s.d. Flourish i.e. of trumpets
7 grace … merit A specifically Protestant theological point – quite ironic coming from Bianca at this point, but the rhetorics of courtesy and religion are cynically deployed throughout the play.
10 perfect complete
15 seal Documents were sealed with wax and impressed with a coat of arms or other insignia.
19 rid get rid of
22–3 securely; / Then ed. (securely; then O)
27 transportations transports, raptures
29 we poor souls ed. (we, poor soul, O)
30 model outline, plan
32 argument plot summary
39 discovers reveals
40 event outcome
44 pays him brings an appropriate revenge on him
50 s.d. 1 HYMEN the god of marriage, traditionally represented in yellow robes
s.d. 1–2 GANYMEDE cupbearer to Zeus (Jove). The ‘stars’ indicate that Zeus stellified him.
s.d. 2–3 HEBE daughter of Zeus, once cupbearer to Zeus
58 s.d. The Yale copy of O has this manuscript annotation here: ‘To the Duke the wrong cup by mistake’.
59 stumbling more Mulryne identifies the source as William Fulke, A goodly gallerye … (1563): ‘Hebe, one which was Iupiter’s Cupbearer, on a tyme stombled at a starre, and shedde the wyne or mylke, that was in the cuppe, which colloured that part of heaven to this daye, wherfore she was pout out of her office’ (E6v); he has also found this myth in E.K.’s gloss on 1. 195 of the November Eclogue in Spenser’s Shepherd’s Calendar.
60 Via Lactea the Milky Way
64 parting take ed. (part O). A rhyme with ‘sake’ seems called for here.
65 argument The Duke comments throughout the scene on the discrepancies between the ‘argument’ (II. 32, 65) or ‘plot’ (I. 129) of the masque which he is reading and the action before him.
69 antemasque a brief, often comic, interlude before the masque proper; here, just Bianca’s cover story
70 perfect complete
72 s.d. 5 in parts sung separately, not in unison
73–4 goddess, / Thou ed. (Goddess, thou O)
75 Tiest ed. (Ty’st O)
75–6 her, / Thou ed. (her, thou O)
77 amazed perplexed, bewildered
77–8 affection; / I ed. (affection; I O)
79–80 rejection, / My ed. (rejection, my O)
83 springs where the nymphs live (cf. 1. 33)
89 one ed. (me O)
96 design designate, point out
98 s.d. Livia descends Livia is lowered from the canopy overhead (the ‘heavens’), a spectacular and highly popular stage effect utilized in many plays, including Jonson’s Masque of Hymenaei, where Juno is lowered, and in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, where ‘Jupiter descends in thunder and lightning, sitting upon an eagle’ (V.iv.92 s.d.).
101 keep true touch prove trustworthy (from the testing of gold or silver with a ‘touchstone’)
105 to compared to
114 savour ed. (favor O); the odour of the poisoned incense
117 s.d. This stage direction derives from a manuscript annotation in the Yale copy of O. The allusion is to Jove’s violation (‘his burning treasure’, 1. 118) of Danae as a shower of gold; Isabella, like Danae, is overcome by a ‘lapful’ (I. 122) of ‘too much prosperity’ (I. 121). Juno’s description in Jonson’s Masque of Hymenaei is similar: ‘Above her the region of fire, with a continual motion, was seen to whirl circularly’.
123 argument plot summary
125 fast i.e. secure, as planned
toll him hither entice him to the trap-door; ring his death-knell
127 s.d. This stage direction is speculative; clearly, something goes wrong with Guardiano’s plan, and he falls through his own trap. It may be that he himself stamps on the floor unwittingly, as most editions of the play suggest; or that he stamps on the floor when Hippolito is above the trap, nothing happens, and he goes to test the trap himself, with fatal consequences. I am following here G. B. Shand’s useful suggestion, also adopted by Loughrey and Taylor.
132 quitted me requited me, paid me back
138 peacock’s feathers Peacocks were sacred to Juno, according to Ovid.
141 spoiled destroyed
144 I worse because the poison’s pain is agonizing; because he also committed incest
152 event outcome
158 Like a set match as if by agreement
plagues ed. (plague O)
159 all together ed. (altogether O)
160 reach understand
161 springe trap, snare
164 property quality, tendency
168 s.d. Runs … dies This stage direction derives from a manuscript annotation in the Yak copy of O.
halbert not a sword, but a weapon with an axelike blade and a steel spike mounted on the end of a long shaft
168–9 lord, / H’as ed. (Lord, h’as O)
171 triumph pageant
172 Mask in wear a mask as
prodigious ill-omened
178 him refers to Guardiano
181 ignorantly unintentionally, unwittingly
182 present immediate
189–90 It was widely believed that as the moment of death approached, the body’s blood supply rushed to the heart, making it swell and seem (to the victim) about to burst.
205 blemished … soul Even the small amount of poison she has taken from the Duke’s lips (11. 195–6) has begun to eat into and deform her face, a suitable outward sign of the inner ‘leprous soul’.
209 ignorant deliberately unknowing
220 remove i.e. die