Read The Merry Wives of Windsor Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
84
comfort … suit
encouragement in his courtship
85
fine-baited
tempting/alluring/skillfully baited
88
chariness
careful preservation
98
curtal
with a tail docked or cut off
99
affects
aims at/loves
103
gallimaufry
mixture (literally, stew made from a variety of odds and ends)
103
perpend
consider
105
liver
thought to be the seat of the passions
105
Prevent
i.e. act now to stop Falstaff
106
Actaeon
in Greek mythology, the goddess Diana turned Actaeon into a stag after he had seen her bathing; he was then killed by his own hounds
107
Ringwood
one of Actaeon’s hounds
107
thy
some editors emend to “his”
108
the name
i.e. of cuckold (Actaeon’s horns made him a symbol of cuckoldry)
111
foot
walk
112
cuckoo-birds
known for laying their eggs in other birds’ nests; they were associated with cuckolds because of their name, and their call was considered a warning to married men
113
Away
come away
117
should have borne
was to have carried
119
upon my necessity
when I need it
122
bread and cheese
i.e. basic rations (perhaps those received in the service of Falstaff)
124
quoth a
said he
125
his
its
127
affecting
affected
128
it
i.e. it to be true
129
Cataian
person from Cathay (China), used to mean “scoundrel”
129
though
even if
138
crotchets
whims/peculiar ideas
140
Have with you
I’ll come with you/let’s go
144
fit it
suit the part
156
offer
attempt
157
yoke
pair
161
lie
lodge
163
voyage
sexual advances
165
lie on my head
be my responsibility/fault (in his response, Ford plays on the idea of wearing a cuckold’s horns on one’s head)
166
misdoubt
mistrust/doubt
167
turn them
release them (language used of cattle)
169
ranting
jovial/boisterous/verbally extravagant
170
pate
head
174
Cavaliero
knight/courtly gentleman (from the Spanish
caballero
or the Italian
cavaliere
)
175
Good … twenty
good day, many times over
186
contrary
different/opposing
187
no jester
i.e. Evans is skilled at swordsmanship/Evans is deadly serious
189
my guest-cavalier
i.e. Falstaff, who is a
guest
at the Host’s inn
191
protest
declare
191
pottle
drinking vessel containing half a gallon (about four pints)
191
burned sack
mulled wine/wine containing burnt sugar
192
recourse
access
194
egress and regress
right of exit and entry (legal terms)
196
An-heires
of unclear meaning; possibly a partly Anglicized version of the Dutch
mynheers
(“gentlemen”) or a corruption of
ameers
or “emirs” (Arab princes or military commanders)
201
stand on distance
attach importance to the prescribed distance between the two duelists
201
passes, stoccadoes
thrusts (technical terms used in fencing)
202
heart
courage/spirit
203
long sword
heavier weapon (the lighter rapier was now more fashionable)
204
tall
brave/skillful with weapons
205
wag
go
206
scold
quarrel/wrangle
208
secure
overconfident
208
stands … frailty
relies so firmly on what is in fact his wife’s moral weakness
210
his
i.e. Falstaff’s
211
made
did
212
sound
sound the depth of/examine/make trial of
5
countenance to pawn
borrow money on the strength of being in my service
5
countenance
standing/reputation
5
grated upon
harassed with demands
6
coach-fellow
companion (literally, one of a pair of horses harnessed to a coach)
7
grate
prison bars (plays on
grated
)
7
gemini
pair
10
handle … fan
these were often made of precious material such as ivory or silver
10
took’t upon
swore by
12
share
have a share in it
13
Reason
with good reason
14
gratis
for nothing
14
hang … me
cease to be a burden to me (
hang
plays on the sense of “put to death”)
15
a … throng
i.e. go and find a crowd where you may cut people’s purse strings with a short knife
16
Picked-hatch
a brothel or a disreputable part of London (literally, the half-door surmounted by spikes that may have characterized a brothel)
18
unconfinable
limitless/infinite
19
precise
pure/scrupulously observed
20
on … hand
disregarded/to one side
21
fain … lurch
obliged to deceive, dodge, and cheat
22
ensconce
hide, as in a small fort (sconce)
22
cat-a-mountain
wildcat
23
red-lattice
alehouse (wooden lattices painted red characterized a tavern)
23
bold-beating
excessively presumptuous/repeatedly coarse
26
relent
yield
29
Give
God give
31
Not so
i.e. I am not a
wife
34
As … born
Quickly means “just as much of an innocent maid as I was when I was born, like my mother was before me,” but actually says “just as much of a virgin as my mother was in childbirth”
37
vouchsafe
permit (Quickly means something like “entreat”)
40
ways
way
42
on
go on
51
wanton
seducer/lewd person/unruly one
55
canaries
malapropism for “quandary”; a canary was either a dance or a wine
55
wonderful
astonishing
60
rushling
Quickly means “rustling”
61
alligant
Quickly means “elegant”;
alligant
was a form of “alicant,” a Spanish wine
64
eye-wink of
glance from
65
angels
i.e. as a bribe for her help from one of the suitors
66
sort
manner/way
69
pensioners
“poor knights of Windsor,” who prayed for the king in return for an annuity
71
she-Mercury
female Mercury, the messenger of the gods
75
notify
understand/take note
79
wot
know
82
frampold
sour-tempered
86
messenger
Quickly means “message”
88
fartuous
Quickly means “virtuous”
88
civil modest
decent and proper
89
miss you
miss (
you
is emphatic)
93
charms
magic spells
95
parts
personal qualities/physical features
100
grace
decency
101
of all loves
for the sake of love
102
infection to
Quickly means “affection for”
105
list
pleases
107
kind
plays on the sense of “sexually willing”
111
nay-word
code word
119
distracts
bewilders
120
punk
prostitute
120
carriers
messengers
121
Clap
put (promptly)
121
fights
screens used during a sea battle to protect the crew
122
prize
treasure/captured vessel
122
whelm
capsize/sink
123
Say’st … Jack?
i.e. is that how things are (Falstaff is talking to himself)
124
look after
look at (desirously)
126
grossly
clumsily/coarsely (puns on the sense of “fat”)
127
so
as long as
127
fairly
fully/well (puns on the sense of “handsome”)
129
fain
eagerly
135
encompassed
got hold of/got around (plays on the sense of “embraced”)
136
via
Italian exclamation of encouragement to action
139
make bold
am presumptuous
139
preparation
advance warning
141
Give us leave
leave us please
142
drawer
one who draws liquor/a tapster
147
sue
beg
147
charge
burden—i.e. with expense
148
plight
condition/health
150
unseasoned
unseasonable/ill-timed
152
on
go forward
155
carriage
carrying (of it)
163
discover
reveal
166
register
record
167
sith
since
174
observance
attentiveness/dutiful service
175
engrossed
gathered
175
fee’d
employed
177
largely
generously
178
would have given
would like to have given to her
181
means
methods/resources/wealth
181
meed
reward
184
flies
flees
184
substance
wealth/ body (as opposed to
shadow
)