King John/Henry VIII (Signet Classics) Page 38

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  Vartan Gregorian

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  Jessica Hagedorn

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  Richard Howard

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  Charles Johnson

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  Jon Krakauer

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  Edmund Morris

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  Azar Nafisi

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  Joyce Carol Oates

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  Elaine Pagels

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  John Richardson

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  Salman Rushdie

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  Oliver Sacks

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  Carolyn See

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  Gore Vidal

  1.1 Location: England

  1.1 King John youngest son of Henry II and Elinor; born 1166, reigned 1199-1216

  1.1 Queen Elinor daughter of William V, Duke of Aquitaine; she married and divorced Louis VII of France before marrying Henry II of England 1 would France does the King of France want

  3 behaviour person, i.e. through me

  3 majesty sovereignty, splendor

  4 borrowed assumed/feigned

  6 embassy message (from the ambassador)

  7 Philip of France King Philip II, son of Louis VII; lived 1165-1223, reigned from 1180

  8 Geoffrey fourth son of Henry II

  9 Arthur Plantagenet son of Geoffrey and Constance 10 territories dominions/dependencies

  11 Poitiers i.e. the province of Poitou

  12 sword i.e. state control

  13 sways rules, controls

  13 several various/individual

  15 right by right, i.e. true

  16 disallow of refuse

  17 control constraint/mastery

  22 embassy message/ambassadorial role

  25 ere before

  25 report deliver your message/make the noise of a cannon or of thunder

  27 hence go from here

  27 trumpet herald/musical wind instrument used to announce important arrivals 28 sullen presage gloomy portent

  28 decay downfall/death

  29 conduct escort

  32 Constance heiress of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany; married Geoffrey in 1181 with whom she had Arthur 33 kindled stirred up, inflamed

  33 France king and nation

  34 Upon on behalf of

  34 party part, side

  35 made whole i.e. resolved

  36 arguments proofs

  36 love friendship

  37 manage management, government

  38 issue outcome

  44 liege lord

  44 controversy dispute

  46 produce bring out

  49 expeditious charge sudden cost

  55 Coeur-de-lion Richard I, nicknamed "the Lionheart"

  55 field battlefield

  63 put you o'er direct you

  63 heaven here and on several subsequent occasions "heaven" may be an alteration from "God," following 1606 Parliamentary "Act to restrain the Abuses of Players"

  65 Out on thee expression of indignation

  65 rude uncivilized

  66 diffidence mistrust

  69 a he

  69 pops me out disinherits me

  70 fair fully

  75 once in a word/at some time

  76 whe'er whether

  76 true begot honorably conceived, legitimate

  77 lay ... head i.e. leave my mother to answer 79 Fair fall may good fortune befall

  84 like similar

  85 madcap lunatic/wild fellow

  85 lent brought

  86 trick distinctive look, habit

  87 affecteth imitates, assumes the character of

  88 tokens signs, evidence

  89 large composition general/robust constitution

  90 parts qualities

  91 Sirrah sir (used to an inferior)

  92 move prompt

  93 half-face profile/thin face

  94 face plays on the sense of "brazen defiance"

  95 half-faced groat coin worth four old pence with the monarch's face in profile; also, "imperfect/insignificant"

  96 when that when

  97 Your brother i.e. Richard I, Coeur-de-lion

  99 tale story (perhaps plays on sense of "genitals") 99 employed made use of/occupied sexually

  102 treat of discuss

  102 high important

  102 touching relating to/affecting

  104 sojourned stayed

  105 prevail gain the mastery/succeed in attaining/persuade 109 lusty vigorous, lively (plays on the sense of "product of lust") 109 got begot, conceived

  111 took ... death i.e. swore most solemnly 114 before ... time i.e. before the full nine months were up 119 did play false was unfaithful

  119 fault sin, moral defect (may play on the sense of "vagina") 120 lies ... hazards i.e. is one of the risks 121 how what

  121 brother i.e. Richard I

  124 sooth truth

  124 kept ... world the owner of a cow has the right to keep any calf born of that cow 128 refuse him spurn Philip (the Bastard)

  128 concludes settles it

  131 will legal testament/wishes

  134 will wish/carnal desire/penis

  135 Whether which of the two

  137 reputed recognized/supposed

  138 presence self/personal dignity

  139 an if if

  139 shape appearance

  140 Sir ... him i.e. that resembles Sir Robert's 141 riding-rods horse whips, i.e. skinny

  143 in behind

  144 three-farthings the thin three-farthing coin bore the queen's image in front of a rose 145 to his shape in addition to having his inherited physical appearance 146 Would I might may I

  147 it every foot every foot of it

  147 this i.e. my own

  148 Nob nickname for Robert (puns on senses of "head/head of the family") 148 case puns on the sense of "face/appearance"

  154 dear expensive, because more than a groat (fourpence) 156 thither i.e. to death

  157 give ... way allow our superiors to go first, as is polite 161 form likeness, image

  162 rise some editors emend to "arise" for the sake of meter 166 hour possible pun on "whore"

  169 grandam grandmother

  170 truth chaste loyalty

  170 what though what of that

  171 Something about in a somewhat indirect way

  171 from the right distant from the correct way, i.e. legitimacy 172 window with vaginal connotations

  172 hatch lower part of a door (with vaginal connotations) 173 stir plays on the senses of "get an erection/engage in sex"

  173 walk plays on the sexual sense of "be erect"

  174 have (sexual) possession

  174 catch seize, get hold of

  175 Near ... off i.e. to the target (in archery/sexually) 175 shot plays on the sense of "ejaculated"

  179 speed travel hastily

  180 need necessary

  181 adieu good-bye

  183 foot degree (may pun on French foutre, i.e. "fuck") 184 many a many i.e. many (emphatic)

  185 Joan typical name for a country or lower-class woman 186 den evening (from "God give you good even")

  186 God-a-mercy God have mercy on you

  189 'Tis i.e. remembering men's names

  189 respective attentive/respectful

  190 conversion i.e. newly titled man

  191 toothpick ornate toothpicks were fashionable and seen as a foreign sophistication 191 worship's mess company of people eating together (now honored by his title) 192 stomach appetite

  192 sufficed satisfied

  193 catechize question

  194 picked foppish/having used the toothpick/specially chosen 194 of countries i.e. well-traveled

  197 Absey book book of ABC

  201 would wants, asks

  202 Saving except

  202 dialogue of compliment polite/affected conversation 205 supper i.e. supper-time

  205 so thus

  207 mounting (socially) ascending
/aspiring

  208 bastard ... time not a true son of the current age 209 smack show the characteristics (literally, taste); Folio spelling "smoake" was alternative form of same word, which could also mean "observe, suspect"

  209 observation observance of polite, fashionable practices 210 so am I i.e. a literal bastard

  211 habit dress

  211 device outward show/ingenuity/heraldic design 212 accoutrement formal trappings

  213 motion desire, impulse

  214 sweet poison i.e. flattery

  214 tooth appetite, sweet tooth

  215 practise plot

  216 to ... learn i.e. learn how to spot other people's deception by studying it myself 217 strew be scattered

  217 rising i.e. ascent to greatness

  218 riding-robes horse-riding clothes

  219 woman-post female messenger

  220 blow a horn i.e. to announce her arrival (plays on the fact that her husband has recently been shown to be a cuckold; men with unfaithful wives were popularly imagined to wear horns on their forehead) 223 slave wretch, villain

  224 holds in chase hunts

  224 up and down in every respect/everywhere

  226 Colbrand the Giant part of an invading Danish army defeated by Guy of Warwick, the eponymous hero of a medieval romance story 228 unreverend irreverent, disrespectful

  231 give us leave leave us

  233 Philip Sparrow the Bastard rejects his former name (since he has been renamed "Sir Richard Plantagenet") as a common name for sparrows (as it resembles their call) 234 toys trifling matters

  234 abroad about, going on

  234 anon soon

  236 eat i.e. eaten (pronounced "et")

  236 eat ... fast "He may his part on Good Friday eat and fast never the worse for ought he shall get" was proverbial 236 in of

  238 do perform, achieve/make, produce/copulate

  238 marry by the Virgin Mary

  238 confess admit/agree

  239 Could get i.e. were it possible he could conceive 240 handiwork i.e. his half-brother, Robert Falconbridge 241 beholding beholden, indebted

  242 holp helped

  244 That you who

  245 untoward unmannerly, improper

  245 knave scoundrel; the Bastard puns on the meaning "servant"

  246 Basilisco a character in a contemporary play who insisted on his knighthood being acknowledged 247 dubbed knighted, by having a sword placed on the shoulder

  250 Legitimation legitimacy

  252 proper fine/respectable

  254 deny renounce

  256 suit urging, courtship

  258 Heaven may heaven

  258 charge account/responsibility

  259 issue offspring

  259 dear cherished/grievous/costly

  260 defence resistance

  261 get be conceived

  263 privilege immunity

  264 folly foolishness/lust

  265 dispose disposal, command

  266 Subjected obedient/as his royal subject

  268 aweless fearless

  268 lion ... hand as punishment for killing the Duke of Austria's son, Richard I was imprisoned with a lion, whose heart he tore out by putting his hand down its throat 270 perforce forcibly

  273 Who whoever

  275 kin (new) relations

  277 said him nay refused him

  278 was i.e. a sin

  2.1 Location: France

  2.1 before Angiers in front of the gates of Angiers, on the Loire river 2.1 Dauphin title for heir to the French throne 2.1 Austria historically Leopold V; apparently wearing a lion's skin, supposedly taken from Richard I 2 that ... blood i.e. your predecessor

  4 holy ... Palestine the Crusades

  5 By i.e. at the hand of

  6 posterity descendants

  7 importance request

  8 spread display

  8 colours battle flags

  9 rebuke repress

  10 unnatural i.e. behaving in a manner that contradicts natural kinship 13 offspring descendants

  14 Shadowing sheltering

  15 powerless i.e. without a military force behind it 16 unstained pure, unblemished

  19 zealous earnest

  20 seal ... indenture wax seal on a legal contract 23 pale either adjectival (colorless) or a noun (boundary, enclosure) 23 pale ... shore i.e. the chalk cliffs of England's southeastern coast (hence England) 24 spurns kicks, rejects

  25 coops encloses, protects

  26 main sea

  27 bulwark fortification

  27 still always

  28 confident from self-assured against

  28 purposes plans, i.e. threats of invasion 31 follow arms i.e. take part in military action 34 more requital to greater recompense for

  37 bent directed

  38 brows i.e. walls/battlements

  39 discipline military strategy

  40 cull select

  40 plots positions, sites

  40 advantages i.e. military advantage in attack 43 But we will if necessary to

  43 subject to ruled by/answerable to

  44 Stay wait

  44 embassy message

  45 unadvised rashly, without full thought or information 49 indirectly wrongfully

  50 lo look

  52 England the King of England

  52 gentle noble

  53 coldly calmly

  55 against in preparation for

  56 impatient of angered by

  58 leisure convenience

  58 stayed waited for

  59 legions forces

  60 expedient rapid

  62 Mother-Queen Queen-Mother, i.e. Elinor

  63 Ate Greek goddess of discord and revenge

  64 niece female relative; actually Elinor's granddaughter and John's niece 64 Blanche of Spain daughter of John's sister Eleanor and Alfonso VIII, King of Castile 65 king's deceased dead king (Richard I)

  66 unsettled humours i.e. unruly persons, malcontents; humours four chief bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, choler, black choler) governing mental qualities and disposition 67 inconsiderate reckless

  67 voluntaries volunteers

  68 ladies' faces i.e. beardless and young

  68 spleens tempers, impulses

  69 sold ... backs i.e. they have spent everything on armor and military equipment 71 make ... of risk, venture

  72 braver more splendid, finer

  72 choice selection

  73 bottoms keels, i.e. ships

  73 waft wafted, i.e. conveyed (suggesting a quick easy journey) 75 scathe damage

  76 churlish rough, harsh

  77 circumstance details

  78 parley negotiate

  79 expedition warlike enterprise/haste

  82 occasion (needful) circumstances

  83 others i.e. troops

  85 lineal hereditary

  85 own i.e. territories/role of ruler

  88 beats drives, forces

  89 if that if

  91 England's i.e. Arthur's

  93 toil i.e. supporting Arthur's cause

  93 work duty, undertaking

  95 underwrought undermined, sought to overthrow

  95 his its

  96 sequence of posterity lawful succession

  97 Outfaced defied/intimidated

  97 infant state young majesty, i.e. Arthur 99 Geoffrey's i.e. Arthur's father's

  101 abstract essence, summary

  103 brief summary

  109 owe own

  110 commission warrant

  111 articles points/charges

  112 supernal judge i.e. God supernal celestial 116 impeach challenge, accuse

  118 Alack exclamation of dissatisfaction, regret 119 Excuse ... down preventing (your) usurpation of authority is a good enough excuse 122 Out expression of irritation and scorn

  123 check control, discipline

  126 Liker in feature more similar in physical appearance 127 in manners (who are) in behavior/character

  128 dam mother (
devil and parent were proverbially similar) 130 His ... mother Constance insults Elinor by suggesting that it is likelier that Geoffrey was a bastard than that Arthur might be one 131 an if if

  132 blots slanders

  133 grandam grandmother

  133 blot defile/erase

  135 crier announcing officer in a law court/town crier (a mocking reference to Austria) 137 play the devil i.e. make trouble

  138 An a if he

  138 catch seize, get hold of

  138 hide i.e. lion's skin

  139 hare ... beard "even hares may pull dead lions by the beard" (proverbial) 141 smoke subject to smoke/disinfect/beat

  141 an if

  142 look to't beware

  143 become earn/befit

  145 sightly appropriately

  146 Alcides Hercules (Greek hero, one of whose twelve labors involved killing a lion, whose skin he then wore); some editors emend "shoes" to "shows," i.e. distinctive clothing 148 lay on that i.e. inflict blows

  149 cracker boaster (playing on the sense of "supposed breaker of shoulders") 149 deafs deafens

  151 straight straight away

  153 very sum final summary, absolute essence

  158 Bretagne Brittany

  163 it its

  165 fig fruit/something valueless/rude gesture

  169 coil turmoil, fuss

  170 shames dishonors, embarrasses

  173 pearls i.e. tears

  174 in ... fee as a bribe for divine support

  175 beads teardrops (plays on the sense of "prayer beads on a rosary") 177 monstrous unnatural

  180 dominations dominions

  180 royalties royal rights

  181 eldest son's son eldest grandson

  182 Infortunate unfortunate

  183 visited punished

  184 canon ... law scriptural rule (that the sins of the parents will be visited upon their children) 185 but only

  186 Removed distant

  187 Bedlam i.e. madwoman

  190 her sin implies John, whom Constance suggests was conceived adulterously (in sin) 191 removed issue relative at one remove, i.e. Arthur 191 for because of

  192 his injury harm done to Arthur

  193 beadle parish officer entitled to punish minor offences, i.e. punisher 195 for because of/instead of

  196 unadvised rash, thoughtless

  197 title legal claim

  199 will willfulness, wish

  199 cankered corrupt

  200 temperate calm

  201 beseems befits

  201 presence royal company

  201 cry aim shout encouragement (archery term) 202 ill-tuned harsh-sounding

  202 repetitions repeated accusations

  203 trumpet trumpeter

  205 admit grant, recognize

  206 warned summoned

  207 France, for England i.e. the French king on behalf of Arthur (who should be King of England) 211 gentle peaceful/noble

  211 parle negotiation

  213 advanced raised, displayed

  214 prospect view

  215 endamagement damage, detriment

  216 bowels entrails

  222 stones i.e. city walls

  223 waist belt

  224 ordinance artillery

  225 lime mortar

  226 dishabited dislodged

  227 bloody power violent, fierce troops

  229 much expedient very hasty

  230 countercheck rebuke/check to oppose (the course of something) 232 amazed stunned/overwhelmed

  232 vouchsafe permit

  233 bullets cannonballs