Use these links to go
- 6 -
CHAPTER ONE
THE EARLY COMEDIES (I)
The Taming of the Shrew, The Two Gentlemen of Verona
and Love's Labour's Lost
Shakespeare, in his Early Comedies, made considerable use of music, song and dance to achieve specific dramatic effects. His earliest comedy, The Comedy of Errors, is exceptional in this respect, being almost devoid of music. I can offer no satisfactory explanation for this, particularly in view of the fact that his next comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, clearly establishes for us his early interest in music and his awareness of its dramatic potential. 1.1 Music plays an important part in the presentation of many themes in this play: the love relationship and marriage, the conflict between appearance and reality, the importance of acquiring experience and education, the existence of a divine order and its necessity in achieving 'peace ... and love, and a quiet life' (V.ii.109) 1.2 - all are enhanced by music. Long's remark is therefore surprising: 'there is a half-hearted, casual quality about Shakespeare's treatment of music in The Shrew which suggests a degree of haste or lack of interest'. 1.3 He goes on to suggest that perhaps Shakespeare found music and farce 'uncongenial', but this idea finds little support in the play, in which Shakespeare successfully combines music and farce in at least two scenes - those concerning music lessons (II.i and III.i).
This is the only play by Shakespeare to have an induction, and Morris has pointed out its close relationship with the main play 'in matters of theme, tone and proleptic irony'. 1.4 Thus it is not surprising, in view of the importance of music in this play, to find music appearing several times in the induction. The stage directions grace two entrances with music, the first being 'Wind hornes' (18) at the entrance of the Lord. Naylor finds stage directions requiring horns 'very rare ... seven times in only four plays', 1.5 and then proceeds to quote from instances in five plays, while ignoring a sixth, the important use of horns in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Horns are traditionally associated with hunting, 1.6 and their use here is similar to their use in A Midsummer Night's Dream. They give dignity to a nobleman's entry as well as, by association of ideas, creating the atmosphere of a hunt. The idea of hunting is continued in the discussion of dogs which follows, and it is mentioned again in the second scene of the induction as part of Sly's deception:
Dost thou love hawking? Thou hast hawks will soar
Above the morning lark. Or wilt thou hunt?
Thy hounds shall make the welkin answer them
- 7 -
And fetch shrill echoes from the hollow earth.
(Ind.ii.44-48)
Once again the sounds of the hunt are used to create atmosphere. Both this passage and the earlier one with its mention of the 'deep-mouth'd brach' (Ind.i.16) anticipate the discussion of the calls of hounds, 'so musical a discord' (Dream, IV.i.117), in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare has taken great care to emphasise hunting in the induction, furthering his dramatic purpose with the music of horns and the mention of the sounds of hunting dogs. Hunting and falconry are closely associated sports and so the atmosphere of the induction effectively prepares the way for Petruchio's method of taming Katherina, which he likens to a falconer's taming of a bird:
My falcon now is sharp and passing empty,
And till she stoop she must not be full-gorg'd
For then she never looks upon her lure.
Another way I have to man my haggard,
To make her come and know her keeper's call,
That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites
That bate and beat and will not be obedient.
(IV.i.177-183)
Petruchio tackles his task of taming Katherina with all the enthusiasm and enjoyment of the noble huntsman in the induction. He is well aware of her good qualities and meets the challenge of taming her as the hunter does the prospect of outwitting his prey.
The second stage direction requiring music in the induction is 'Sound trumpets' (78), to herald the entrance of the players. The Lord expects this to announce 'some noble gentleman' (Ind.i.73), such fanfares normally being reserved for important people. There is a slight feeling of anticlimax when the servant announces that it is only the players, but Shakespeare has made his point. The players are important, being the principal vehicle for forwarding the theme of appearance and reality. This is first introduced when the Lord decides to play his trick on Sly, who will see everything 'even as a flatt'ring dream or worthless fancy' (Ind.i.42). To forward his jest the Lord orders music:
Procure me music ready when he wakes,
To make a dulcet and a heavenly sound.
(Ind.i.48)-49)
This is called for in the second scene:
- 8 -
Wilt thou have music? Hark, Apollo plays,
And twenty caged nightingales do sing.
(Ind.ii.36-37)
The music would probably be a courtly dance played by a consort of musicians which Sly could never have afforded in his own home. If he is to believe his sense of hearing, he must think himself a lord. In fact, attempts are made to beguile all his senses: he smells 'sweet savours' (Ind.ii.72); he is offered sack to drink and conserves to eat; and he is invited to
... a couch
Softer and sweeter than the lustful bed
On purpose trimm'd up for Semiramis.
(Ind.ii.38-40)
Finally, he may cast his eye on a gallery of beautiful paintings. Amongst these appeals to the senses the use of actual music (rather than merely a reference to it) is important in conveying to the audience the effectiveness of the Lord's tactics.
To confuse Sly further, classical allusions abound. When music plays Apollo is mentioned, and an educated noble would have grasped the significance of this, Apollo being the god of music as well as a skilled musician. 1.7 After Apollo come Semiramis, Adonis, Cytherea, Io, Daphne and, finally, Apollo yet again. Sly would recognise few of these names, and only vaguely grasp the significance of others. Naturally the Lord's trick succeeds, and the confusion between appearance and reality is established.
This theme is important in a comparison of Bianca and Katherina. To her suitors Bianca appears totally desirable: modest, quiet, and the epitome of 'maid's mild behaviour and sobriety' (I.i.71), while the shrewish Katherina is quite the reverse. By the end of the play, however, it is Katherina who appears in the more favourable light. Petruchio remarks, 'We three are married, but you two are sped' (V.ii.186), which does not come as a surprise, there having been many earlier hints regarding Bianca's true nature. One of these concerns her attitude to learning in general and music in particular. Music was one of the arts to be included in a good education, which is why Tranio recommends it as part of Lucentio's studies, and Baptista intends it as part of Bianca's education:
And for I know she taketh most delight
In music, instruments, and poetry,
Schoolmasters will I keep within my house
Fit to instruct her youth.
(I.i.92-95)
- 9 -
The spoilt and pouting Bianca has professed her love of learning:
Sister, content you in my discontent.
Sir, to your pleasure humbly I subscribe.
My books and instruments shall be my company,
On them to look and practise by myself.
(I.i.80-84)
To what extent she is sincere is seen when the disguised Lucentio and Hortensio teach her. As Morris notes, 'the formal lessons we hear of or witness are parodies of instruction'. 1.8 Bianca, if she had any real love of learning, would have revealed the identities of her tutors to her father, instead of which she is amorous and plays them off against each other. Lucentio is thoroughly taken in by her, but Hortensio, guided by Tranio, sees through her, eventually renouncing her as a 'proud disdainful haggard' (IV.ii.39). The audience would realise that if Bianca can be deceitful towards her father as well as frivolous with her lovers, she has the potential of being just as much a shrew to her husband as Katherina is expected to be to hers.
Music, apart from being one means of revealing Bianca's character in this scene with her tutors, fulfils another important dramatic function: it is the basis for much clever word play, always appealing to an Elizabethan audience. There is play on 'tune':
Bian.
Take you your instrument, play you the whiles;
His lecture will be done ere you have tun'd.
Hor.
You'll leave his lecture when I am in tune?
Luc.
That will be never. Tune your instrument.
(III.i.22-25)
and the inevitable pun on 'bass':
Hor.
Madam, 'tis now in tune.
Luc.
All but the bass.
Hor.
The bass is right, 'tis the base knave that jars.
(III.i.44-45)
There had been a similar play on 'frets' earlier, when Hortensio reported his treatment at the hands of Katherina:
I did but tell her she mistook her frets,
And bow'd her hand to teach her fingering,
When, with a most impatient devilish spirit,
'Frets, call you these?' quoth she, 'I'll fume with them.'
And with that she struck me on the head ....
(II.i.149-153)
- 10 -
Music here is performing the same double function as it does in Bianca's later scene: it assists in revealing character, in this case Katherina's shrewishness, and is the means of providing comedy.
The musical comedy continues when Hortensio is to begin his lesson. He dismisses Lucentio because his 'lessons make no music in three parts' (III.i.58), and the parts he refers to are not only musical. They could be 'private parts' as well, in which case he does not need Lucentio's. Lucentio is quite correct when he says, 'Our fine musician groweth amorous' (III.i.61), thus directing the audience's attention to the double meanings in Hortensio's next lines:
Madam, before you touch the instrument
To learn the order of my fingering,
I must begin with rudiments of art,
To teach you gamut in a briefer sort,
More pleasant, pithy, and effectual,
Than hath been taught by any of my trade.
(III.i.62-67)
The 'instrument' here, apart from being the lute, is any organ of the body, obviously sexual in this context. 1.9 'Fingering' then takes on an obvious bawdy second meaning, and 'rudiments' is a humorous play on 'rude' in the sense of 'impolite' or 'uncouth'. There is a musical play in 'briefer', as 'brief' was another name for the breve, a note in musical notation. 1.10
The two scenes with Hortensio, just discussed, reveal Shakespeare's knowledge of both instruments and music. The lute was very difficult to tune, having, in Shakespeare's time, up to eleven strings, 1.11 and spitting in the tuning-peg holes, as suggested by Lucentio (III.i.39), would make any slipping pegs stick. The frets of the lute are referred to as well as the existence of methods of fingering (II.i.150; III.i.63). Shakespeare's knowledge of the more technical aspects of music is shown in 'the gamut of Hortensio' (III.i.70-76) and the comic lines of Petruchio when he makes Grumio 'sing' by wringing his ears:
Faith, sirrah, and you'll not knock, I'll ring it.
I'll try how you can solfa and sing it.
(I.ii.16-17)
'Solfa' and 'gamut', by Shakespeare's time, could mean the same thing, although the gamut was originally devised by Guido d'Arezzo in the eleventh century, and it is this gamut which Hortensio uses. 1.12 There are at least two indications in Hortensio's lesson that Shakespeare understood the gamut, both of them concerning puns on the names of the notes. 1.13 The first note is
- 11 -
'Gamut I am, the ground of all accord' (III.i.71). The gamut in this case is the lowest note of the hexachord system, and was thus considered the basis of harmony. Being the lowest note, or bass, it was also called the ground, and thus Hortensio is proposing that he is the 'gamut' or basis of Bianca's happiness. Shakespeare's understanding of the gamut is also evident in the fifth note, 'D sol re, one clef, two notes have I' (III.i.75). As Naylor explains, the 'clef' refers to the bass clef of our modern notation, the lowest line of which is the note G. 1.14 The 'two notes' refer to the other names for the note D, 'sol' and 're'. In the G hexachord it has the name 'sol', while in the C hexachord it has the name 're'. This can be clearly seen in the diagram of the hexachords in the Sternhold Psalter (1564). 1.15 The importance of this in the context of the play is that Hortensio, like the note D, may appear in two guises, as himself and as a music teacher. Thus the music lesson, itself a parody of a real lesson, contains in its use of music yet another reminder of the dual nature of all things, emphasising the difference between appearance and reality.
The 'D sol re' line also has another meaning, this one bawdy. Morris refers to a passage in Troilus and Cressida: 1.16
Troil.
Yea, so familiar?
Ulyss.
She will sing any man at first sight.
Thurs.
And any man may sing her, if he can take her clef: she's noted.
(V.ii.8-10)
The humour here depends on the similarity of the words 'clef' and 'cleft', the latter being 'the parting of the thighs'. 1.17 The sexual implications are obvious, and are equally well suited to Hortensio's gamut, the 'clef' referring to Bianca. The pun applies also to the Folio spelling, 'Cliffe' (1370), as there is an alternative spelling of 'cleft' as 'clift'. 1.18 Shakespeare was no doubt aware of every nuance of this pregnant line, and it is likely that the A, B, C and E of the gamut were equally well loaded with meaning, but they are less obvious to modern readers. Most attempts to explain them are based on unlikely speculations, such as Naylor's:
A-re, I suppose, represent the lover's sigh 'to plead his passion.' B-mi, may be twisted into 'Be mine,' by the light of the remaining words in the line .... 1.19
A major concern of Shakespeare's in this play was to contrast the real
- 12 -
love which finally developed between Petruchio and Katherina and the superficial love of Bianca and Lucentio, this being presented in conjunction with the appearances and reality theme. Petruchio's outlandish and extravagant behaviour and Katherina's shrewishness are not what they seem, and much of Petruchio's behaviour may be explained if it is viewed as a lesson to Katherina. 1.20 When he arrives at his wedding in his 'unreverent robes' (III.ii.110) Tranio remarks, 'He hath some meaning in his mad attire' (III.ii.122). Petruchio had already hinted at his meaning earlier: 'To me she's married, not unto my clothes' (III.ii.115). By showing Katherina the effect of disregarding social conventions, he is also showing her the need for them. His wedding, by his own design, was to be a travesty, and one of the devices Shakespeare used to highlight the ridiculous in the wedding was music. The entry of Petruchio in his peculiar clothing is prepared for by the clowning of Biondello, who climaxes his punning with what is probably part of an old ballad: 1.21
Nay, by Saint Jamy,
I hold you a penny,
A horse and a man
Is more than one,
And yet not many.
(III.ii.79-83)
Although there is no direction for this to be sung, singing would be most effective: instead of the grand flourish expected at the arrival of the bridegroom, there would be only a capricious snatch of song, the words of which are an affirmation of Biondello's earlier statement, 'I say his horse comes, with him on his back' (III.ii.77). The song, however, makes the horse, miserable specimen as it is, more important than the rider, thus emphasising that Petruchio is playing an inferior role. To highlight this, neither his dress nor his behaviour confirms with socially acceptable standards. Furthermore, 'Saint Jamy' probably refers to a figure revered in the Middle Ages, St James of Compostella, here ironically contrasted with the irreverent Petruchio. 1.22
A similar device is used later in this scene, where Petruchio's entrance is prepared for by Gremio, with his colourful account of the wedding ceremony. As he concludes his story the sound of minstrels is heard and Petruchio enters with the wedding party. On this occasion the music is not ironic, being part of the wedding celebrations which frequently included music, singing and dancing. Irony is soon apparent, however: Katherina is not allowed to attend the only part of her wedding festivities that bears any semblance of normality. In a fine instance of comic irony, she
- 13 -
is carried off by Petruchio, much against her will, in a manner reminiscent of a knight rescuing his damsel in distress.
The scene changes to Petruchio's house in the country for the wedding night, and for the third time Shakespeare prepares for Petruchio's appearance by giving an account of his actions just prior to his entrance. Here it is Grumio who tells of the dreadful journey they have just made. Music is used to provide some of the humour in the passage, in one instance by the twisting of the lines of an old catch, 'Scotland's burning':
Fire, fire! Fire, fire!
Cast on water! Cast on water! 1.23
The freezing Grumio transforms these lines to: 'O ay, Curtis, ay - and therefore fire, fire, cast on no water' (IV.i.16). Later he mentions another catch, 'Jack, boy, ho, boy!' (IV.i.36), which, although not sung, would be familiar to an Elizabethan audience. Naylor dates it as early in the sixteenth century, and gives the following version: 1.24
Jack, boy, ho! boy, news;
The cat is in the well,
Let us ring now for her knell,
Ding, dong, ding, dong, bell.
The catch is mentioned by Grumio as his initial reply to Curtis' request for news of his master and mistress. Its significance, which apparently escapes Curtis, is that Petruchio has caught his cat (that is, Kate 1.25), and Grumio anticipates the transformation 'from a wild Kate to a Kate | Conformable as other household Kates' (II.i.271-272), hence the third line, 'Let us ring now for her knell'. Petruchio's 'wild Kate' is a pun on 'wild cat', 1.26 and this would probably be recalled by the audience at the mention of this catch. Music has been used to provide yet another clue to Petruchio's method of taming Katherina.
The taming continues after they have arrived at Petruchio's house. He berates the servants and gives every appearance of trying to make Katherina welcome. During this performance he sings fragments of two ballads, the first being:
Where is the life that late I led?
Where are those -
(IV.i.127-128)
The remainder of the ballad has not been traced, but it would probably be
- 14 -
a comically mournful song regretting the loss of liberty on being married. A ballad with this theme was registered by Richard Jones in 1566, but its words are not known. 1.27 Morris suggests that such a ballad 'would be particularly appropriate to the newly-married man'. 1.28 Its significance here, however, is that it is not at all appropriate to Petruchio, and as Seng notes, the dramatic function of the song is 'comic irony'. 1.29 Petruchio had married Katherina fully aware of what he was doing, and at this stage he certainly has no cause for regret. If anyone has lost freedom on being married it is Katherina, who has already been forcibly removed from her own wedding celebrations by her husband, and she will experience many other constraints before long.
The second ballad fragment sung by Petruchio is 'It was the friar of orders grey' (IV.i.132). This appears to have been a bawdy song of a type which might be sung at a wedding celebration. 1.30 Once again, its function is to provide comic irony, as Petruchio has denied Katherina any form of conventional marriage festivity. This, however, is not its only function, as it is directly related to the central taming theme of the play. By the time Shakespeare wrote The Taming of the Shrew, ballads concerning the seduction of nuns by friars had become 'common property'. 1.31 The version sung by Petruchio was probably popular at the time. Thus, as with 'Jack, boy, ho! boy, news', the audience would have grasped the significance of the reference without the full ballad being sung. The third of the carols on the bifolium found amongst the papers of Henry Bradshaw at Cambridge University concerns a 'friar of order gray' and its theme is a 'bawdy tale of male domination and female submission'. 1.32 The audience would thus see in Petruchio's two lines of song a reaffirmation of his intention to tame Katherina.
The foregoing analysis shows that Shakespeare's fairly extensive use of music in The Taming of the Shrew is intimately connected with both the humour and the themes of the play. Even at this early stage Shakespeare was aware of the possibilities latent in the use of music.
In his next comedy, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, he continued to exploit music as a dramatic device. Act I of this play contains a dialogue with many puns on musical terms, similar to those already found in The Taming of the Shrew. In scene ii Lucetta delivers a love letter from Proteus to Julia, who feigns indifference and refuses to accept it. It is thrown to the ground and later Lucetta picks it up. She is questioned by Julia:
Jul.
Some love of yours hath writ to you in rhyme.
Luc.
That I might sing it, madam, to a tune.
Give me a note; your ladyship can set.
- 15 -
Jul.
As little by such toys as may be possible:
Best sing it to the tune of 'Light o' Love'.
Luc.
It is too heavy for so light a tune.
Jul.
Heavy? Belike it hath some burden then?
Luc.
Ay; and melodious were it, would you sing it.
Jul.
And why not you?
Luc.
I cannot reach so high.
Jul.
Let's see your song. How now, minion?
Luc.
Keep tune there still: so you will sing it out.
And yet methinks I do not like this tune.
Jul.
You do not?
Luc.
No, madam, 'tis too sharp.
Jul.
You, minion, are too saucy.
Luc.
Nay, now you are too flat;
And mar the concord with too harsh a descant:
There wanteth but a mean to fill your song.
Jul.
The mean is drown'd with your unruly bass.
Luc.
Indeed I bid the base for Proteus.
(I.ii.79-98) 1.33
This witty use of musical terminology after what has been seen in The Taming of the Shrew is further evidence for Shakespeare's good knowledge of music. The puns follow closely on one another, starting in line 81. A 'note' is both a musical note and a letter: Lucetta asks for a reply to Proteus' letter. She says 'your Ladyship can set', meaning Julia knows how to write both music and a letter. The tune 'Light o' Love' is an interesting one to have chosen in this context: Leech notes that its application to Proteus is ironic, 1.34 although I feel that the pun in the tune's name makes it an uncertain irony. 'Light o' Love' could imply either fickleness or constancy, depending on how 'light' is interpreted: it may be read both as 'light-handed' for fickleness and as 'guiding light' for constancy. This tune is also mentioned in Much Ado About Nothing: 'Clap's into "Light o' Love"; that goes without a burden' (III.iv.41-42). This explains Lucetta's next remark, 'It is too heavy for so light a tune'. This tune was conventionally considered 'light', that is, to be sung without a burden or bass, 1.35 so Lucetta wants Julia to take Proteus' letter more seriously. She follows this up with, 'Ay; and melodious were it, would you sing it', which contains a typically Elizabethan quibble on the word 'sing', referring to the 'burden' of the previous line. 1.36 To sing the bass line was to 'bear the burden', 1.37 and for Julia to sing it would thus have sexual connotations, as she would then 'bear the burden'.
The punning continues. Lucetta 'cannot reach so high' because the tune is too high-pitched and Proteus is of too high a rank in society. In order to explain Lucetta's sudden remark, 'And yet methinks I do not like this tune', some editors insert stage directions indicating some act of violence on Julia's part. 1.38 The musical terms 'sharp' and 'flat'
- 16 -
aptly describe the effects of the violence on Lucetta, and the reference to a descant is also very fitting. The descant is a second melody sung over the first, thus decorating it and changing its character, and so Julia's descant is her repeated shunning of Lucetta's promptings to love. The lack of harmony implied in 'mar the concord' and 'harsh' suggests that Julia's attitude towards Proteus is unnatural. The 'mean' which Julia needs to complete her harmony is Proteus' voice, and this, she tells Lucetta, 'is drown'd with your unruly bass'. Julia is saying that Lucetta's excessive enthusiasm, far from spurring her on to love Proteus, is confusing her. It is her modesty which prevents her from making an open declaration of her love:
What fool is she, that knows I am a maid,
And would not force the letter to my view!
Since maids, in modesty, say 'no' to that
Which they would have the profferer construe 'ay'.
(I.ii.53-56)
The final pun comes when Lucetta says 'Indeed I bid the base for Proteus'. She thinks Proteus should sing the bass in harmony with Julia, and she also calls Proteus in the game of prisoner's base, 1.39 perhaps expecting Julia to capture him. The word, 'base' here is also ironic, as Proteus proves to be a base character during the play.
This musical passage fulfils several dramatic functions. The focal point of the scene is Julia and her relationship with Proteus, and the light humour provided by the puns makes Julia appear a light and frivolous character. Her knowledge of music is, however, shown to be considerable, and, as I have already noted in my discussion of The Taming of the Shrew, this was decidedly a virtue. Her relationship with Proteus as it is presented here contrasts sharply with that between Proteus and Valentine in the first scene. The men's conversation is more sober and their love for one another seems much more deeply rooted. This makes the subsequent behaviour of Julia as a faithful lover and Proteus as inconstant to both Julia and Valentine the more noteworthy. However, the future behaviour of Proteus has been hinted at in the two ironical references, 'Best sing it to the tune of "Light of Love"' and 'I bid the base for Proteus'. The choice of music and song to reveal all this is most appropriate, as the harmony of music was closely associated with the harmony of love. Finally, it should be noted that this passage, in revealing Julia's musical knowledge, prepares the audience for the more important dialogue which follows the song, 'Who is Silvia?', in Act IV. Having heard the present play on musical terms the audience is less likely to miss the significance
- 17 -
of the similar double meanings in the discussion of the song which Julia has with the Host.
In Act III.ii, when Proteus is advising Thurio on the best way to win Silvia, he suggests the use of song, citing Orpheus as one who used the power of music to influence savage beasts. He goes further in suggesting that 'Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews' (III.ii.77), indicating that it was not the lute alone which was responsible for the power which Orpheus wielded, but poetry sung to the lute's accompaniment. Proteus suggests that the song be followed by some 'sweet consort' with a 'deploring dump' (III.ii.83-84). 1.40 Thurio proposes to act on this advice, selecting 'some gentlemen, well skill'd in music' (III.ii.91), and using a sonnet which he has ready.
The song and music appear in Act IV.ii. Long gives a detailed description of how he feels the scene should be staged, suggesting that the musicians leave the stage when they tune their instruments. 1.41 This means that the dialogue between the Host and Julia before the song will be the centre of attention, with the tuning merely a background noise. However, this is unnecessary, as the dialogue contains no quick repartee which might be obscured by the musicians. The tuning musicians give added interest, and the audience would be quite capable of attending to both actions. 1.42 Long then has Proteus sing the song off-stage, which is not a very satisfactory arrangement: much of the audience's interest in a song lies in their watching the singer and his accompanists. It has one advantage, though: the player acting Proteus would not necessarily have to be the singer. It seems unlikely that Shakespeare had at his disposal at this early stage an actor who would readily take to singing an important solo song. The dialogue between the Host and Julia which follows the song seems to indicate that Proteus was the singer, if not one of the musicians:
Host.
How do you, man? The music likes you not.
Jul.
You mistake: the musician likes me not.
Host.
Why, my pretty youth?
Jul.
He plays false, father.
(IV.ii.54-57)
However, this need not imply that Proteus actually performs any music. He probably takes charge of the musicians once the incompetent Thurio has brought them in, and in this capacity could be referred to as 'the musician'. If Noble is correct in asserting that the term 'musician' referred to the vocalist as well as the instrumentalists, then Proteus is unlikely to be the singer, as he enters separately, before the musicians come in. 1.43
- 18 -
Noble sees 'Who is Silvia?' as the sonnet referred to by Thurio earlier and concludes that, consistent with the folly of Thurio, it is a caricature of a real love sonnet, although the 'caricature is intentionally delicate'. 1.44 Seng argues that the song is not Thurio's sonnet, as Proteus had advised him to use sonnets first (III.ii.68-70), followed by music (III.ii.81-83), and Thurio indicates that he will follow this advice (III.ii.89-93). 1.45 Even assuming the song does come from Thurio, who may have had it written for such an occasion, I do not see the need to regard it as anything but a sincere attempt by Shakespeare at writing a conventional love lyric. The extravagant nature of its compliment and flattery, which Noble criticises, 1.46 is quite characteristic of such songs. I will admit that in its context the song is somewhat ironical. Taken out of its context it is a beautiful love song - but it does not succeed in winning Silvia. That it fails to move Silvia beyond simple politeness (she does thank the musicians for their efforts) is not attributable to the song itself, but to the advice given by Proteus. Unlike the mythological music of Orpheus, real music cannot be expected to win a woman's love, particularly if she actively dislikes the singer, or, in this case, his agent.
The first stanza treats Silvia as a heaven-sent gift. The word 'swain' in such poems usually means 'lover', but in this instance, since Thurio is included among the swains who admire Silvia, it may retain some of its original implications of lower rank. It should be emphasised that the Silvia of the poem need not resemble the real Silvia at all, since the highest praise was conventional in such poems. That she was holy seems unlikely; that she was fair we may accept, but that she was wise contradicts what we see of her in the play. Her planned elopement and subsequent flight with Sir Eglamour, and her decision to give Proteus her picture are among her unwise actions. It is the lover's duty to ignore such defects, however. There is a reminder of this in the next stanza, which recalls Thurio's earlier statement: 'They say that Love hath not an eye at all' (II.iv.91). In both the song and Thurio's statement, 'Love' refers to Cupid, the blind god of love. The reference to this pagan deity after the apparently Christian terminology of the first stanza in the words 'holy' and 'heaven' is not as inconsistent as it appears, as both Christian and pagan traditions and beliefs are a rich source of imagery for the poet. Christian imagery enhances the idea of Silvia's goodness, while the pagan is used to emphasise how physically attractive she is. The mention of her beauty is a cunning appeal to her vanity. If she is fair she ought to be kind, for the two go together, and if she is kind she will help Love, who is blind, to see, and he will stay with her. The implications are obvious: if Silvia is fair, she must love the man serenading her. The final stanza echoes the first,
- 19 -
treating Silvia as heaven-sent:
She excels each mortal thing
Upon the dull earth dwelling.
(IV.ii.50-51)
This stanza could be sung by all the musicians, which would be in keeping with the words 'let us sing' (IV.ii.48), and would give variety to the song. Leggatt says, 'Silvia's function in the play is comparatively simple: to receive adoration, accepting or rejecting it as the case may be'. 1.47 Here she is the subject of adoration, but she rejects it. Her rejection serves to bring out the worst in Proteus, who freely pronounces that both Valentine and Julia are dead, hoping that Silvia will be more receptive to his love with these obstacles removed.
After the song, the consort continues to play what are probably variations on the theme of the song just sung. A pause, as Long suggests, 1.48 is not necessary. In fact the dialogue centres on the music being played at the time, and even though the words must be the centre of focus, the musicians should not leave the stage. They have been playing for some time and no longer present a serious source of distraction: the audience has become accustomed to their presence. To enhance the pathos of the scene, the music should be in the style of the 'deploring dump' suggested by Proteus (III.ii.84), not a brisk dance tune as suggested by Long. 1.49 The conversation which accompanies the music makes use of word play similar to that in Julia's earlier conversation with Lucetta. When Julia complains that the music is false, she does not mean that it is out of tune. Rather, she is thinking of her false Proteus, grieving her heart-strings, not the strings of the lute.
Host.
Hark, what fine change is in the music!
Jul.
Ay; that change is the spite.
(IV.ii.66-67)
Long suggests that this change refers to the starting of a new piece, in a more lively style than the song. 1.50 If the music is to continue without a break, as I have suggested, the change would refer to an harmonic change, possibly into a minor key, or to the start of another variation on the theme of the song. Whatever the change, it would seem that the music is sadder than before, to justify Julia's remark: 'that change is the spite'. She associates the change with the fickleness of Proteus.
The scene is a moving one. Julia must have suspected Proteus' falsehood previously, as her comments to the Host before the song reveal that
- 20 -
she is already depressed. The song and music, beautiful in themselves, painfully confirm her suspicions. There is irony in the situation and it is made more intense by the use of song which should forward love, not hinder it. The main function of the song is thus to reveal Proteus' unfaithful behaviour to Julia. It is an economical device, as it brings Julia into the action at Milan without any formal introduction there. 1.51 The song is the only instance (apart from the forestalled rape in the final scene) in which Proteus is seen to court Silvia, and, cool though her response is, she does given him some grounds for hope, and the audience some grounds for concern, in her parting speech where she promises to give him her picture. Thus, although the song is not essential to the plot, it is used to forward the action. The music which follows the song gives rise to the musical quibbles which allow Julia to express her feelings to the audience without revealing them to the Host.
'Who is Silvia?' is one of Shakespeare's great dramatic masterpieces, and there is nothing to equal it in his next comedy, Love's Labour's Lost. The first use of song in this play is at the start of Act III, where a song is indicated in the Folios and the Second Quarto. 1.52 Unfortunately no words are recorded: the First Folio simply gives the word 'Concolinel' (774). Noble suggests that this word is 'ridiculously warbled', being 'probably a popular call or refrain of the day'. 1.53 I find this unlikely: 1.54 Armado's use of the word 'warble' (III.i.1) in calling for the song is characteristic of his often ridiculous choice of words and has nothing to do with the way he expected Moth to sing. The same word occurs in As You Like It, when Jaques calls for the second stanza of a song with the words 'Come, warble, come' (II.v.34), and in response Amiens sings as requested. Of course Moth might have taken Armado at his word, merely warbling to get an easy laugh from the audience, but then Armado's response would hardly have been appreciative, as it is: 'Sweet air!' (III.i.3). Unless these words carry heavy sarcasm, of which Armado is quite capable, the song must have been worthy of the praise. The audience had been led to expect a song from Moth in Act I.ii, where, after a discussion of 'The King and the Beggar' (a ballad which is used later in the letter to Jaquenetta) Armado asks for a song. Moth is interrupted by the arrival of Dull and his charges, and so the song is never sung. It is likely, therefore, that Moth opens Act III with a complete song, 'Concolinel' probably being one both popular and suitable, now lost.
It would be appropriate to open this act in song, for music, song and dance play an important part in the witty dialogue which follows. The principal action of this scene is the despatching of Costard with lover's letters to Jaquenetta and Rosaline, followed by Berowne's soliloquy on
- 21 -
his attitude to love. 'Concolinel' was more than likely a love song, which would make Moth's advice on the use of song in wooing a woman very apt:
... jig off a tune at the tongue's and, canary to it with your feet ... sigh a note and sing a note, sometime through the throat as if you swallowed love with singing love ... with your hat penthouse-like o'er the shop of your eyes; with your arms crossed on your thin-belly doublet like a rabbit on a spit ... keep not too long on one tune, but a snip and away.
(III.i.9-20)
He ends with a typical clown's pun on the word 'note': those who follow his advice will become 'men of note' (III.i.22). The humour in this speech is not only in the clever use of words, but also in the picture of the ideal lover which Moth paints. The Lothian portrait of Donne, with large hat, folded arms and dishevelled shirt, is a good illustration of the lover Moth has in mind. 1.55 Moth's absurd advice is intended to ridicule the Elizabethan notion of a man in love, 1.56 and this is in keeping with one of the aims of the play: to expose false ideals. According to Speed in The Two Gentlemen of Verona the ideal lover would 'relish a love-song' (II.i.19), and from Moth's remarks it would seem that he also had to sing in a distracted manner.
Song has thus been used by Shakespeare to introduce the theme of love in Act III, and he uses it yet again to turn the topic of conversation to Armado's particular love, Jaquenetta. Moth seizes the opportunity when Armado muses 'But O, but O -' to complete the line with 'The hobby-horse is forgot' (III.i.27-28). Moth could sing this line, as it almost certainly comes from a popular song. 1.57 Although its introduction here is rather forced, it does serve two functions. It is yet another amusing play on words, and it reminds Armado of his own hobby-horse, or prostitute, Jaquenetta, and his intention of sending her a letter.
The next occurrence of song is at Act IV.i.124, where the catch 'Thou canst not hit it' appears. As with the hobby-horse refrain, there is no stage direction that this should be sung, but it is certainly intended to be. Naylor gives a tune for it, but does not divulge his source, 1.58 and David cites several references to this catch, with a tune dating form 1620. 1.59 He notes that it was associated with a dance, and, as Granville-Barker suggests, the singers should dance while singing. 1.60 With this in mind the catch seems to serve several functions, the most obvious being to grace the exit of Rosaline. She is the most important woman in the play after the Princess herself, and this singing and dancing exit draws attention
- 22 -
to her. The words of the catch are, as is usual when Shakespeare uses lyrics not of his own writing, appropriate to their context. Costard has just revealed that Berowne is courting Rosaline, and, after the exit of the Princess, Boyet and Rosaline indulge in a competition of wits hinging on the idea of deer shooting which the Princess has proposed. There is the inevitable Elizabethan joke on the cuckold's horns, and when Rosaline departs singing the catch, its words tell Boyet two things. Firstly, that he, in not being able to 'hit it', has lost the verbal contest with Rosaline. Secondly, that he will never hit the deer, thus acquiring its horns (an attribute of the cuckold), because Rosaline will never marry him. This she makes clear when, asked by Boyet, 'and who is your deer?', she replies, 'If we choose by the horns, yourself come not near' (IV.i.113-114). In the answering phrase of the catch Boyet maintains that if he cannot marry Rosaline, Berowne will: 'An I cannot, another can' (IV.i.127). It should not be thought that there was ever any serious intention on Boyet's part of marrying Rosaline. The idea simply fits in well with the humour, which gently mocks Rosaline for being in love with Berowne while she feigns indifference.
A brief musical reference is made in Act IV.ii, where the illiterate Jaquenetta gives Nathaniel a letter that he might read it to her. Holofernes, who prides himself on being a learned schoolmaster, has been displaying his ability with words, showing Nathaniel how he can 'something affect the letter' (IV.ii.55). While Nathaniel is opening the letter, Holofernes, among his often incorrect burblings of quotations, hums 'Ut, re, sol, la, mi, fa' (IV.ii.98). This could be a fragment of a melody, 1.61 but David assumes that Holofernes has tried to sing the musical scale and has shown, instead of his wisdom, his ignorance, as the sequence of the notes is wrong. 1.62 Here, therefore, Shakespeare has used music not only to provide humour but also as an aid in revealing a facet of Holofernes' character. The misquotations and this musical example show a man who hides his ignorance behind a screen of apparent learning. Holofernes is a caricature of a pedant.
Music appears again in Act V.ii, where the following stage direction appears: 'Enter Black moores with musicke, the Boy with a speech, and the rest of the Lords disguised' (2051-2052). It has been suggested that this masque-like episode was based on an actual incident at Gray's Inn. 1.63 If this is so it may have had topical interest for Elizabethan audiences. This, taken with the popularity of masques among the aristocracy, would have justified its place in the play. Its dramatic function is partly to provide humour and partly symbolic. Normally a dance would symbolise harmony and order, but here, where the dance never gets off the ground, it reflects the hostile attitudes of the Princess and her ladies. Granville-Barker suggests
- 23 -
that the episode will succeed 'if the music is clear and fine, as Elizabethan music was, if the costumes strike their note of fantastic beauty, [and] if, above all, the speech and movements of the actors are fine and rhythmical too'. 1.64 I agree with his verdict on the music, but disagree with him regarding the players' speech and movements. Much additional humour can be imparted if the men, far from delivering 'fine and rhythmical' speech, adopt pseudo-Russian accents. Furthermore, while the actors certainly do move when the music plays, they do not dance formally. This tactic had been decided on earlier:
Ros.
But shall we dance, if they desire us to't?
Prin.
No; to the death we will not move a foot ....
(V.ii.145-146)
The function of the music is to heighten the comedy. The awkward and less rhythmical movements of the ladies, offset by the brilliantly performed and rhythmical music, add to the absurdity of the situation, thus more successfully thwarting the advances of the disguised courtiers. The ladies' refusal to dance is symbolic of their being at odds with the men, who retire, 'all dry-beaten with pure scoff' (IV.ii.263). The masque for them has been a complete disaster. Bearing in mind the satirical element in the play, it is possible that Shakespeare was poking fun at the courtly masques then in fashion.
It is generally thought that the final dialogue between the cuckoo and the owl is a later addition to the play. 1.65 Wright finds the songs extraneous to the comedy, 1.66 but if they were added as an afterthought, I feel that there must have been good grounds for doing so - not merely financial gain in keeping audiences amused, as Wright implies. 1.67 An important function of the songs is that they provide a more satisfactory ending to the play than the previous ending, usually postulated at line 868. Noble rather illogically suggests that the songs help to clear the stage, 1.68 whereas in fact they serve to clutter it further. If the play previously ended at line 868 there would have been ten actors to leave the stage: the four pairs of lovers, Marcade and Boyet. In the revised version with the songs, both Folios and Quartos require the whole company to be present after the stage direction at line 880, 'Enter all' (2854). It is not surprising, then, with about seventeen people on the stage, that the Folios add a final speech for Armado: 'You that way; we this way' (2899). 1.69 Shakespeare probably had no hand in this addition - and it would not have been necessary if the songs had cleared the stage. What he does seem to have had in mind is the equivalent of a modern curtain call, which would be a far more satisfactory ending than the abrupt 'That's too long for a play' at line 868. This just
- 24 -
scratches the surface, however. It is necessary to look deeper than exits and curtain calls to find the real significance of the songs.
Noble quite rightly points out that the songs should not be regarded as 'genuine pastorals', but also argues that they are a continuation of the play's comedy, being 'without any serious intention whatever'. 1.70 Dover Wilson takes a similar view, referring to the 'delightful mockery of the Cuckoo and the Owl'. 1.71 This does Shakespeare less than justice. The songs are an important part of the play which they conclude, their function being to give final emphasis to its themes, one of which is the unpredictability of life. At many points in the play, when all may be expected to go well, things go wrong. When the French Princess arrives, the young men are forced to break their rash vows which they had hoped would bring them fame and honour; Costard's courting of Jaquenetta is brought to an abrupt end; the lovers' letters miscarry; the attempt at courting in Muscovite disguise fails; and the pageant of the Nine Worthies comes to nothing. Finally, just as the ladies may be expected to give favourable answers to the courtiers, ending the play happily, Marcade arrives with his bad news. The men are forced to make further vows if their suits are to succeed. This fickleness of life is represented in the cuckoo's song, which Leggatt has called 'a celebration of mutability'. 1.72 In spring, when the world is at its happiest and loveliest, the cuckoo starts to sing, marring all. That the cuckoo 'brings bad luck is a superstition as old a Pliny', according to David. 1.73 The play does not end on an entirely gloomy note, however. The owl's song contrasts with the cuckoo's: when all is going badly there is room for hope in the owl's 'merry note' (V.ii.909). The year's penance vowed by the courtiers may be compared with the hardships of winter in the owl's song, and they may hope to win their ladies in the end.
This optimistic outlook is clouded by the cuckoo's call, generally regarded as 'unpleasing to a married ear' (V.ii.901) by the Elizabethans. The cuckold was a favourite topic of humour and the idea of a bird mocking a married man by calling 'cuckold' was found amusing. Furthermore, it should be noted that the cuckoo-bud is yellow in colour, and yellow was a colour associated with jealousy. 1.74 The cuckoo's song, with its underlying theme of cuckolding and jealousy, reminds the audience that marriage does not guarantee happiness to the courtiers.
This thought is echoed in the owl's song. While the owl sings his 'merry note' it is 'greasy Joan' (V.ii.910) who keels the pot. 'Greasy' may mean sluttish or immoral, 1.75 and greasy Joan is thus a shadow over the expected fidelity in marriage. The songs therefore serve two important functions: to give the play a more satisfactory ending by indicating that
- 25 -
there is hope that the love affairs will all end well, while at the same time making it clear that nothing is ever certain, and all may yet go wrong. This is an ambiguous conclusion, but true to life.
Finally, it is interesting that Shakespeare specifically attributes the writing of the dialogue to 'the two learned men' (V.ii.876), Holofernes and Nathaniel. The audience has already been given a taste of Holofernes' poetry in Act IV, and there it proved, quite predictably, to be mere playing with words. The epilogue songs are quite different and it is difficult to believe that either of these two characters could have written them. This may have been a blunder on Shakespeare's part, when he revised the play several years after it had been written. Perhaps he felt the difference in style would not be noticed with the addition of music. One thing is clear, though: given that the songs have the serious dramatic function to fulfil which I have outlined above, Shakespeare could not write them as if they had come from the Holofernes and Nathaniel of Act IV. The audience would notice only the ridiculous language and nothing of the message behind it. It is possible that the inconsistency of characterisation here is deliberate, and that Shakespeare intended to be less scathing towards the pedant and the hedge-priest in the final scene. Leggatt sums up the case:
This is typical of Shakespeare's generosity to characters who, like himself, labour in the mysteries of art and language: the problems they face are formidable; the chances for folly and mis-directed zeal are legion; but in the last analysis, none of them, even the lowest, is to be despised. 1.76
An additional dramatic function of the songs is therefore to show that Holofernes and Nathaniel are characters not entirely without merit.
The main point to emerge from the foregoing discussion of three of the Early Comedies is that Shakespeare used music to achieve specific dramatic effects. Musical references in these plays are frequently vehicles for comedy, but may also be related to both the themes of the play and the structure of the plot. Dramatic songs are used effectively but sparingly, there being none in the first play, one in the second and two in the third. Popular ballads are often quoted and are always relevant. Formal dance does not appear in these plays, although there is a caricature of a dance in the masque scene of Love's Labour's Lost. In view of the more accomplished use of music, song and dance in the plays which followed, it is safe to say that Shakespeare, here, was feeling his way.
- 106 -
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Perhaps only very limited musical resources were available when The Comedy of Errors was written, but this is purely conjecture. It would not, in any case, have prevented Shakespeare from including the musical word play of which he seemed so fond in the Early Comedies. return
1.2 The edition cited is William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, ed. Brian Morris (London: Methuen, 1981). return
1.3 John H. Long, Shakespeare's Use of Music: The Final Comedies, rpt. (New York: Da Capo, 1977), p.4 (hereafter cited as Long, Final Comedies). return
1.5 Edward W. Naylor, Shakespeare and Music (New York: Da Capo, 1969), p.176. return
1.6 Nicholas Cox's The Gentleman's Recreation (1676) has a list of 'The Antient Hunting Notes' for horns. See William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, ed. A.R. Humphreys (London: Methuen, 1981), p.99 n. return
1.7 Felix Guirand, ed., New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, trans. Richard Aldington and Delano Ames, rev. ed. (London: Hamlyn, 1977), pp.113 and 117. return
1.9 C.T. Onions, ed., The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 3rd ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1972), p.1019: 'Instrumental ... B. sb. ... 2. A bodily organ -1564', and 'Instrument ... sb. ... 4. A part of the body having a special function; an organ -1718'. return
1.10 Ibid., p.221: 'Brief ... sb. ... 8. Mus. = BREVE sb. 2. -1658'. return
1.11 Mary Remnant, Musical Instruments of the West (London: B.T. Batsford, 1978), pp.30-32. return
1.12 For an explanation of the gamut see Percy A. Scholes, The Oxford Companion to Music, ed. John Owen Ward, 10th ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1972), pp.468-469 and p.960 pl.161.3-6. return
1.13 Long, on the other hand, views this scene as giving evidence of Shakespeare's 'technical deficiency in musical knowledge', and suggests that he was using Morley's A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke (1597). See John H. Long, 'Shakespeare and Thomas Morley', Modern Language Notes, LX (1950), 17-22. In view of the publication date of Morley's work, Long's suggestion cannot be correct if an early date for the composition of the play is assumed. return
1.15 Scholes, p.960 pl.161.4. return
1.17 Onions, p.322: 'Cleft, clift, sb. ... 2. spec. a. The parting of the thighs, the fork'. return
- 107 -
1.19 Naylor p.39. H.C. Miller, in his article, 'A Shakespearean Music Lesson', Notes and Queries, CLXV (1933), 255-257, contrives explanations for each of the notes of the gamut, but they are based largely on possible pronunciations of the names of the notes which cannot be verified (although some evidence is presented). return
1.20 Alexander Leggatt, Shakespeare's Comedy of Love (London: Methuen, 1974), p.53. return
1.21 The idea that this is a ballad was originally R. Warwick Bond's in his Arden edition of the play. See Morris, p.230 n. return
1.25 See William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, ed. Arthur Quiller-Couch and John Dover Wilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975), p.160 n.38. return
1.27 Peter J. Seng, The Vocal Songs in the Plays of Shakespeare: A Critical History (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967), p.1 (hereafter cited as Seng, Vocal Songs). return
1.29 Seng, Vocal Songs, p.2. return
1.31 P.J. Croft, 'The "Friar of order gray" and the Nun', Review of English Studies, XXXII, 125 (1981), 6. return
1.33 The edition cited is William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, ed. Clifford Leech (London: Methuen, 1969). return
1.37 As in The Tempest, 'And sweet sprites bear | The burthen' (I.ii.382-383). return
1.39 Ibid., p.15 n. The game is explained by Onions, p.150: 'Base ... sb.2 Also prisoner's base. 1440. ... A game played by two sides, who occupy contiguous 'bases' or 'homes'; any player running out from his base is chased by one of the other side, and, if caught, made a prisoner'. Onions then cites an example from Venus and Adonis: 'To bid base: to challenge'. Lucetta thus calls Proteus from his base, expecting Julia to chase him. return
- 108 -
1.40 It is not certain what a 'dump' is. Onions has, p.572: 'Dump ... sb.1 ... 3. A mournful or plaintive melody or song; a tune; occas., a kind of dance'. See also Scholes, p.306. return
1.41 Long, Seven Comedies, pp.54-56. The Folio refers to the entrance of one 'Musitian' (1622), but the dialogue seems to indicate that there are several. return
1.43 Noble, p.13 n. Although the Folio uses massed entries in this play, the dialogue makes it obvious that Proteus enters before the rest of the company. return
1.45 Seng, Vocal Songs, p.7. return
1.48 Long, Seven Comedies, p.55. return
1.50 Ibid., p.63 n.18; p.64 n.19. return
1.52 William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, ed. Richard David, 5th ed. (London: Methuen, 1956), p.45, collation. This edition is used in subsequent quotations from the play. return
1.54 So does Granville-Barker. See Harley Granville-Barker, Prefaces to Shakespeare: First Series (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1953), p.48 (hereafter cited as Granville-Barker, First Series). return
1.55 See Anthony Burgess, Shakespeare (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972), p.240. return
1.56 See also As You Like It III.ii.363-374, where Rosalind gives a similar picture. return
1.57 David, p.48. The song is also mentioned in Hamlet (II.ii.133). Naylor, p.80, quotes part of a similar contemporary song:
Since Robin Hood, Maid Marian,
And Little John are gone a;
The Hobby Horse was quite forgot
When Kempe did dance alone a.
The reference to Kempe (the actor) is probably not relevant here. return
1.60 Granville-Barker, First Series, p.44. return
- 109 -
1.64 Granville-Barker, First Series, p.14. return
1.65 See, for example, David, pp.xxiii-xxiv and Noble, pp.33-34. return
1.69 See the collations in David, pp.194 and 196. return
1.71 John Dover Wilson, Shakespeare's Happy Comedies (London: Faber and Faber, 1969), p.69 (hereafter cited as Dover Wilson, Comedies). return
1.74 Seng, Vocal Songs, p.14. Nym, in planning to arouse Page's jealousy in The Merry Wives of Windsor, says, 'I will possess him with yellowness' (I.iii.96). return
1.75 As at IV.i.136: 'Come, come, you talk greasily; your lips grow foul'. Falstaff is a wonderfully apt subject for this epithet, being both fat and lascivious: 'the wicked fire of lust have melted him in his own grease' and 'this greasy knight' (Merry Wives II.i.65-66 and 104-105). return
Proceed to Chapter Two