusory, like the press-money of
1. 87. Lear's thought-processes change abruptly; and
next moment he seems to suggest that Glo. shd use the
'money' to buy spectacles ('glass eyes').
170-1. like...dost not Lear seems still to speak of
lawyers who make themselves blind by poring over old
deeds to discover imaginary points, politician see G.
Not the mod. sense.
171-2. Now...boots He imagines he has just come
home from hunting (K.).
173-4. Cap.'s 'aside'. Cf. Laertes' comments on
Ophelia's madness, Ham. 4. 5. 173, 177, 187-8.
177. Thou...patient Cf. 5. 2. 9-11, and Introd.
p. xliii. patient=rea.dy to endure. I77~9- We came
crying etc. Cf. Tilley, W 889, 'We weeping come into
the world'; D 82, 'I wept when I was born'*
179. wawl (<F) Q 'wayl'.

4.6. NOTES 251
182. this great stage etc. Cf. J.T.L. 2. 7. 139;
Tilley, W 882, 'This world is a stage', etc.
This\..block Much debated. All agree that'block' =
hat, which ace. to eccles. practice Lear removes (or
imagines he removes) before beginning his sermon (cf.
I Cor. xi. 4). Some actors make him wear a felt hat (cf.
1.184) and Sisson gives a S.D. at 4. 6.80, 'Enter Lear,
his hat bedecked with weeds & flowers'. But Lear is' un-
bonneted' at 3.1. 14, 'bare-headed' at 3. 2. 60; and if
Cord, is to be believed (4. 7. 36) in the present sc. also,
while if, as Sisson notes, such exposure wd seem 'almost
indecent' to Sh.'s audience, that only emphasizes Lear's
pitiable plight. Besides, where has the hat come from
meanwhile ? Has Lear been shopping in Dover ? Irving
got over the difficulty by taking Edg.'s hat; other actors
have taken Glo.'s (Sprague, p. 294). Yet the mad king
has a hat—a royal one, the crown of flowers, as Cord,
tells us at 4.4. 3, and wh. gives point to 4.6.107. This
he takes off, and before putting it down to begin his
sermon, turns it round in his fingers admiringly—had he
not made it himself?—and says 'This is a good block!',
a remark that inevitably calls up the 'felt' in 1. 184.
This' (Singer) =This is. F'This'. S.D. (J.D.W.)
184. FII...proof, FromF. Q om.
185. son-in-laws Hyphens <F4.
186. kill...kill! 'Formerly the word given in the
English army, when an onset was made on the enemy'
(Mai., citing Fen. 652). S.D. (F) +'with attendants'
(<Rowe).
187. him. Sir, (J.+Camb.) F'him, Sir.'.
189-96. No rescue?...die bravely He imagines the
attack he led at 1.186, shouting 'kill', etc., has ended in
his capture.
190. The...Fortune='One born to be the sport of
fortune' (S. Walker).
191. ransom A royal prisoner was worth a great

z$z NOTES 4-6.

sum; would be well tended and his wounds carefully
dressed.
192. cut...brains Madman's variation on 'cut to the
heart'; but no doubt imagining a wound in battle.
193. No secondsP sc.'No rescue?' see G.'second'.
194. salt sc. tears.
196-8. Ay...you that? G.I.D.'s lining.
196. Ay,...dust. (<Q)Fom. Between'dust.'and
'I' Q re-assigns to Lear. Poss. a speech by another
character was accidentally omitted. Edd. freq. read
'Gent. Good sir—' from Q 2, though this is presum-
ably only a conj.
196-7. die...bridegroom Sh. has the same thought in
Ant. 4. 14. 99-108, and Meas. 3. 1. 82-4. bravely
Quibble; see G. smug see G. He is thinking of the
flowers he wears [<K.].
198. masters (<F) Q (+Camb.) 'my maisters*.
that? (F) £>(+Camb.) 'that.'.
l
200. there's...in't. = the case is not yet desperate'
(J.). *»(Pope) Q,F'and\
200-1. it...it The ransom (cf. 1. 191).
201. Sa, sa ' Here the King challenges his pursuers:
"Come on! come on! Catch me if you can!" And so
he runs off...waving his arm in a defiant gesture' (K.).
K. cites six other exx. (not in O.E.D.) all app. cries of
challenge or incitement to fight. Cf. also Alarum for
London (1602), M.S.R. 1134 Q.C.M.]. See G. 'sa,
sa', 'sessa*. S.D. <Q 'Exit King running.' +'atten-
dants follow' <Cap.
203-5. Thou...to. see G. 'nature', 'general'. her=
human nature. Gon. and Reg. have, like Adam and Eve,
by their sin brought all humanity under a curse; Cord,
is the Christ-like redeemer [G.I.D.]. Cf. 'like another
fill of man', H. F, 2. 2. 142 Q.C.M.].
203. one daughter (<Q+Camb.) F'a daughter'.
Q's 'one' forms an effective antithesis to 'twain' (1.205),

4.6. NOTES 253

i.e. Gon. and Reg. The F comp. may have repeated the
V of'a king' earlier in the line [G.I.D.].
208. vulgar—common knowledge (Muir). that,
(F+Camb.) We retain F comma, contrary to mod.
convention, lest 'that' shd be taken as antecedent of
'which' (1. 209).
211-12. the main...thought.=sight of the main part
of the army is hourly expected.
214. S.D. F'Exit.'.
215. ever-gentle Cap.'s hyphen. tafa..jne viz. at
the appointed hour.
216. my zoorser spirit Cf. the Bad Angel in DrFaustus
(esp. 2. 2. 20-3), and above, 11. 72-9.
217. Well fray you=Y on pray well, father see
1. 72, n.
219-22. tame see G. art see G. pregnant see G.
biding see G.
224. To boot, and boot (F) For Q readings, see
Greg, Variants, pp. 175-6. 'By the repetition Glo.
wishes to convey both meanings of "to boot": "in
addition (to my thanks)" and "(the bounty of heaven)
be your help" (Her.).' S.D. Q, F 'Enter Steward.'.
227. Briefly...remember i.e. you have but a moment
to recollect your sins.
229. S.D. (Coll. <J. 'Edgar opposes') Q, F om.
233. Chill...cagion ' Somerset dialect, the usual
speech of Eliz. & Jac. stage rustics. Chill'=1 will
cagion (Q) F "casion'. See Kokeritz, pp. 38-9 for
Edg.'s dialect.
235- gau (£>, F) seeG. Steev. (+Camb.)'gaitV
236. voke (Q) F'volk'. See Kokeritz, op. cit.
2 3 6-7. An.. .vortnight. =' If I had allowed swagger-
ing to kill me, I should have died at least a fortnight ago'
(K.).
238. che vor' ye=I warrant you (Muir). See
Kokeritz, op. cit.

254 NOTE S 4.6.
239. Ice (F) Q 'ile'. J. (+Camb.) 'Ise\ whither
(F) = 'whether' (the Q form), hallow (F) see G. See
Greg, Variants, pp. 176-7, for Q readings.
241. S.D. (Q) F om.
242-3. no matter...Joins The foppish Osw. follows
the fashionable thrusting style of fighting; Edg., the
good old English downstroke, albeit with a cudgel; cf.
Rom. 2. 4. 20-6, and G. Silver's Paradoxes of Defence,
1599 (Sh. Assoc. Facs. no. 6, 1933).
243. S.D. (Camb.) Q, F om.
246. letters One missive.
248. British (Camb. <Q) F 'English'. 'The folio
no doubt preserves the original reading, the quarto an
actor's avoidance of Sh.'s anachronism' (Greg, Variants,
p. 177). But if Sh. wrote 'English' it must have been
inadvertently; cf. 3. 4. 184, n.; 4. 4. 21. [J.D.W.]
Death! (Camb.) Q, F 'death.' This rather odd, extras-
metrical, exclamation may be an actor's addition.
252. father see 1. 72, n.
255. no other deathsman e.g. a hangman.
256. Leave...wax Cf. Malvolio's 'By your leave,
wax' (Tw.N. 2. 5. 96); Tilley, B 637, 'The breaking
open of letters is the basest kind of burglary'. Leave...
not: (punct. Camb.) F 'Leaue gentle waxe, and
manners: blame vs not'.
257. we(F) Q'wee'd'. Camb.'we'ld'.
258. S.D. (F). 260. him i.e. Alb.
262. done if (Al.) Q 'done, If. F 'done. If.
conqueror: (Camb.) Q, F have a comma.
266. (wife...say) F's brackets. servant=lover. Q
continues 'and for you her owne for Venter', for wh.
G.I.D. now conj. 'and your own for venture'=and
your own lady if you are willing to 'venture in your own
behalf' (cf. 4. 2. 19). He suggests that the first 'for' in
Q is compositor's anticipation of the second and that
'you her' may be a mishearing of'your'. Another poss.

4.6. NOTES 255

is the letter finishing 'and you own Goneril for venture*
(J.D.W.).
268. O...zoill! 'O woman's lust, how limitless is
thy range!'(K.).
269. upon=against. Cf. G. 'on'.
270-2. Here...lechers•=I'il shovel thee into an un-
sanctified grave here in the sands, messenger of lecherous
murderers. Perh. 'unsanctified'=unsanctifiable. Edg.
speaks as if they were actually on Dover beach. The
'sands' were convenient to the context and Sh. prob.
felt he might risk the inconsistency. But how was the
body disposed of on the stage? Does Edg. drag it 'off'
at 1. 27 5, leaving Glo. talking, and then return at 1.2 81 ?
271. tkou.post (Furn. conj.) F 'the poste'.
272. mature Accented 'mature'.
273. strike see G. 274. death-practised see G.
277. ingenious feeling acute consciousness; see G.
'ingenious'. 281. S.D. (F).
283. S.D. F 'Exeunt.'.


4-7

S.D. Zor. (Steev. after Cap.) Entry (Craig) F 'Enter
Cordelia, Kent, and Gentleman'. Q 'Enter Cordelia,
Kent, and Doctor'. Both Gent, and Doct. are needed
in the full sc. but F cuts 11. 85-97, and so saves a 'part*
by combining them. See p. 124.
Though F (+Delius, Craig, K., Muir, etc.) has at
1. 20 the S.D. 'Enter Lear in a chaire carried by
Seruants', Camb.+most mod. edd. begin the sc. with a
discovery of 'Lear on a bed asleep'. Apart from the fact
that Sh. envisaged no inner stage in this play (see Greg
in R.E.S. xvi, 300-3), Bradley (Sh. Trag. pp. 453 ff.)
notes this opening 'discovery' as 'utterly wrong' and
going far to defeat Sh.'s purpose. This sc. 'shows the
first meeting of Cord, and Kent, and the first meeting of

256 NOTES 4.7.

Cord, and Lear since' 1.1. That being so, Lear's presence
asleep at the opening wd distract the audience's atten-
tion from the dialogue with Kent and make it absurd
that she should ignore Lear for 20 lines. Still more
absurd is Lear's attempt to kneel (1. 57) 'if he is in bed'.
And as G.-B. notes (p. 182), 'when he conies to himself
it is to find that he is royally attired, and as if seated on his
throne again. It is from this throne that he totters to
kneel at Cord.'s feet.' Al. and Sisson 'discover' Lear
on a bed or couch at 1. 2 5 after 'Louder the music there'
(see 11. 24-5, n.); an unsatisfactory compromise.
3. every measure fail me—because it cannot be
measured.
5. reports sc. about Lear, go with =accord with.
8. Pardon (F) Q ( + Camb.) 'Pardon me'.
9. Tet...intent To be recognized already would
spoil my plan. Cf. 'short' at Cymb. 1. 6. 199.
12. S.D. (Theob. subs.) Q, F om.
16. wind up=put right—put in tune as by tightening
the strings of a musical instrument.
l
17. dild-c/iange'd= "changed by his children". So
care-crazed, crazed by care' (Mai.); cf. 11. 28-9. Not
'changed to a child' (Steev.); Lear was mad, not
childish.
18. King?...long. (Han., subs.) F'King,...long?',
Q 'king,...long.'.
20. arrayed i.e. in his royal robes [G.-B.], see G.
21,23. sp.-hdgs. As in Cap.+Camb. F 'Gent.' at
1. 23;£)'Doct.'atl. 21,'Gent.'at 1. 23. 21. o/(F)
£)(+Camb.)'ofhis\ 24. not (£>) F om.
24-5. Cordelia. Very well. Doctor. Please...there!
From Q; F om. S.D. (J.D.W.) <F 'Enter Lear in a
chaire carried by Seruants'—at 1. 20. But the request
'Be by, good madam', etc. and Cord.'s assent clearly
precede the entry, while 'Please you draw near', etc. as
clearly follows it. Note F omits 1. 25, perh. because the

4-7. NOTES. 257
music was cut out of the prompt-book, which may
account for the displacement of the entry.
31. Did challenge (F) Q, (+Camb.) 'Had chal-
lenged'.
32. warring (Q) F 'iarring'—perh. a misreading
(Sisson).
33-6. To stand.. .helm P From Q; F om.
33. dread-bolted Theob.'s hyphen.
35. lightning? To (Theob., subs.) Q'lightning to \
35-6. To watch...helm Alluding to the most
hazardous & exposed mil. duty of Sh.'s day. See G.
'perdu', 'watch', 'thin'—all quibbles, thin helm=bare
or bald head; cf. M.N.D. 2. 1. 109, 'old Hiems' thin
and icy crown', watch...perdu!— (Warb., subs.) Q
'watch poore Per du,\
36. helm? Mine (<Q 2) Q r 'helme mine'.
enemy's (Pope+Camb.) F 'enemies', Q 'Iniurious*
(?misreading of'enimies'), Cap., Rid. 'insurer's'.
38-40. wast thou fain...straw Cf. Introd. p. xxi.
39. rogues i.e. vagabonds. Cf. 'roguish', 3. 7. 103.
40. short sc. giving no warmth. 42. <z//=en.-
tirely.
43. sp.-hdg. <£>; F 'Gen.'.
46-8. I...lead. 'Lear thinks he is in hell; ...the
torments of the wheel of fire' being 'traditional in the
med. legends and visions of Hell and Purgatory',
derived from the New Test. Apocrypha (Muir <H.W.
Crundell). Cf. Introd. p. xxii.
47. that=so that.
49. when (Q 2) Q, F 'where'. Q 2 was read by
Camb. and most 19 c. edd. exc. Coll. & Schmidt, while
Dyce (Remarks (1844), p. 231) found F 'all but non-
sense', to wh. Coll. replied: 'It may appear to others no
greater nonsense to ask a spirit " Where did you die?"
than " When did you die ?". He is, as Cord, says,'' Still,
still, far wide!". G.I.D. (1949) quoting this, restored F

258 NOTES 4-7.
and was followed by Al. (1951) and Muir (1952). To
J.D.W. Coll.'s argument is more specious than cogent.
Lear, restored to sanity, is 'still wide', still bewildered,
being' scarce awake', but now quite rational. Remember-
ing that he has been in hell, he thinks at first that he must
be in the next world and Cord.' a soul in bliss'. The ques-
tion 'when did you die?' is therefore perfectly natural
and affecting. The geographical question, 'where' wd
be irrational because pointless, 'all but nonsense'; the
question of a madman: and even if psychologically
defensible, which rightly considered it is not, wd be
dramatically inept, a mere puzzle to the reader or
spectator, a jarring note in an otherwise perfect move-
ment. The words 'when' and 'where' (sp. 'wher') are
often confused; cf. Qq. 2 H. IF, Ind. 36; Ham. 2. 2.
469 (N.S» 452).
51. sp.-hdg. (<Q) F'Gen.'. 53. mightily abused
'in a strange mist of uncertainty' (J. cf. 1. 5 5). But
poss.=grossly ill-treated; cf. 'his abused nature' (4. 7.
15); 'notoriously abused' (Tw.N. 5. 1. 378).
57. S.D. (J.D.W.) None in F, Q. O, look...sir,
She kneels before the chair-throne to catch his attention
and to ask his blessing; and then, as he rises to kneel also,
gently restrains him. Ace. to the stage tradition, begun
by Garrick (Sprague, p. 295), Lear only kneels, and
G.-B. (p. 182) says 'he totters [from the chair] to
kneel at Cordelia's feet'. Our business refines upon that
in the old Leir whence Sh. took it, as Greg.shows-
{Library, 4th ser. xx, 386-7). In King Leir (M.S.R.),
Jl. 2297-2302 run:
Cor. But looke, deare father, Iooke, behold and see
Thy louing daughter speaketh vnto thee. She kneeleS
Leir. O, stand thou vp, it is my part to kneele
And ask forgiuenesse for my former faults. he kneeles
Cor. O, if you wish I should inioy my breath,
Deare father rise, or I receiue my death. he riseth

4.7. N O T E S 259
And they go on kneeling and counter-kneeling for
another 30 lines!—a ridiculous stage-trick out of which
3
Sh. makes the lovely game Lear proposes at 5. .9-11:
We two alone will sing like birds i'th'cage;
When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down
And ask of thee forgiveness.

58. i W ( F ) Q 'hands'.
59. No, sir, you, (Q+Camb.) 'You'. S.D. (J.D.W.)
me (F) Q om. Her words explain his intention (to the
audience).
59-63. Pray...perfect mind see Introd. p. xxviii.
61. Fourscore and upward Prob.=over eighty but
not yet eighty-one (cf. T.L.S. 26 April 1957, letter by
D. S. Bland, on the date of Chaucer's birth).
69, 74. F's brackets.
71. Yes, faith He touches her cheek.
78. sp.-hdg. (Q) F 'Gent.', great rage=violent
delirium (K.). 79-80. and...lost. FromQ. Fom.
80. even o'er (Q 'euen ore') Usu. explained
'smooth over', hence 'fill up the gap', hence 'render
unbroken in his recollection' (W.A.W.). This is
strained; and seems to lack proper lexicographical
warrant. G.I.D. suggests a misreading of 'reliue ore'
(relive over again) butadmitsits tautology. J.D.W. conj.
*earn ore' (=grieve over); another poss. misreading.
81. go in i.e. in theatrical terms, go off-stage.
82. settling see G. Will't (Rowe) Q, F 'Wilt'.
walk see G.
84-5. forget and forgive Cf. Tilley, F 597, S.D. Q
*Exeunt. Manet Kent and Gent.'; F 'Exeunt'.
85-98. From Q. F om. Though the matter is nee.
to the plot, the cut is prob. theatrical, as the talk is
between minor characters at the end of a full and intense
sc. [G.I.D. 1949 ed. p. 8].
86. Holds it true—Has it been confirmed.

a6o NOTES 4.7.

93. look about see G.
94. //fe kingdom i.e. Britain.
96. S.D. (<Theob.,'Exit Gent.'. Q om.
97. point and period=&nal purpose; lit. the aim and
end—but a quibble, since in punct. both words=full
stop. Kent's purpose is the restoration of Lear to power.
98. S.D. Q 'Exit.'.




S.D. Loc. (Cap., subs.) Entry (F subs.) but reading
'Officers' (Muir) for F's 'gentlemen', wh. is what
'officers' were called in Sh.'s day.
I. sp.-hdg. Q, F 'Bast.'. So throughout the sc.
last purpose sc. to join forces with us; cf. 4. 5.1-3.
4. self-reproving 'conscientious scruples' (Muir).
constant Emphatic. S.D. (Camb.) Q, F om.
5. our sister's man Oswald. 6. doubted seeG.
8. First two dashes <J.
9. honoured see G.
II. forfended (QJ sc. by the commandment against
adultery. F 'fore-fended', place i.e. Gon.'s body.
11-13. Edmund. That...hers. <Q; F om.
11. abuses you=dishonours you.
13. as...hers—'m. the fullest sense of the word.
15. I...shall = I can never bring myself to. An in-
direct advance to Edm. 16. me (Q) F om.
17. S.D. (Fsubs.)
18-19. From Q; F om. Theob.'s 'aside*, lose..,
loosen Note the word-play.
21. hear (Theob.+Camb. <Q/heare') F'heard'.
F is poss. but Q is better, and *:^misreadings common
0JXW.J.
22. rigour of our state 'harshness of our rule' (Muir).
23-8. Where....nobly. From Q; F om., leaving
Reg.'s 'Why...reasoned?' pointless. The text may be

5.i. NOTES 261

corrupt. Muir suspects 'the repetition "with others
whom". Indeed, "with others...cry out" and "with
others...make oppose" appear to be either two attempts
at recollection by the reporter or two "shots" in Sh.'s
"foul papers". Yet the gen. sense is fairly clear: " I
could never fight except in a cause I believed in. As
regards the present affair, France is our enemy as an
invader, not as a supporter of King Lear.'" Q.D.W.]
28. nobly Sarcastic, reasoned see G.
32. ancient of war see G. proceeding (F) Q
(+Camb.) 'proceedings'. 33. <Q; F om.
36. convenient= (a) expedient, (b) seemly, pray
(F) Q (+Camb.) 'pray you'.
37. O...riddle. Cap.'s 'aside*. The whole line so
marked by Han., and J. I...riddle 'She is afraid to
leave Edm. and me together' (K.). Gon. had intended
to stay behind for a conversation with Edm., hinted at
by him in 1. 33; but changes her mind, seeing Reg. had
noticed what was up. riddle.—/ (Camb.) F 'Riddle,
I'. S.D. (Theob.) F'Exeunt both the Armies. | Enter
Edgar.'. 39. S.D. (Camb., subs.) For F see last n.
40. this letter i.e. Gon.'s to Edm. taken from Osw.
by Edg. and read aloud at 4. 6. 259-67.
46. love (Q+Camb.) F 'loues'.
50. S.D. (i) Q, F 'Exit.', after 'again.' (1. 49).
(ii) Q, F 'Enter Edmund.'.
53. S.D. (G.I.D.) <K.'s note.
54. greet...time, welcome the (first) opportunity
S.D. Q, F 'Exit.'.
56. jealous see G. 60. Exasperates see G.
61. carry...side=win my game, i.e. win the crown.
68. Shalt i.e. They shall.
69. Stands...debate.=needs defence, not discussion
(Ver.), see G. "stand'. S.D. Q 'Exit.', F om.

262 NOTE S 5.a.

5-3
S.D. Loc. (Cap., subs.) Entry (G.I.D. and J.D.W.)
Q 'Alarum. Enter the powers of France ouer the
stage, Cordelia with her father in her hand. | Enter
Edgar and Gloster.'. F 'Alarum within. Enter with
Drumme and Colours, Lear, Cordelia, and Souldiers,
ouer the Stage, and Exeunt. | Enter Edgar, and
Gloster.'.
i. father see 4. 6. 72, n. 4. S.D. (i) <F, Q
•Exit.' (ii) (G.I.D. and J.D.W.), F 'Alarum and
Retreat within.' Q 'Alarum and retreat' i.e. trumpet-
calls. (iii)(F).
12. Ripeness is a 11=all that matters is that one is
ready for death when it comes. Cf. Ham. 5. 2. 200—
'the readiness is all', all. Come (Rowe, ed. 11, subs.)
£>, F 'all come'. S.D. F 'Exeunt.'.



5-3
S.D. Loc. (Mai.) Entry (F subs.) Q 'Enter Ed-
mund, with Lear and Cordelia prisoners'.
1. sp.-hdg. Q, F 'Bast.'—and throughout sc.
2. their greater pleasures=the wishes of persons of
higher rank (<K.).
5. lam (F) Q (+Camb.) 'am I \
8. No Four times in F, twice in Q.
9. cage Also means prison; cf. 2 H. VI, 4* 2. 56
[Muir], and Spenser, F.% vi, vi, 1. 9 [J.C.M.].
10-11. When.. .forgiveness see 4. 7. 5 7, n.
13. gilded butterflies This, Craig (old Arden Sh.)
suggests='gay courtiers', and cites Marston, Antonio &
Mellida, iv, 1. 49 [ed. H. H. Wood, 1, 44]:
Troopes of pide butterflies, that flutter still
In greatnesse summer, that confirme a prince.

5-3. NOTE S 263
hearpoorrogues (<Q) F 'heere (poore Rogues)', poor
rogues i.e. visitors, who are interested in such things,
poor wretches. 15. in sc. office.
16. take upon 's=pretend to understand. A playful
hit at the 'philosophers' he had thought so much of
when mad.
17. As.. .spies='as if we were angels commissioned
to survey and report the lives of men' (J.). Cf. Ham. 4.
3.47,11. God's Q,F'Gods'. To read 'Gods", because
Sh. 'was writing of a pagan world' (Perrett), is surely
pedantry. Cf. Introd. p. xxii. wear out see G.
18. packs see G.
19. That...moon. Cf. M.N.D. 2. r. 103, 'the moon,
the governess of floods' and Rom. 2. 2. 109, 'th'in-
constant moon', by th'moon every month.
20. such sacrifices The speech represents the last
stage of Lear's process of redemption, viz. a joyful and
'serene renunciation of the world with its power and
glory and resentments and revenges'; and it is upon
such a renunciation the gods themselves throw incense—•
the message of the gospel itself. [See Bradley, pp. 285,
289-90]. R. W. Chambers cites Wisdom (in Apo-
crypha), iii. 6: 'As gold in the furnace hath he tried
them, and received them as a burnt offering.'
21. Have...thee? Intended to recall'Have I caught
my heavenly Jewel?' from Sidney, J strophe IandStella
(2nd song, 1. 1)—used in a very different context at
M.W.W. 3. 3. 40 [Mai.]. 22. shall =mast.
23. like foxes sc. 'are driven from their holes' (K.).
The brand must be brought from heaven; only by
Heaven can they be separated now.
24-5. The good-years...weep The gen. sense is that
Lear and Cord, cannot be made to weep by Gon. and
Reg., however much the latter prolong their wretched
lives.
24. good-years F 'good yeares'. Origin disputed—
N.S.K.L.-18

264 NOTES 5.3.
'came to be used in imprecatory phrases, as denoting
some undefined malefic power or agency* (O.E.D.).
'What the good year!'='What the devil!' (cf. 'what
the good-year' in Ado, x.^.i;2H.IF, 2.4. 57,173).
Cf. also On. ii. Here in one sense it may signify the years
of 'their evil prosperity' (Muir); in another 'the super-
natural powers of evil', which would protect their evil
servants for a long time, even if 'devouring' them in the
end. flesh and fell see G. Perh. suggests that they are
animals. Cf. Introd. p. xlvii.
25. Ere...weep! 'Asudden flashofthe old passionate
nature'(Bradley, p. 290). starved <F) Q(+Camb.)
(
'starue'.
26. S.D. (Theob., subs.) F 'Exit.'.
28. S.D. (Mai., at end of 1.) Q, F om.
32-3. Are...sword i.e. 'may be merciful in time of
peace, but must be savage in war' (K.). tender-minded
Hyphen Rowe's (ed. 11).
34. bear question admit discussion.
36. happy i.e. fortunate, thou'st (Rowe) F. 'th'hast'
£)(+Camb.) 'thou hast'.
39-40. I cannot...do't <Q) Fom. Cf.Macb.i.J.
(
'
46, I dare do all that may become a man'. The crude
form suggests a crude nature, apt for the deed.
40. S.D. (i) <F'ExitCaptaine.',afterl.38. (ii)(F).
43. Who (F) Q (+Camb.) 'That'.
'
44. / ( F ) Q (+Camb.) We'.
45. merits see G.
46-8. Sir...guard see Note on the Copy, p. 123.
49. /SPfoj? Antecedent'King'. had(F) Q(+Camb.)
'has'.
50. the common bosom=the hearts ofthe common
people. Cf. Cor. 3. 1. 131. on=on to.
51. impressed lances=conscript soldiers. /»=into,
so as to wound.
51-2. our eyes j Which=th& eyes of us who.

5-3. NOTES 265
54. f (F) Q (+Camb.) 'to'.
55. session. At (Theob.+Camb.) Q 'session at':
55-60. At...place. (<Q) F om. Hypocritically
implying 'that Lear and Cord, would not get a fair trial
under the circumstances' (Muir).
58. sharpness Qcorr. 'sharpnes'; uncorr. 'sharpes',
wh. may perh. be the right reading (see Greg, Variants,
X
P- 79)-
61. subject of= subordinate m.
69. in...addition i.e. by the title you confer upon
him.
71. That were etc. F gives to Alb., Q (+Camb.) to
Gon. That...most i.e. You couldn't say more if he were
your husband.
72. Jesters etc. 'There's many a true word spoken
in jest', see Tilley, W 772.
73. That eye...asquint Cf. G. 'asquint*, and
Tilley, L 498, 'Love, being jealous, makes a good eye
look squint'.
75. stomach see G.
77. the walls sc. of my heart, are (F 2) Fl'is*.
79. Mean...him? 'A dreadful piece of sarcasm in
view of what she has done' (Ver.).
80. let-alone see G. Cap.'s hyphen.
82. sp.-hdg.(<F) Q'Bast.' (Cf. Greg, Edit. Prob.
pp. 94-5). S.D. (Mai.) Q, F om. prove Imperative.
83. reason A delicious understatement. With all the
cards in his hand Alb. begins to enjoy himself.
84. thy (F) £> (+Camb.) 'thine', attaint (Q) F
'arrest'—repeated from 1. 83. S.D. (J.); Q, F om.
85-90. For your claim...bespoke. My wife's hand is
already promised to Edm. (provided she can abrogate
a previous contract) and I acting in her interests forbid
your banns. See G. 'sub-contracted'.
85. sister(Q) F'Sisters'. 86. bar(Rowe,ed.n)
£, F 'bare'. 88. banns Q 'banes', F 'Banes'

266 NOTES 5.3.
90. An Interlude! (F) Q om. see G.
94. S.D. (Mai.) Q,Fom. make(F) Q(+Camb.)
'proue'. See 1949 ed. p. 161. 97. Rowe's 'aside'.
medicine here=poison (On.).
98. S.D..(Mal.) Q, Fom. he is (Q) F 'hes\
100. the (F) Q (+Camb.) 'thy'.
103. Edmund. A...herald! From Q; F~om.
104. sp.-hdg. Q, F om. (see prev. note), thy single
virtue=your own valour.
107. S.D. (i) <Theob.'ExitRegan,led'. Q,Fom.
(ii) <F—after 1.102; placed here by Han.
108. Dashes <Cap.+Camb.; commas in Q, F.
trumpet (Q) F 'Trumper'.
108-16. Come hither...Again! (F, subs.) Q gives
no S.D.'s before 'Enter Edgar', etc. but introduces
'Cap. Sound Trumpet?' after 'read out this.', and
'Bast. Sound? Again?' between 'in his defence' and
*Enter Edgar', etc. Sisson following Jennens, insists
that the command to 'sound' is the Herald's business.
Al. omits S.D. 'A trumpet sounds' at 1. n o but
otherwise follows F.
116. S.D. <F 'Trumpet answers within. I Enter
Edgar armed,' Q 'Enter Edgar at the third sound, a
trumpet before him.'
120-1. lost,- \By.. .tooth (Theob.) Q 'lost by treasons
tooth.', F 'lost I By Treasons tooth:'. F inherits Q's
erroneous punct. 127. mine i.e. my sword.
128. Behold sc. my sword, it i.e. the drawing of a
sword against an adversary, and the challenging of him
to single combat, the...honours, (Pope+Camb.) F'my
priuiledge, | The priuiledge of mine Honours'—prob.
a mere compositorial aberration.
129. oath At his initiation, profession Of knight-
hood.
131. Despite (Camb.) Q 'Despight', F 'Despise'.
victor-sword (F, subs.) .Q 'victor sword', fire-new

5.3. NOTES 26j
fortune (Rowe), F 'fire new Fortune'. Cf. R. Ill, I. 3.
256, 'Your fire-new stamp of honour'.
134. illustrious (Q) F 'illustirous'. prince Alb.
135-6. from.. foot A bombastic way of saying' from
head to foot'. 136. descent see G.
140. In wisdom Because a knight should refuse to
fight with one of lower rank.
142. tongue some say (Mai.) Q 'being some say', F
'tongue (some say)', Q, F misinterpret 'say'. See G.
143. <F. £>om.
146. hell-hated as hateful as hell.
147. Which Antecedent 'treasons'. yor=since.
bruise sc. me.
148. give.-..way =make room for, carve out a passage
for. them**'treasons' (1. 145); 'Which' (1. 147) being
left without predicate by change of construction.
149. Where Ref. to Edg.'s heart. Where...ever.
'His success in the combat will prove that Edgar is the
traitor, and the treasons will remain with the victim'
(Muir). S.D. (Han., subs!) F 'Alarums. Fights.',
after 'him!' in 1. 150; Q om.
150. Save him etc. <F) Q om. Theob. (+some
(
edd.) assigns to Gon.; but 'Alb. desires' this 'only to
obtain his confession and to convict him openly by his
own letter' (J.).
153-4. Shut...stop it (F) Q. 'Stop...stapleit.' Al.
and Muir conflate 'Shut...stopple it'—perh. rightly
(J.D.W.). But see G.I.D. ed. 1949, p. 43.
154. this paper i.e. her letter to Edmund (4. 6.
259 £.).Hold=Wait.
S.D. (i) (J.D.W.=Cap.conj.)F,£)om.Cap.explains
'Hold, sir' as addressed to Edg., in reiteration of'Save
him' (1.150), lest he should dispatch Edm. (now on the
ground) before Alb. had questioned him on the letter.
Most edd. make Alb. address it to Edm. as he hands the
letter to him. This accords with a S.D.' Gives the letter

268 N O T E S 5.3.
to Edmund' which J. and many mod. edd. insert at 1.156
'
after I perceive you know it'. Yet Alb. could not give
Edm. what he was just about to make Gon. look at; and
why give away at all, least of all to Edm., a vital piece of
evidence in settling the account with his treacherous
wife, which must come to the State trial he is clearly
preparing for in the double arrest at 11. 83-5. At the
moment what he clearly wishes is to confront her with
the damning document while keeping a tight hold of it
himself. S.D. (ii) (J.D.W.) All he shows, as 1.15 5 tells
us, is her name subscribed.
156. tearing Sh. improves on the old play, where
Leir asks Ragan 'Knowest thou these letters?' and
there follows the S.D. 'She snatches them and teares
them'.
158-9. monstrous! O/\ Know'st (Globe, subs.) Q
'monstrous know'st', F 'monstrous! O, know'st'.
159. Know'st...paper? Addressed to Gon. in Q; to
Edm. in F. But 'Gon. needs an hysterical, not a
defiant, exit line; Alb. wd not turn to Edm. to ask his
question about the letter, and then belatedly give
instructions about his wife; and it is difficult to reconcile
Edm.'s confession (1. 162) with his defiance two lines
earlier. Knight and Kirschbaum argue that as Gon. has
already admitted she knows the letter, it is unnecessary
for Alb. to ask again "Know'st thou this paper?". But
Gon. has only implied that she knows the paper in the
words "Say, if I do"; Alb. wants a direct admission'
[Muir <G.I.D. 1949 ed.].
Ask...know. Given to Gon. in Q (+most edd.); to
Bast. [Edm.] in F. See previous note. S.D. (G.I.D.)
<Q 'Exit. Gonorill'. F gives her an 'Exit.' at 1. 158
('arraign me for't').
160. S.D. (Cap., subs.) Q, F om.
167,172. thou'st (Rowe) F 'th'hast', £>(+Camb.)
'thou hast'.

5.3. NOTE S 269
169-72. The gods...eyes 'The dramatic answer to
Glou.'s cry, 4. 1. 36' (Muir). 'Lear, intemperate in.
mind, is betrayed by unfilial daughters and loses the light
of his mind; Glo., intemperate in body, is betrayed by
his bastard son and loses the light of his body' (R. W.
David). 169. pleasant see G.
173. here i.e. I end as I began at the lowest point of
Fortune's wheel.
174. S.D. (Han.).
176. split my heart Cf. R, III, T. 3. 300; W.T. T. 2.
349. 177. Worthy see G. 182. The...proclama-
tion see 2. 1. 60-3, 110-11; 2. 3. 1-3.
183-5. F's brackets.
183. life's (J.C.M.) Q, F 'Hues', all edd. 'lives'',
but the meaning, Maxwell notes, is rather 'the sweet-
ness that life has for us' than 'the sweetness of our
(several) lives'.
184-5. zve...once=Mve prefer to suffer the pain of
death every hour than to have done with it by dying at
once.
186. /'(F) Q (+Camb.) 'To'.
191. Brackets in Q, F. fault='mistake* or perh.
'misfortune' (cf. Per. 4. 2. 73; M.W.W. I. I. 87;
3. 3. 208). See 4. 1. 38-9,11.
193. this good success i.e. his defeat of Edm. SeeG.
'success'.
195. our pilgrimage our wanderings about together.
!Perh. with a Christian significance—by the end of the
journey Glo.'s soul is saved. [G.I.D., withdrawing Q's
l
my pilgrimage', see 1949 ed., p. 191.]
195-8. But his flawed he art...smilingly Cf. Lear's
death—and the account of the old blind king's death ia
Sidney's Arcadia (quoted at 1. 310, n.).
196. Brackets <F; Q om.
202. dissolve i.e. to tears. Cf. Ant. 5. 2. 298-9.
203-20. Edgar. This...slape. From Q; F om.

270 NOTES 5.3.

203-6. This would...extremity Difficult; poss.
rather corrupt. Ver. interprets:
All who do not revel in grief would have thought that the
limit had been reached in this story; another such story by
increasing that which is already too much would make
'much' into 'more' and pass beyond the utmost limit.
206-7. And top...man, Lined as by Ridley. Theob.
(+Camb.) divide 'extremity | Whilst'.
207. /* (Q+Camb.) Theob. (+many) om.
212. my father i.e. my father's body.
215. the strings...crack i.e. his heart began to
break. Thus he enters (1. 228) a dying man. See G.
'strings of life', and cf. 1. 234, n. and 312, n.
216. crack: twice then (Theob.+Camb.) Q 'cracke
twice, then'. 217. tranced in a swoon.
219. enemy i.e. who had declared himself his enemy.
220. S.D. (Camb. conflating Q 'Enter one with a
bloudie knife,', and F 'Enter a Gentleman.'
221-2. Gentleman. Help...knife? (F) Q om. 'O
helpe' and 'Speake man', and assigns 'What kind of
helpe, what meanes that [sic] bloudy knife?' to Alb.
smokes Fresh, blood commonly 'smokes' in Sh.
223. of— Long dash in F; hyphen in Q. O, she's
dead! (<F) Qom. 226. confesses (F) Q (+Camb.)
'hath confest'.
228. S.D. (F) Q prints 'Enter Kent' at I.230. 'He
comes slowly down the stage while Alb. is speaking'
(Muir). Cf. 1. 215, n.
229. Produce see G. S.D. (<Camb.) Q, F om.
230. tremble, (Q) F 'tremble.'.
231. S.D. (G.I.D.) £>, Fom.
232. Han. has S.D. 'To Kent'.
233. manners urges For 'manners' sing, see Rom. 5.
3-2I4-
234. To bid... aye goodnight i.e. with his last breath.
He cd not know that Lear wd himself be dying.

5.3. NOTES 271
236. Speak, Edmund 'No sufficiently clear reason is
supplied for Edm.'s delay in attempting to save Cord,
and Lear', though Sh. seems on the brink of telling us at
11. 162-3, 198-9. 'The real cause lies outside the
dramatic nexus. It is Sh.'s wish to deliver a sudden and
crushing blow to the hopes which he had excited'
(Bradley, p. 253). 'It is as if Sh. said to us: "Did you
think weakness and innocence have any chance here?
Were you beginning to dream that ? I will show you it
is not so" (ibid. p. 271). 237. object seeG.
S.D. (Q) F 'Gonerill and Regans bodies brought
out.' (1. 230). 244. F's brackets. Noting.
245. Is on =Has been issued against.
247. To who, my lord Spoken to Alb.; Edg. never
calls Edm. 'my lord', has (F) £> (+Camb.) 'hath'.
office sc. of killing them.
250. the captain Cf. 11. 27-40. Haste...life! Q
( + Camb.+Al.) assigns to Alb. ('Duke.')-, F ( + Muir)
to Edg.—'improperly', since 'Edg. had the moment
before received the token of reprieve' from Edm.
[Mai.], while Edg. clearly takes Alb.'s 'Run, run,
O run!' as addressed to himself.
S.D. (J.D.W.<Mal.+Camb.). None in Q, F. Cf.
G.I.D. 1949 ed. p. 191.
256. S.D. (i) 'Edmund...off' (Theob.), Q, F om.
(ii) 'Enter...arms' (Q, F). 'Edgar...following' (Mai.
+Camb.). Lear, I think, lays the body down on the
front stage, and then speaks, standing over her.
257. men of stones Cf. R. Ill, 3. 7. 224 and n.
261. She's dead as earth Cf. Wordsworth's
No motion has she now, no force;
She neither hears nor sees,
Rolled round in earth's diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones, and trees.
262. stone=mirror. See G. 263. promised end—
Last Day, foretold by the prophets.

272 NOTES 5.3.
264. Or.. .horror.—If this is not the end of the world,
it is a picture of what it will be. horror. (Q 1, F) Edd.
generally prefer Q 2 'horror?'. Fall and cease I Let the
skies fall, and the end come!
267. S.D. (Theob.+Camb.)
271. Ha? (J.D.W.)=eh? F 'Ha:' Q 'ha,'.
Camb. 'Ha!' He thinks he hears her speak and bends
down to listen.
272-3. Her voice...worn an. He explains to himself
why he cannot hear her now. Cf. Introd. p. xxv.
274. a-hanging Hyphen Dyce's; Q, F om.
275. sp.-hdg. (Cap.) Q 'Cap.', F 'Gent.'.
276-7. / have seen...skip Cf. Justice Shallow in
M.W.W.2. 1. 2 o 3,' I have seen the time, with my long
sword I would have made you...skip like rats.' [Steev.],
and Oth. 5. 2. 264-7.
277. them (Q+Camb.)—his enemies in general.
F 'him'—prob. sophistication.
278. spoil me 'i.e. as a swordsman' (Muir).
279. TII...straight=1*11 tell you in a moment who
you are.
280-1. If Fortune...behold Meaning debated, yet
one of the most poignant incidents in the play. The
utterly devoted and humble servant awaits recognition
from 'his enemy king' (1. 219), in eyes that blazed in
anger when they were last aware of his identity, viz. at
the moment of his banishment. And that Sh. wishes us
to have those eyes specially in mind is clear from Lear's
double reference to his sight, elsewhere not mentioned.
Engrossed by the fancied stirring of the feather (1. 265)
Lear finds the figure who suddenly kneels at his side an
intrusion, and does not even hear Kent's name, when
Edgar pleads for him. But the memory of the blow that
killed 'the slave' who hanged his beloved child recalls
for a moment former sword-play in battle, and that in
turn seems to awake memories of his old comrade in

5-3. NOTE S 273
arms, whom this man just come in somehow resembles.
'Who are you ?' he asks, coming close and peering into
his face. What answer can Kent make? The usual
interpretation of his words, and one accepted by
Bradley (p. 465) takes them as addressed to the audience
or the world in general and to refer to the misery of Lear
alone. But the 'we' is not general; Kent and Lear are
gazing into each other's eyes; the servant is speaking to
his lord and master. 'Were there ever in history', he
says, 'two who fell from greater happiness into greater
misery than you and I?' Or, as Capell expounded the
lines as long ago as 1779 {Notes, pp. 188—9):
The two objects of fortune's love and her hate are—himself
and his master:...and of these two, says the speaker, you
(the person spoke to) behold one, and I another.

It is an appeal for understanding, for pardon perhaps, in
the name of their fellowship, not now in battle, but in
suffering. And it fails; for though Lear speaks his name,
that enfeebled mind cannot accomplish the feat of
associating 'Kent' with 'Caius', and has forgotten both
by 1. 289, so that for Kent 'all's cheerless, dark, and
deadly' indeed.
282. This.. .sight. He cannot believe his eyes which,
'not o' th' best', he thinks must be deceiving him. 'Are
you not Kent?' he asks in astonishment. Many take
'This' as referring to the dead Cord.
283. Caius The name Kent had used in disguise.
285. strike sc. in defence of his master.
286. man— (Pope +Camb.) Q, F 'man,'.
287. I'll.. .straight=' I'll attend to that in a moment'.
The mind returns to Cord.: Caius-Kent has ceased to
interest him.
288. your.. .decay = the beginning of your change and
of your decline in fortune.
289. steps— (Rowe) Q, F 'steps.'. You...welcome

274 NOTES 5.3.
hither Polite indifference. You are (Q 2, F 2—Camb.)
Q i 'You'r',Fi 'Your are'.
290. Nor...else 'Welcome! alas here's no welcome
for me or anyone' (Cap. Notes). Some take it as a
continuation of Kent's last words, i.e. no one else
followed you. This ignores the Fool and is too self-
assertive for Kent.
292. desperately=from despair.
294. S.D. (<Q) cf.l.250. F'Enter a Messenger*.
'Messenger' (theatr.) =super.
295. sp.-hdg. F 'Mess.', Q 'Capt.\
296. know our intent The play ends as it began, with
resignation of the throne—but of a very different sort.
Cf. 1. 1. 33 ff.
297. this great decay Lear. Q£.Ant. 3.10.19, 'the
noble ruin'.
300. S.D. (Mai.) Q,Fom. to you (Pope; J.D.W.)
F, Q 'you to' a common error. Most edd. 'you, to'.
301. addition see G.
304. O see, see! Lear has taken 'her broken body in
his arms again' (G.-B. p. 185).
305. my poor fool i.e. Cord. 'Fool' was often a term
of compassionate endearment. But poss. the words were
'intended to show a confused association in Lear's mind
between his child and the Fool who loved her (as a
very old man may confuse two of his children)'
(Bradley, p. 314). But surely the Fool, like Kent, is
forgotten.
308. Never Five times in F; 'to make a verse out of
this one word required the boldness as well as the in-
spiration which came infallibly to Sh. at the greatest
moments' (Bradley, p. 293).
309. this button A button at Lear's throat, he feeling
suffocated. See Introd. p.xxxviii.This feeling of suffoca-
tion shd prob. be associated with Kent's 'O, let him
pass!'—viz. his spirit struggling to leave its 'muddy

5.3. NOTES 275
vesture of decay' (M.F. 5. i. 64.). And Kent, I think,
loosens the button—his last service.
310-11. Do. ..there! Lear dies of joy, being 'sure,
at last, that she lives' (Bradley, p. 291). Cf. Glo.'s
death (11. 195-8 above). 'But his flawed heart | (Alack,
too weak the conflict to support) 'Twixt two extremes
of passion, joy and grief, | Burst smilingly.' The parallel
is exact, and both, as R. W. Chambers notes {KingLear,
1940, pp. 44-5), owe something to Sidney's account of
the death of the old blind king in Arcadia, 1590 (ed
Feuillerat, p. 212):
In which season the blind king...with many teares (both of
joy and sorrow)...even in a moment died as it should seeme:
his hart broken with unkindness & affliction, stretched so
farre beyond his [=its] limits with this excess of comfort,
as it was able no longer to keep safe his [=its] roial spirits.
311. Here F. gives the S.D. 'He dis.\ But this
'prob. comes a few lines too soon' (Bradley, p. 292, n.),
and Edg.'s 'He is gone indeed' was, I think, intended
to mark the moment, though the audience cd prob. see
no difference between fainting and dying.
312. Break...break 'It is of himself he is speaking
perhaps' (Bradley, p. 309). Cf. 11. 215, 234 above
and nn. But at this point is not Rent's whole soul intent
upon Lear?
314-15. upon the rack...Stretch Cf. the like image
in Arcadia cited at 11. 310-11, n.
314. rack (F4+Camb.) Q, F 1 'wracke'. tough
(Q, F) = 'obdurate, rigid' (Steev.); Pope+J. 'rough'—
perh. rightly, confusion of r and / being very common
in 16th and 17th cent, books.
315. S.D. (J.D.W.) Cf.l.3ii,S.D.n.
317. usurped see G. Bear...hence. Here Sh. had no
curtain (as he had in Oth.) to hide the dead at the end of
the play. Cf. 2, 3. S.D. (head) n., Greg R.E.S. xvi,
300-3; and Ham. 5. 2. 393-8, n.