4 terms of matters relating to

5 policy devious cunning. The word had strongly negative connotations, which add emphasis to Grimaldi’s point that all’s fair in love.

7 Play… on both hands Act duplicitously

8–11 You… Married lineation ed. (prose in Q)

9 affied betrothed. A betrothal was the final stage before the formal solemnization of marriage, and was a legally binding contract.

12 Friar ed. (Fryars Q)

13 bestow spend

15 If… now You should act at once: there will never be a better opportunity

19 speed him kill him (literally, see him off on his journey)

22 hit succeed, ‘come off’ hug revenge i.e. having achieved it

25–7 lineation ed. (But… Philotis. / Vnkle. /My… bethought ’ee. /Yes … counsel’d Q)

31 call., shrift make him repent (‘his coz’ = Donado’s kinsman, i.e. Bergetto)

33 I – ha – yes, – so Richardetto mutters to himself as he turns things over in his mind. Most editors since Dodsley have interpreted Q’s ‘I’ as signifying ‘Ay’ rather than the personal pronoun, and have modernized accordingly; both are conceivable, but one cannot rationally decide between the two when the dialogue is calculatedly incoherent; I have accordingly opted to retain the Q reading. In performance, the two words sound the same anyway.

36 buss kiss

37 s.p. PHILOTIS Q. This is Philotis’ crucial line. Her previous remarks on the subject of her relationship with Bergetto (lines 27–8) suggest that she has accepted her impending marriage primarily in deference to Richardetto; now she speaks on her own account after having enjoyed the kiss. As an expression of emergent sexual feeling, it is matched by Bergetto’s response to their next kiss (see note on line 45 below); the effect is to humanize the relationship in preparation for the events of Ill.vii and IV.ii. Nonetheless, many previous editors have followed the nineteenth-century tradition of reassigning the line to either Richardetto (Gifford) or Poggio (Schmitz).

38–9 Withdraw…at large By ‘at large’, Richardetto may mean either ‘at length’ or ‘as a group’; either way, Bergetto will need to give his full attention, so he must ‘withdraw’ (stop kissing Philotis).

45 a monstrous swelling Bergetto is becoming sexually excited (‘stomach’ here means his abdomen).