[If it were damnable, he being so wise,
Why would he for the momentary trick
Be perdurably fin'd?]
Shakespeare shows his knowledge of human nature in the conduct of
Claudio. When Isabella first tells him of Angelo's proposal, he
answers, with honest indignation, agreeably to his settled principles,
_Thou shalt not do't._
But the love of life being permitted to operate, soon furnishes
him with sophistical arguments, he believes it cannot be very
dangerous to the soul, since Angelo, who is so wise, will venture
it.
III.i.121 (71,8) [delighted spirit] This reading may perhaps stand,
but many attempts have been made to correct it. The most plausible
is that which substitutes,
--_the_ benighted _spirit_,
alluding to the darkness always supposed in the place of future
punishment.
Perhaps we may read,
--_the_ delinquent _spirit_,
a word easily changed to _delighted_ by a bad copier, or unskilful
reader. _Delinquent_ is proposed by Thirlby in his manuscript.(1773)
III.i.127 (72,9) [lawless and incertain thoughts] Conjecture sent
out to wander without any certain direction, and ranging through
all possibilities of pain.
III.i.139 (73,2) [Is't not a kind of incest, to take life From thine
own sister's shame?] In Isabella's declamation there is something
harsh, and something forced and far-fetched. But her indignation
cannot be thought violent, when we consider her not only as a virgin,
but as a nun.
III.i.149 (74,4) [but a trade] A custom; a practice, an established
habit. So we say of a man much addicted to any thing, _he makes_
a trade _of it_.
III.i.176 (75,6) [Hold you there] Continue in that resolution.
III.i.255 (77,l) [only refer yourself to this advantage] This is
scarcely to be reconciled to any established mode of speech. We
may read, _only_ reserve yourself to, or _only_ reserve to _yourself
this advantage_.
III.i.266 (77,2) [the corrupt deputy scaled] _To scale the deputy_ may
_be, to reach him, notwithstanding the elevation of his place_; or
it may be, _to strip him and discover his nakedness, though armed
and concealed by the investments of authority_.
III.ii.6 (78,4) [since, of two usuries] Sir Thomas Hammer corrected
this with less pomp [than Warburton], then _since of two_ usurers
_the merriest was put down, and the worser allowed, by order of
law, a furr'd gown_, &c. His punctuation is right, but the alteration,
small as it is, appears more than was wanted. Usury may
be need by an easy licence for the _professors of usury_.
III.ii.14 (79,5) [father] This word should be expunged.
III.ii.40 (80,7) [That we were all, as some would seem to be,
Free from all faults, as faults from seeming free!]
Sir T. Hammer reads,
_Free from all faults, as from faults seeming free_.
In the interpretation of Dr. Warburton, the sense is trifling,
and the expression harsh. To wish _that men were as free from
faults, as faults are free from comeliness_ [instead of _void of
comeliness_] is a very poor conceit. I once thought it should be
read,
_O that all were, as all would seem to be.
Free from all faults_, or _from_ false seeming _free_.
So in this play,
_O place, 0 power--how dost thou
Wrench awe from fools, and tie the wiser souls
To thy_ false seeming.
But now I believe that a less alteration will serve the turn.
_Free from all faults_, or _faults from seeming free;
that men were really good, or that their faults were known_, that
men were free from faults, _or_ faults from _hypocrisy_. So Isabella
calls Angelo's hypocrisy, _seeming, seeming_.
III.ii.42 (81,8) [His neck will come to your waist] That is, his
neck will be tied, like your waist, with a rope. The friars of
the Franciscan order, perhaps of all others, wear a hempen cord
for a girdle. Thus Buchanan,
_Fac gemant suis,
Variata terga funibus_.
III.ii.51 (81,1) [what say'st thou to this tune, matter and method?
Is't not drown'd i' the last rain?] [W: It's not down i' the
last reign] Dr. Warburton's emendation is ingenious, but I know
not whether the sense may not be restored with less change. Let
us consider it. Lucio, a prating fop, meets his old friend
going to prison, and pours out upon him his impertinent interrogatories,
to which, when the poor fellow makes no answer, he
adds, _What reply? ha? what say'st thou to this? tune, matter,
and method,--is't not? drown'd i' th' last rain? ha? what say'st
thou, trot_? &c. It is a common phrase used in low raillery of a
man crest-fallen and dejected, that _he looks like a drown'd
puppy_, Lucio, therefore, asks him, whether he was _drowned in
the last rain_, and therefore cannot speak.
III.ii.52 (82,2) [what say'st thou, trot?] _Trot_, or as it is now
often pronounced, honest _trout_, is a familiar address to a man
among the provincial vulgar. (1773)
III.ii.54 (82,3) [Which is the way?] _What is the_ mode _now_?
III.ii.59 (82,4) [in the tub] The method of cure for veneral complaints
is grosly celled the _powdering tub_.
III.ii.89 (83,6) [Go--to kennel, Pompey--go] It should be remembered,
that Pompey is the common name of a dog, to which allusion
is made in the mention of a _kennel_. (1773)
III.ii.135 (85,9) [clack-dish] The beggars, two or three centuries
ago, used to proclaim their wont by a wooden dish with a moveable
cover, which they clacked to shew that their vessel was empty.
This appears in a passage quoted on another occasion by Dr. Gray,
(see 1765, I,331,9 and the note in the 1765 Appendix)
III.ii.144 (86,1) [The greater file of the subject] The larger list,
the greater number.
III.ii.193 (87,5) [He's now past it] Sir Thomas Hammer, _He is not
past it yet_. This emendation was received in the former edition,
but seems not necessary. It were to be wished, that we all explained
more, and amended less. (see 1765, I,333,5)