Thou shalt not be the worse for me: there’s gold.

 

-Duke of Ilyria

Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will          Act V Scene 1, Line 26

 

The duke is talking to Feste, the clown. Feste, who’s listed in the play simply as ‘clown’, is a typical Shakespearean clown in that he is no clown. That is to say, though he plays the fool, he is one of the wiser people in the play. This can be exemplified by the fact that he’s just managed to talk the duke out of some gold, without hardly trying. Oh, to be such a fool!

 

Come to think of it, I may not have people handing me gold, but, I do okay. Call me Feste if you like.

 

My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a one

My daughter might have been:

 

-Pericles

Pericles, Prince of Tyre         Act V Scene i, Line 106

 

Pretty straight forward. Pericles is seeing his daughter Marina as an adult for the first time. He doesn’t know yet that it’s his daughter, he thinks that both his wife and daughter are dead, and he makes this comment. Simple as that.

However, I found another line (it’s actually in the next scene) that I’d like to draw your attention to. Here’s Pericles talking about going to go get ready for his daughter’s wedding:

 

And what this fourteen years no razor touch’d,

To grace thy marriage-day, I’ll beautify.

 

He’s going to go beautify himself! I love it. I use that phrase all the time; had no idea I was quoting Shakespeare. Don’t believe me? Just ask Patrice. She’ll tell you.

Here's a pic of pre-beautified Pete. So you can see why I need to beautify.

 

Now, fair one, does your business follow us?

-King

All’s Well That Ends Well      Act II Scene i, Line 100

 

The king is speaking to Helena who has just walked into the king’s room in the palace. He’s just asking her what’s up, or what can we do for you? That’s an interesting way of putting things: does your business follow us.

Now, there’s a couple of ways of looking at Shakespeare’s use of language. One way, perhaps most prevalent in the student, is that it’s impossible to understand. And I can see how someone would feel that way. Does your business follow us: what does that even mean? But another way to look at Shakespeare’s language is to marvel at all the different, interesting, and beautiful ways he can say things. Now, is does your business follow us simply a common expression of Will’s times that he’s sharing with us? I don’t know. But whether he’s creating it, or just sharing it, I guess I would say that it doesn’t really matter to me. Either way, it’s an example of marvelous language that we wouldn’t otherwise have.

Having said all of that, I think we can also say that this is the crux of Will's works in toto. When reading or hearing Shakespeare, you simply must embrace the language. You can't hold it at arms- length and expect to get a full appreciation. You can't. Take it in. Immerse yourself and roll around in it. Surrender yourself to it. It's the only way you're ever going to fully appreciate Shakespeare. 

 

Yet you are curb’d from that enlargement by

The consequence o’the crown; and must not foil

The precious note of it with a base slave,

A hilding for a livery, a squire’s cloth,

A pantler, not so eminent.

 

-Cloten

Cymbeline                               Act II Scene iii, Line 125

 

Just to be clear who’s who: Cymbeline is the king. The queen (and she has no other name than ‘the queen’) is Cymbeline’s second wife (pretty sure the first one died). Imogen (and that’s who Cloten is talking to here) is Cymbeline’s daughter from his first queen, and Cloten is the current queen’s son from a previous marriage. So we’ve got the whole blended (or unblended) family thing going on here.

The current queen is trying to get Cloten married to his stepsister Imogen, just to make sure that her son Cloten will eventually become king. Meantime, Imogen has already got her guy, Posthumus Leonatus, and he’s not a royal. So that’s what Cloten is talking about here, telling Imogen that she can’t marry Posthumus because he’s a base slave. FYI, a hilding is a worthless individual, and a pantler is a servant  (and for the record, both those words are in the current online MW, though, to be fair, both are noted as being archaic).

Anyway and naturally, Posthumus is a pretty good guy, and Cloten is a creep. Furthermore, Imogen wants absolutely nothing to do with Cloten and tells him so. Good for her! However, Cloten doesn’t take rejection very well, and that might not be good for her.

So that’s where we’re at. Comments?

 

If she be.

Hold your peaces.

Good my lord,--

-Antigonus, Leontes, First Lord

The Winter’s Tale                   Act II Scene i, Line 138

 

Okay, the first part of today’s line is Antigonus talking about Hermione, Leontes’s wife. Leontes has just had his wife taken away for being unfaithful to him. Antigonus and this anonymous First Lord are trying to convince Leontes that he’s making a mistake. Antigonus says

For every inch of woman in the world,

Ay, every dram of woman’s flesh, is false,

If she be.

Leontes responds

Hold your peaces.

And the First Lord starts in

Good my lord,--

But then he is interrupted by Antigonus who goes on with his argument.

 

So there’s three different guys who make up today’s one Totally Random line. And this line, as well as the one preceding and following, are in iambic pentameter. That’s why these three guys are making up one line. Here’s these three lines written together, without breaking them up between the different speakers.

        Ay, every dram of woman’s flesh is false,

If she be. Hold your peaces. Good my lord,--

It is for you we speak, not for ourselves.

        

Da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum.

 

So, what do you think of that?

I couldn't find anything relevant today, so I'm giving you this. I'm not sure why it's so funny, but it made me laugh.

 

If you’ll avouch ‘twas wisdom Paris went,-

As you must needs, for you all cried, ‘Go, go;’

If you’ll confess he brought home noble prize-

As you must needs, for you all clapt your hands,

And cried, ‘Inestimable!’- why do you now

The issue of your proper wisdoms rate,

And do a deed that fortune never did,-

Beggar the estimation which you prized

Richer than the sea and land?

 

-Troilus

Troilus and Cressida              Act II Scene ii, Line 89

 

That’s the argument for not surrendering up Helen to the Greeks to put an end to the siege of Troy. Priam, the king of Troy, is in conference with his sons, Hector, Troilus, Paris, and Helenus (yes, Helenus is a guy). The Greeks have sent a message that if the Trojans give up Helen now, all will be forgiven and the Greeks will leave. Hector and Helenus are in favor of giving up Helen. Troilus and Paris are not. As a reminder, Paris is the one who went and stole her from the Greeks in the first place.

I listened to the whole scene this morning (it’s only a little over 200 lines) and it’s very interesting. Hector and Helenus are arguing that reason dictates they should give up Helen; she’s just not worth all these people dying for. Today’s Totally Random lines, which is one long sentence, is the crux of Troilus’s argument.

There’s a couple of other things in this scene, though not in today’s line, that bear mentioning. One is the term cormorant war, and the other is the phrase Whose price hath launcht above a thousand ships. The former uses the word cormorant, a diving bird that feeds on fish, to mean all devouring. I thought that was pretty cool. The latter is, I suppose, the actual line that is commonly remembered as the face that launched a thousand ships. It’s Troilus who says

        Is she worth keeping? Why, she is a pearl,

        Whose price hath launcht above a thousand ships,

        And turned crowned kings to merchants.

 So the next time you hear someone talking about the face that launched a thousand ships, you can give them the full, correct rendering. 

Addendum: The Google has just informed me that the face that launched a thousand ships is a direct quote from Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, written around 1604. Since Will wrote Troilus and Cressida around 1602 (both dates are approximate), I think we can assume Will inspired Marlowe’s line. And we’ll leave it at that.

This is the Great Cormorant from my Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio. Does he look all devouring? I think he does, a little bit.  

 Yes.

-Gardiner

King Henry the Eighth           Act VI Scene ii, Line 39

 

That’s gotta be in competition for the shortest Totally Random line ever. I guess I could go through the archives (or in my case Excel spreadsheet) and see if we had No, or perhaps Ah, or maybe I? Well, I’m not going to do that right now.

What’s that you say? Yes, I should. Sadly, I repeat, no, I’m not going to do that right now. Sorry.

So that's a big thumbs up yes for today. Yes to what? I dunno. But I don't know what Gardiner was saying yes to either, so I guess we're all good. Yes, we are.