Sweet marjoram.
-Edgar
King Lear Act IV, scene vi, line 94
Marjoram is a minty herb. I found that out by googling it. It’s not an old, Shakespearean word, and in fact it’s not in the glossary of the Shakespeare app on my phone. It’s just a regular garden-variety word. Did you get the double entedre there?
I’m not sure what Edgar means by it, if anything. This is the scene where Edgar and blind Glouster have run into Lear. The latter appears to be quite mad (insane) at this point and he’s just finished a paragraph of seemingly incoherent ramblings when Edgar interjects ‘Sweet marjoram’, and Lear responds simply, ‘Pass’.
So, what does Edgar mean by ‘Sweet margoram’? You tell me.
This is a picture of the mint growing outside my window. It comes back up every year and grows like a weed. It's not exactly marjoram, as far as I know, but does this help in figuring out what Edgar means? Probably not.
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