King Lear

¹⁴three-suited servingmen were permitted to have three outfits a year

¹⁴hundred-pound far more than a servingman’s income; possibly a contemptuous reference to those who bought knighthoods from James I for £100

¹⁵worsted-stocking i.e. servant/unable to afford silk stockings (worsted is a woollen fabric)

¹⁵lily-livered cowardly, with a bloodless liver (the organ thought to be the seat of strong emotions)

¹⁵action-taking litigious

¹⁶whoreson bastard

¹⁶glass mirror

¹⁶glass-gazing vain

¹⁶super-serviceable ready to do any kind of service

¹⁶finical fussy

¹⁷one-trunk-inheriting owner (or heir to) no more than would fit in a single trunk

¹⁷bawd pimp

¹⁸service plays on the sense of “sex”

¹⁸composition combination

¹⁹pander go-between/pimp

²¹addition attributes/title/mark of honor added to a coat of arms (ironic)

²²rail rant, heap abuse

²⁴varlet rogue

²⁶Draw draw your sword

²⁷sop o’th’moonshine i.e. beat you to a pulp (so that you resemble either a soggy piece of bread lying under the moon’s light, or the blancmange pudding called moonshine)

²⁸cullionly rascally

²⁸barber-monger frequenter of barbers (i.e. vain fop)

³¹vanity the puppet i.e. Goneril, imagined as a puppet (or dressed-up woman) who is the personification of vanity

³²carbonado slash diagonally, like meat prepared for broiling or grilling

³³come your ways come on then

³⁵neat trim, foppish

³⁹With you i.e. I’ll fight with you

³⁹Goodman a man below the rank of gentleman

³⁹Goodman boy a contemptuous and belittling form of address (used to Edmund)

⁴⁰flesh ye initiate you (into fighting; from the practice of feeding dogs bits of freshly killed meat in order to excite them for prey)

⁴⁵difference argument

⁴⁷bestirred your valour worked up your courage (ironic)

⁴⁸disclaims in disowns

⁴⁸tailor made thee i.e. his only worth lies in his fancy clothes

⁵¹ill badly

⁵⁵suit … beard his own request, because his old age required it

⁵⁶zed … letter “z” was regarded as unnecessary because “s” could be used instead and there was no “z” in the Latin alphabet

⁵⁷unbolted unsifted (plays on the sense of “unmanly/impotent”—a “bolt” was a term for the penis)

⁵⁸jakes privy, toilet

⁵⁹wagtail tail-wagger, obsequious person/womanizer

⁶¹beastly brutish

⁶²a privilege license to express itself

⁶⁵honesty honor, integrity

⁶⁶holy cords sacred bonds (family or matrimonial ties)

⁶⁶a-twain in two

⁶⁷too intrinse t’unloose too intertwined to be disentangled

⁶⁷smooth flatter, indulge

⁶⁸rebel i.e. against reason

⁶⁹Being … fire i.e. feed the fire of their masters’ passions

⁷⁰halcyon beaks the kingfisher (halcyon) was thought to act as a weather vane if dried and hung up

⁷¹gall irritation

⁷¹vary change

⁷³epileptic visage seeing Oswald smiling away his insults, Kent compares his expression to that of an epileptic, grimacing involuntarily

⁷⁴my at my

⁷⁴as as if

⁷⁵Goose proverbially stupid bird; cackling suggests that Oswald may be laughing

⁷⁵if … Camelot i.e. if I had you at my mercy, I’d send you running home in fright; the exact nature of this reference is unclear, though, as Camelot was sometimes identified with Winchester, some suspect a jibe about a “Winchester goose” (i.e. a prostitute/venereal disease)

⁷⁵Sarum Salisbury, in Wiltshire

⁷⁶Camelot legendary city that was home to King Arthur

⁸²likes pleases

⁸⁴occupation habit, business

⁹⁰saucy insolent

⁹⁰constrains … nature forces the style (of speaking) away from its true purpose

⁹³An if

⁹³so so be it

⁹³plain honest (his excuse for his rudeness)

⁹⁵craft cunning

⁹⁵corrupter corrupt

⁹⁶ducking observants bowing attendants

⁹⁷stretch … nicely strain to perform their duties to the last detail

⁹⁸verity truth

⁹⁹th’allowance the approval

⁹⁹aspect face/planetary position (in comparing Cornwall to a powerful planet, Kent mocks a courtier’s flattery)

¹⁰⁰influence astrological influence

¹⁰¹Phoebus the Greek and Roman sun god

¹⁰¹front forehead

¹⁰³dialect usual manner of speaking

¹⁰⁴beguiled deceived

¹⁰⁶though … to’t even if I should incur your displeasure by refusing (to be a knave) when asked

¹¹⁰misconstruction misinterpretation

¹¹¹compact colluding (with the king)

¹¹²being and I being

¹¹³deal of man great show of manliness

¹¹⁴worthied him earned him honor/made him a hero