The Merry Wives of Windsor (35 page)

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Authors: William Shakespeare

BOOK: The Merry Wives of Windsor
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61
having
wealth, means

61
wild … Poins
i.e. Prince Henry and Poins, who appear in Shakespeare’s
Henry IV
plays

62
region
social standing

63
knit a knot
secure/repair

64
substance
wealth

64
simply
i.e. as she is, with no dowry

68
monster
i.e. Falstaff, imaged here as a so-called monster exhibited at a fair

72
anon
shortly

73
hearts
fine friends

74
canary
sweet wine from the Canary Islands (in Ford’s response, he plays on the sense of “lively dance”)

75
pipe wine
wine from the wooden cask (
pipe
puns on the sense of “musical instrument”)

76
make him dance
i.e. make him leap/beat him

76
gentles
gentlemen

77
Have with
we shall come

2
buck-basket
laundry basket (to
buck
is to wash)

6
charge
instructions

8
hard
close

8
brew-house
outhouse for brewing beer

11
whitsters
bleachers of clothing

11
Datchet Mead
meadow between Windsor Little Park and the River Thames

18
eyas-musket
young hawk that has not been fully trained

22
Jack-a-Lent
figure or puppet of a man traditionally pelted during Lent

25
liberty
i.e. unemployment

25
turn me away
sack me

33
humidity
dampness/collection of fluids (i.e. Falstaff)

33
pumpion
pumpkin

34
turtles from jays
turtledoves (proverbially faithful) from brightly colored birds (i.e. loose women)

35
Have … jewel?
a slightly adapted line from Philip Sidney’s sonnet sequence
Astrophil and Stella

36
period
goal/climax

39
cog
cheat/flatter

39
prate
prattle/brag

47
ship-tire
ornamental headdress shaped like or inspired by a ship

48
tire-valiant
elaborate headdress

48
Venetian admittance
accepted as fashionable in stylish Venice

49
kerchief
simple head covering

49
become
suit

52
absolute
perfect

52
firm … foot
confident tread

53
semi-circled farthingale
semicircular boned petticoat worn underneath the back of the dress

54
Fortune … friend
i.e. Nature has favored Mistress Ford with beauty but Fortune has prevented her from being a lady (Falstaff continues to imply that he could raise her estate)

60
hawthorn-buds
i.e. budding courtiers/affected young gallants

61
Bucklersbury
street in the City of London known for shops selling medicinal herbs

61
simple time
midsummer, when herbs (simples) were most readily available

66
Counter-gate
gate to the Counter, a debtor’s prison in Southwark

66
reek
smoke/foul smell

67
lime-kiln
kiln for making mortar

74
blowing
puffing

75
presently
immediately

76
ensconce me
hide myself

77
arras
large tapestry wall-hanging

81
undone
ruined

83
well-a-day
expression of regret

84
to
as

86
Out upon you!
expression of frustration and condemnation

97
clear
innocent/free from blame

98
friend
lover

99
amazed
stunned

100
good life
i.e. existence as a respectable woman/reputation

105
stand
waste time (saying)

107
conveyance
contrivance to get Falstaff out of the house

111
whiting-time
bleaching time

120
dissembling
deceptive

123
cowl
(tub or basket)

123
cowl-staff
pole used by two people to carry a

124
drumble
move sluggishly

131
what … do
what business is it of yours

132
You … buck-washing
a proper concern of yours is it to interfere with washing clothes

133
Buck
laundry, but Ford puns on the senses of “stag,” whose horns represent cuckoldry, and “lecherous man”

134
of the season
in the rutting season

136
tonight
i.e. last night

137
chambers
inner rooms/bedrooms

138
unkennel
drive out

139
uncape
uncover (or perhaps a printer’s error for “escape” or “uncase”)

140
contented
calm/satisfied

152
taking
agitated state

154
need of washing
i.e. as he may have urinated or defecated in fright

157
strain
nature

161
try
test

164
carrion
old bag/whore

170
compass
achieve/embrace

172
use
treat

179
presses
large cupboards

184
distemper … kind
bad temper/disordered mind of this sort

187
as … desires
as I could possibly wish for (unintentionally punning on the sense of “as I could desire sexually”)

196
a-birding
hunt small birds using a

197
hawk
to drive them into leafless bushes

203
remembrance … host
i.e. let us remember the revenge we have planned on the Host for the trick he played on us over the duel

2
turn
refer

4
be thyself
i.e. take matters into your own hands

6
state … expense
my estate being damaged by my spending

6
galled
made sore through chafing

8
bars
obstacles

9
riots
wasteful/dissipated lifestyle

9
societies
companionships

13
speed
prosper

17
stamps
coins (stamped with an image)

24
Break
interrupt

26
I’ll … on’t
i.e. I’ll do it one way or another (a
shaft
is a slender arrow used in a longbow, while a
bolt
is the shorter, thicker one used in a crossbow)

26
’Slid
by God’s eyelid (a common phrase)

26
but venturing
only a matter of having a go

27
dismayed
frightened; Slender’s reply suggests that he does not understand the word

33
ill-favoured
ugly

37
thou … father
i.e. remember that you had a valiant father/a father who once wooed a woman; Slender misunderstands this as a prompt for conversation with Anne

45
come … long-tail
come what may (literally, refers to a horse/dog with either a docked or a long tail)

48
jointure
marriage settlement provided for the wife by the husband in the event of his death

54
will
wish (Slender understands the legal sense of the term; there may also be a play on the sense of “sexual desire”)

55
’Od’s heartlings
by God’s dear heart

60
motions
urgings

61
happy … dole
i.e. may the man who gets you be happy with his lot

66
haunt
hang around

76
for that
because

78
Perforce
of necessity

78
checks
rebukes/obstacles

78
manners
means of behaving (to me)

79
advance the colours
raise the flag (as if toward an opposing army)

81
yond
yonder

84
set quick
buried alive (up to the neck)

89
affected
inclined

96
once
at some point

97
There’s
i.e. there’s money

103
sooth
truth

105
speciously
malapropism for “specially”

105
of
be on

3
quart
i.e. two pints

3
toast
piece of hot toast sometimes added to wine

4
barrow
barrow-load

8
slighted me
tipped me contemptuously

9
blind bitch’s puppies
the newborn, blind puppies of a bitch

11
down
sink

12
shore was shelvy
banks were sloping

15
mummy
dead flesh

19
reins
kidneys

21
cry you mercy
beg your pardon

24
pottle
drinking vessel containing half a gallon (equivalent to four pints)

26
Simple
plain/unmixed (with eggs) I
’ll
I’ll have

26
pullet-sperm
chicken seed (i.e. eggs)

31
ford
river water

33
take on with
rant at, berate

34
erection
malapropism for “direction” (i.e. instruction; Falstaff’s response brings in the architectural and phallic senses)

38
yearn
move to compassion

43
frailty
moral frailty (contrasted here with Falstaff’s supposed resolution in keeping his appointment with Mistress Ford)

48
miss
fail to meet

58
sped you
were you successful

59
ill-favouredly
poorly

60
determination
intention/decision

61
peaking cornuto
skulking/mean-spirited cuckold

62
’larum
alarm/agitation

63
comes me
comes (
me
is an intensifier)

64
protested
declared (love)

76
Rammed
perhaps, coming after
buck
, with a play on “ram” (male sheep, horned like the buck, and also associated with lust)

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