The Taming of the Shrew (28 page)

⁴¹
hawking
hunting with hawks

⁴³
welkin
sky

⁴⁵
course
hunt the hare

⁴⁶
breathèd
exercised, strong-winded
roe
small deer

⁴⁸
Adonis
in classical mythology, a beautiful huntsman, pursued by
Cytherea
(Venus); when he was killed by a boar while hunting, she changed him into an anemone

⁴⁹
Cytherea
more commonly known as Venus, the goddess of love
sedges
coarse grass growing by rivers

⁵⁰
wanton
grow playful/flourishing/lustful

⁵²
Io
in classical myth, a girl raped by Jove/ Jupiter, then turned into a heifer
maid
virgin

⁵³
beguilèd
bewitched/deceived
surprised
attacked

⁵⁴
lively
lifelike

⁵⁵
Daphne
in classical mythology, a girl pursued by the god Apollo; she prayed for help and was turned into a laurel tree

⁵⁸
workmanly
skillfully

⁶¹
waning
degenerate/declining from the perfection of Eden

⁶³
envious
cruel

⁶⁵
yet
even now

⁷⁵
wit
senses

⁷⁶
knew but
only knew

⁷⁹
fay
faith

⁸⁰
of
in

⁸⁴
rail upon
rant, complain about
hostess … house
landlady of the inn

⁸⁵
present … leet
bring accusations against her at the manorial court (
leet
)

⁸⁶
stone … quarts
unlike
sealed quarts
,
stone jugs
had no official mark upon them guaranteeing they contained the specified amount of ale

⁸⁸
woman’s … house
landlady’s maid

⁹⁰
reckoned up
listed

⁹¹
Greece
possibly a corruption of “Greet,” a small village not far from Stratford

⁹⁵
amends
recovery

⁹⁹
Marry
by the Virgin Mary
fare
am getting along (plays on the sense of “food and drink”)
cheer
hospitality (plays on the sense of “food and drink”)

¹⁰²
goodman
husband

¹⁰⁷
Al’ce
Alice

¹¹²
abandoned
banished

¹¹⁹
In … malady
due to the risk of bringing on your old illness

¹²¹
stands for
is valid as

¹²²
it stands
my penis is erect
hardly
plays on the idea of erectile hardness

¹²⁴
despite
spite

¹²⁶
pleasant
merry

¹²⁷
meet
fitting

¹³¹
frame
adjust

¹³²
bars
prevents

¹³³
comonty … gambold
Sly’s mispronunciation of “comedy” and “gambol” (entertainment)

¹³⁴
tumbling trick
acrobatic trick

¹³⁵
stuff
matter (Sly responds to the literal sense of “furnishings”)

¹³⁷
history
story

¹³⁹
slip
slide by

Lucentio
name suggests “light,” making him a fitting partner for “Bianca” (the white/fair)

²
Padua
city in northern Italy
nursery
training ground (the university of Padua was one of the oldest in Europe)

³
for
in
Lombardy
Padua is not in Lombardy, which is probably, however, intended here to denote all of northern Italy

⁵
leave
permission

⁷
approved
tested, proved

⁸
breathe
rest
haply
perhaps/fortunately
institute
begin

⁹
ingenious
intellectual

¹⁰
grave
learned

¹¹
Gave … first
i.e. both I and my father were born there

¹²
great traffic
extensive trade

¹³
come of
descended from
Bentivolii
a powerful Italian family who were, in fact, from Bologna rather than Pisa

¹⁴
Vincentio’s … deeds
it is appropriate that Vincentio’s son, who was brought up in Florence, should fulfill the expectations of him by adding to his fortune with acts of virtue

¹⁹
treats of
concerns

²³
plash
pool

²⁴
satiety
excess

²⁵
Mi perdonato
“pardon me” (Italian)

²⁶
affected
disposed

³¹
stoics
rigorous individuals practicing abstinence and endurance
stocks
stupid, senseless people

³²
Aristotle
Greek philosopher
checks
recommendations of moral restraint

³³
As
that
Ovid
Roman poet, author of
The Art of Love
abjured
rejected

³⁴
Balk
argue, quibble over

³⁵
common
everyday

³⁶
quicken
enliven

³⁸
Fall to
apply yourself/begin eating
stomach serves you
inclination/appetite requires

³⁹
No … ta’en
a version of Horace’s famous statement that “he who has mixed usefulness with pleasure has gained every point”

⁴⁰
affect
like

⁴¹
Gramercies
many thanks

⁴²
wert
were to

⁴⁵
beget
create
Bianca
Italian for “white”
pantaloon
in Italian comedy, the foolish old man

⁴⁸
importune
urge

⁵⁰
bestow
give in marriage

⁵⁵
cart her
drive her around in a cart (usual punishment for a prostitute)
rough
violent/uncontrollable

⁵⁶
will you
do you want

⁵⁸
stale
bait/laughing-stock/prostitute (puns on the chess term “stalemate”)
mates
fellows (plays on the sense of “husbands”)

⁶²
Iwis
indeed
not … heart
i.e. marriage is not something I even consider

⁶³
her care
my chief desire

⁶⁴
noddle
head

⁶⁵
paint
i.e. redden with scratching
use
treat

⁶⁸
toward
about to begin

⁶⁹
wonderful froward
remarkably obstinate

⁷³
Mum
hush

⁷⁸
peat
pet

⁷⁹
Put … why
make herself cry if she could think of an excuse

⁸⁰
content you
be satisfied

⁸¹
pleasure
will
subscribe
submit

⁸⁴
Minerva
goddess of wisdom

⁸⁵
strange
distant, unfriendly

⁸⁶
effects
causes

⁸⁸
mew her up
confine her

⁸⁹
for
on account of

⁹⁰
her
i.e. Bianca
her
i.e. Kate’s (sharp)

⁹³
for
because

⁹⁸
Prefer
recommend
cunning
skillful

¹⁰²
commune
discuss

¹⁰⁴
appointed hours
given a timetable
belike
perhaps

¹⁰⁶
dam
mother
gifts
qualities (ironic)

¹⁰⁷
here’s … you
no one here will detain you
Their love
i.e. women’s love

¹⁰⁸
blow our nails
wait patiently/waste time
fast … out
manage to survive/endure it as cordially as we can

¹⁰⁹
Our … sides
i.e. we have both failed

¹¹⁰
light on
come across

¹¹²
wish
recommend

¹¹⁴
brooked parle
tolerated conversation/negotiation

¹¹⁵
advice
consideration
toucheth
concerns

¹¹⁷
labour and effect
work for and bring about

¹²⁵
pass
surpass

¹²⁶
alarums
noise (literally, a military call to arms)

¹²⁷
an
if

¹²⁹
had as lief
would as willingly

¹³⁰
high cross
cross set on a pedestal in the town center

¹³³
bar in law
legal impediment (i.e. Baptista’s refusal to let Bianca marry until Kate is married)
it … maintained
it shall progress in a friendly manner

¹³⁶
have to’t afresh
renew our combat once again

¹³⁷
Happy … dole!
Happiness to the winner! (proverbial)
ring
alludes to the jousting game in which competitors tried to lift a ring with their lances (puns on senses of “wedding ring” and “vagina”)

¹⁴⁸
love in idleness
puns on “love-in-idleness,” a pansy thought to have power to stimulate love

¹⁵⁰
secret
trusted

¹⁵¹
Anna … Carthage
Dido, Queen of Carthage, confided in her sister Anna that she was in love with Aeneas

¹⁵⁷
rated
driven out through rebuke

¹⁵⁹
Redime … minimo
“free yourself from bondage for as little ransom as you can” (Latin, inaccurately quoted, as in the standard Elizabethan grammar textbook, from Terence’s play
Eunuchus
)

¹⁶⁰
Go forward
carry on
This
i.e. what you have said so far

¹⁶²
so longly
for such a long time/so longingly

¹⁶³
marked not
did not notice
pith
essence

¹⁶⁵
daughter of Agenor
Europa, daughter of the King of Tyre; she was loved by
Jove
, who turned himself into a bull in order to abduct her

¹⁶⁶
him
himself

¹⁶⁷
kissed
i.e. knelt on
Cretan strand
shore of Crete (in fact, Europa was taken to, rather than from, Crete)

¹⁷⁶
Bend
apply, direct

¹⁷⁷
curst
bad-tempered
shrewd
shrewish, disagreeable

¹⁷⁹
maid
unmarried virgin

¹⁸⁰
closely
securely

¹⁸¹
annoyed
vexed/distracted

¹⁸³
advised
aware

¹⁸⁷
for my hand
by my hand/for my part