The Complete Plays (88 page)

2          
passport
: Permit allowing one to pass from life to death.

12–13  
O Thou… shades
: Cf. Exodus 13:21–2.

19.1  
SD
above
: I.e. on the balcony.

25        
wealth
: Days of prosperity.

winter's tales
: Fantastic tales.

31        
Now that
: Now would that.

39        
Bueno… no era
: Spanish, my gain was not good for everybody.

47–54   
O my girl… bliss
: Cf. the report of Shylock's passion over the loss of his gold and his daughter in
The Merchant of Venice
(2.8.15–22).

53        
practise thy enlargement
: Devise your freedom.

61        
for
: In place of.

64        
Hermoso… dineros
: Spanish, beautiful pleasure of money.

Scene
2

7          
Catholic king
: The King of Spain.

11        
Turkish
: Q's
Spanish
is clearly erroneous.

14        
luffed and tacked
: Del Bosco's ship outmanoeuvred the Turkish galleys by sailing against the wind (‘luffed') and zig-zagging (‘tacked'). Dyce's emendation makes nautical sense of Q's
left, and tooke
.

15        
fired
: Destroyed by fire.

23        
tributary league
: A truce requiring the payment of tribute.

27        
he
: The Turk.

31–2  
The Christian… here
: The Knights of St John were removed from Rhodes in 1522 by Süleyman the Magnificent, but later settled in Malta in 1530 by order of Charles V.

38        
them
: Q's
you
makes a threat of Del Bosco's reassurance.

Scene
3

6          
present money
: Ready cash.

16        
Ferneze's hand
: Perhaps Barabas has either a written assurance from Ferneze or one confirmed by a handshake.

18        
the tribe of Levi
: Marlowe is probably recalling Joshua 20–21, where the Lévites held jurisdication over the cities of refuge.

23        
Florence
: The home of Machiavelli.

25        
duck
: Bow.

26        
stall
: Shop benches used to display goods were often used by vagrants at night as places to sleep.

27   
be gathered for
: Have a collection taken for them.

33   
insinuate
: Ingratiate myself.

36–7  
show myself… dove
: I.e. be more cunning than innocent (taken from Matthew 10:16).

41        
his father too
: (Perhaps) Barabas wishes that Lodowick's future son will also become Governor.

42–3  
hog's cheek new singed
: I.e. Lodowick has just shaved.

45–7  
custom… purge ourselves
: Not a Jewish custom, but a parodie allusion to the anti-Semitic myth that Jews had a distinct smell (the
foetor Judaicus
).

48        
the promise
: God's promise (cf. 1.1.103–4n.).

53        
I'll sacrifice… wood
: This echoes Genesis 22, where Abraham is prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to God.

54        
poison of the city
: This is not convincingly explained.

55        
white leprosy
: White scales on the skin are a symptom of leprosy.

56        
a foil
: ‘A thin leaf of some metal placed under a precious stone to increase its brilliancy' (
OED
5).

57        
foiled
: I.e. set by a jeweller.

58        
foiled
: Defiled, dishonoured (punning on the previous line).

60        
pointed
: Referring to how the diamond was cut.

61        
Pointed
: Appointed (punning on the previous line).

it
: (i) The diamond, (ii) Abigail, (iii) Barabas's vengeance.

74        
in catechizing sort
: In the manner of the catechism.

84–5  
doing… fruit
: The
fruit
Barabas has in mind are the offspring of nuns' and friars' illicit sexual activity.

87        
glance not at
: Don't make slighting remarks about.

91        
have a saying to
: Have something to say to.

93        
no price… part
: (i) We won't quarrel over the price, (ii) you won't get out alive.

103      
new trick… purse
: New method of stealing a purse.

105–6  
So… the gallows
: If he is bought, he could steal the city's seal, and issue pardons for himself under it.

107–8  
The sessions… purged
: To thieves, the day of the trial is like the day of crisis in a disease – fatal for most of them.

being purged
: (Metaphorically) executed.

113–14  
philosopher's stone
: In alchemy, a stone that would turn base metals to gold.

116      
shaver
: (i) Chap, fellow, (ii) swindler, trickster.

118      
youth… Lady Vanity
: Two characters from the Morality-play tradition.

121      
colour
: Pretence.

125–6  
an't be
: If it be.

133      
for my turn
: For my purposes.

135      
mark
: Brand.

136      
mark
: Observe.

157      
comment on… Maccabees
: The two apocryphal books of Maccabees which recount the emancipation of the Jewish people from the Syrians in the second century
BC
. No Renaissance commentary on them is known.

167      
condition
: Status.

171      
teach thee that
: Q omits
thee
.

176      
your nose
: Barabas may have worn a large false nose.

179      
poison wells
: Jews were often caricatured as well-poisoners.

180–83  
cherish… my door
: I.e. Barabas lets Christian thieves steal from him for the pleasure of seeing them punished.

187      
in ure
: In practice.

190–91  
wars… Charles the Fifth
: Alluding to the conflict between Francis I of France and the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, which was initiated in 1519 and continued until 1558.

194      
forfeiting
: ‘Exacting a fine or forfeit because a borrower of money has been unable to fulfil his obligations' (Bawcutt 1978).

195      
brokery
: Financial broking; here, commercial malpractice is implied.

197      
And with… hospitals
: And supplied the almshouses with orphans.

198      
moon
: Month (the moon was thought to produce lunacy).

199      
one hang
: I.e. caused one to hang.

201      
with interest
: I.e. interest charged at usurious rates.

214      
a-good
: Heartily.

223      
walk in with me
: Barabas and Ithamore have arrived at Barabas's house in the course of their conversation.

231      
Philistine
: Biblical adversaries of the Jews.

239      
made sure
: Betrothed.

243  
factor's hand
: Agent's handwriting.

245      
The account is made
: I.e. settled, reckoned (with pun on the previous line).

251      
manna
: The food which fell upon the Jews from heaven (cf. Exodus 16).

272      
rouse
: Drive out (like an animal from hiding).

293      
hold my mind
: Conceal my thoughts and feelings.

299      
golden cross
: Gold coin stamped with a cross.

300      
Christian posies
: Pious maxims engraved onto contemporary coins and rings.

304      
offspring of Cain
: I.e. Lodowick is a wicked descendant of Cain, the first person to commit murder in the Old Testament.

Jebusite
: The tribe of Canaanites who were expelled from Jerusalem by King David in II Samuel 5.

305      
Passover
: The Jewish observance which celebrates the liberation of the Jews from Egypt in Exodus 12.

306      
Canaan
: The land promised to the Jews as part of their covenant with God in Genesis 17:8.

307      
Messias
: Messiah.

308      
gentle
: Punning on ‘gentile'. ‘Gentle' was also the common name for a maggot.

338      
made thee sure to
: Assured you of your engagement to.

365      
put her in
: Make her enter the house.

385      
spirit
: Demon, devil.

ACT 3

Scene
1

3          
ducats
: Venetian gold coins.

8          
liberal
: (i) Well-educated, (ii) generous.

16        
go hard
: See 1.3.27n

21        
hooks
: Gear used by thieves to snatch valuables from windows, or to scale walls.

28        
by her attire
: I.e. by the red taffeta dress commonly worn by prostitutes.

Scene
2

2.1   
SD
reading
: Lodowick is reading the challenge from Mathias delivered to him by Ithamore. This is inconsistent with 2.3.72–86 and 3.3.19–21.

5          
home
: Mortally.

7          
tall
: Brave (said sardonically).

18    
lively
: Life-giving.

34        
reveal
: Supplied to correct the absence of a verb in Q.

Scene
3

3          
held in hand
: Tricked.

flatly
: Completely.

10        
bottle-nosed
: Big-nosed.

to
: For.

20        
imprimis
: Latin, first of all (a comic misuse by Ithamore).

22–3  
And then… days
: The archaic-sounding couplet parodies the ending of an old ‘story'.

22        
and
: Omitted in Q.

31        
Saint Jacques
: I.e. the Dominican friars, who had their headquarters in the Church of St Jacques, Paris. Cf. 3.4.76n.

35        
feeling
: Earnest (punning on the idea of sexual groping).

Sport
: I.e. sexual intercourse.

37        
sirrah sauce
: Impudent (saucy) fellow.

43        
sire
: For Q's
sinne
.

53        
Virgo, salve!
: Latin, Greetings, maiden!

54        
When, duck you?
: Perhaps Ithamore expresses surprise at Abigall's reverence to the friar.

68        
Son
: Son of God, with a pun on ‘sun'.

74        
heavy
: Grievous.

Scene
4

6          
Spurcal
: Latin, filthy!

pretendeth
: Portends.

15        
self
: Q's
life
is probably a corruption from the previous line.

31        
within my gates
: Cf. Exodus 20:10, and Deuteronomy 14:21.

33        
Like Cain by Adam
: Barabas adapts Genesis 4   (where Cain was, in fact, cursed by God, and not Adam, for murdering his brother) to his own situation.

37        
'less
: Unless.

51        
hold
: Bet.

55        
husht
: Shush.

59–60  
the proverb… spoon
: Cf. Tilley S771.

65–6  
mess of rice porridge
: Recalls Genesis 25    in which Esau sells his birthright for a mess of pottage (mess = helping).

70        
an Italian
: The Elizabethans considered Italians accomplished poisoners.

71        
bind
: Cause constipation.