Titus Andronicus & Timon of Athens (50 page)

340
bid
invited

341
wont
accustomed

342
challengèd
accused

349
becomes
is fitting

353
re-edified
rebuilt, restored

354
servitors
servants/soldiers

359
bretheren
brothers

360
TITUS’ TWO SONS
i.e. Quintus and Martius, though the theater audience never hears their names

362
vouch
maintain, assert

363
in my despite
in contemptuous disregard of me/as an act of malice toward me

366
crest
helmet (perhaps, anachronistically, with heraldic connotations)

368
repute
consider

374
speed
succeed/be satisfied

377
Suffer
allow

381
The … funerals
the Greek warrior Ajax, in a frenzy of rage because the dead Achilles’ armor had been awarded to Odysseus rather than himself, killed a flock of sheep in the maddened belief that they were Greek generals; he committed suicide in shame, but received a proper burial after Odysseus (
Laertes’ son
) persuaded the Greeks that he deserved one

381
advice
deliberation

387
dismall’st
most ominous

391
trophies
memorials to a military victory

394
dumps
melancholy mood, dejection

395
subtle
cunning, wily

397
is
is so

398
device
scheming

399
beholding
beholden, indebted

402
played your prize
won your bout (fencing term)

407
rape
seizure (of Lavinia)

411
that
that which

412
’Tis good
very well

413
sharp
curt, short, dismissive (but with sinister play on the sense of “violent”)

415
Answer
be answerable for (it)

419
opinion
reputation

423
controlled
checked, thwarted

423
frankly
freely, unconditionally

427
leave to plead
i.e. leave off pleading on behalf of

428
those
i.e. Titus’ sons and brother

433
indifferently
impartially

436
put it up
submit to it

437
forfend
forbid

438
author to dishonour
responsible for dishonoring

439
undertake
vouch

441
fury … griefs
genuine fury attests to the truth of his grief

443
vain suppose
needless supposition

446
Dissemble
disguise

449
survey
consideration, examination

452
at entreats
to entreaty

452
let me alone
leave it to me

454
raze
erase, obliterate

456
suèd
pleaded

460
Take up
bid to rise

465
incorporate in
formally admitted to by legal procedure/part of the body of

466
happily
fortunately, opportunely

471
For
as for

479
Tend’ring
while having regard for

480
protest
declare, affirm

488
churl
ungenerous person

489
friend
(generous) patron/lover

493
love-day
day for amicable reconciliation/day for lovemaking

494
an
if

495
hart
male deer

496
bonjour
“good day” (French)

497
gramercy
“great thanks” (from the French
grand merci
)

Act 2 Scene 1

1
Olympus
the mountain home of the Greek gods

3
of
from

6
gilt
covered with gold, i.e. shone over

7
Gallops
gallops through

7
glistering
glittering

8
overlooks
looks down on

10
wit
intelligence/ingenuity; it also has sexual connotations of “genitals” in certain contexts

14
mount her pitch
rise to the highest point of her flight (falconry term;
mount
has sexual connotations)

14
in triumph
as a victorious conqueror (who would return to Rome leading his chained prisoners behind his chariot)

16
charming
spell-casting

17
Prometheus … Caucasus
in punishment for stealing fire from the gods, Prometheus was chained to a rock in the Caucasus mountains where he had his liver perpetually gnawed by an eagle

18
weeds
garments

18
idle
worthless/weary

21
wanton
frolic lasciviously

21
queen
puns on “quean” (i.e. prostitute)

22
Semiramis
Assyrian queen famed for beauty, cruelty, and lust

23
siren
bewitching creature (part-woman, part-bird, though often confused with the mermaid); her enchanting singing lured sailors to shipwreck

23
braving
challenging one another, behaving with bravado

26
want
lack

26
edge
sharpness; there seems to be a sexual play around “
wit
” here

27
graced
favored

28
aught
anything

28
affected
loved

29
overween
presume

30
bear me down
subdue me

30
braves
bravado, boasts

34
serve
plays on the sense of “have sex”

35
approve
prove

37
Clubs, clubs!
rallying cry to summon apprentices armed with clubs to suppress a riot

38
unadvised
ill-advisedly

39
dancing-rapier
sword worn only for ornament when dancing

40
friends
relatives

41
Go to
expression of impatient dismissal

41
lath
stage sword made of wood

45
brave
defiant, insolent

47
near … draw
in Elizabethan England, it was illegal to draw weapons near a royal residence

49
wot
know

54
put up
sheathe your swords

64
brabble
brawl, quarrel

64
undo
ruin

66
jet
encroach

67
loose
unchaste, promiscuous

70
controlment
restraint

72
ground
basis (puns on the musical sense of “base melody, on which variations are developed”)

73
knew she
if she knew

75
meaner
humbler, lower-ranking

79
brook
tolerate

81
device
scheme, intention

82
deaths
perhaps plays on secondary meaning of death as “sexual orgasm”

82
propose
be ready to meet

85
mak’st … strange
do you find it so odd

91
shive
slice

93
Vulcan’s badge
i.e. the cuckold’s horns traditionally supposed to be worn by a man with an unfaithful wife (Vulcan’s wife Venus slept with Mars)

95
court it
play the courtier/woo

97
struck … nose
killed a deer and smuggled it away without the gamekeeper noticing (
struck a doe
plays on the sense of “had sex with a woman or whore”;
doe
female fallow deer)

99
snatch
seizure of the prey/hasty sexual act (the modern “quickie”)

100
serve your turns
serve your purposes/render sexual service (Chiron plays on this sense in his reply)

102
hit it
hit the point exactly/shot the prey (in his reply, Aaron shifts the sense to “penetrated the vagina”)

104
ado
fuss/copulating

106
square for
quarrel over

109
so
provided that

110
join … jar
join forces to obtain what you quarrel over

111
policy
cunning/strategy

112
affect
aim at

113
as … may
achieve in the way you would like you must accomplish any way you can

115
Lucrece
virtuous Roman wife who killed herself after being raped by Tarquin

117
ling’ring languishment
protracted love-sorrow

119
solemn
ceremonial

120
troop
gather, assemble

122
plots
spots (perhaps suggestive of the sense of “schemes”)

123
kind
nature

124
Single
select, isolate (an animal from the herd)

124
dainty
choice/pleasing to the palate/delicately pretty

125
strike her home
fatally wound the deer/penetrate the vaginal target

126
stand
perhaps with connotations of penile erection

127
sacred
devoted (to villainy)/ accursed

130
file our engines
sharpen our stratagems

131
square yourselves
thwart yourselves with quarreling

133
house of Fame
house of whispering, gossip, and rumor (described in Ovid’s
Metamorphoses
and Chaucer’s
House of Fame
)

135
dreadful
inspiring awe and fear

136
strike
take action/attack/penetrate sexually

136
turns
plays on the sense of “sexual acts”

138
treasury
with the slang sense of “vagina”

140
Sit … nefas
“be it right or wrong” (Latin)

142
Per … vehor
“I am carried through the Stygian regions, through the realm of the shades”—i.e. “I am in hell” (Latin, adapted from Seneca’s
Hippolytus
)

Act 2 Scene 2

2.2
Location: Rome
(
outside the emperor’s palace
)
. Hitherto, the style of the play has been mainly that of Peele; henceforth, it is mainly that of Shakespeare

1
up
afoot

3
Uncouple
release the hounds (who were fastened in couples)

3
bay
deep prolonged barking of hunting hounds

5
hunter’s peal
horn-blowing to rouse the hounds

7
charge
responsibility

7
Wind
blow a blast on

14
lustily
heartily

16
how
what

23
chase
royal hunting grounds

24
promontory
mountain ridge

Act 2 Scene 3

2.3
Location: a forest near Rome

3
inherit
possess

5
coin
create (literally, stamp metal to form a coin)

6
beget
conceive, create

9
alms … chest
i.e. this gold from Tamora’s treasury

10
wherefore
why

11
boast
show

21
conflict
sex

22
wand’ring … Dido
while on his sea-wanderings after the fall of Troy, Aeneas landed in Carthage and fell in love with Queen Dido; when out hunting they were caught in a storm and took refuge in a
cave
where they made love (celebrated in Virgil’s
Aeneid
)