in comparison (Riley's Pl. II, p. 221 N.; 240 N.). A more obvious resemblance in style is the use both by Udall and Plautus of explanations long-drawn-out, jokes that lose their point by repetition, and the halting of action by lengthening the dialogue. (As Stichus II, 3; Epidicus IV, 4; Captivi IV, 2 Riley I, p. 465; R. D. III, 2, 55 ff.) These resemblances, numerous as they are, do not mean that the Westminster schoolmaster was lacking in a sturdy English non-conformity. In the interests of decency he changed the Roman courtesan to an honest widow, and completely eliminated the vulgarity of plot and language, so conspicuous in the plays of Plautus. Here is no concealed identity of a lost child, mechanically brought to light in the fifth act. Here is no symmetrical grouping of old men, their sons, their sons' servants, and their sons' courtesans. Puns that stock in trade of the Plautine comedy - are religiously eschewed. Nor is there such personation of one character by another as forms the staple of several of the Latin plays. The procurer, that favorite butt of Roman fun, is noteworthy by his absence. And the title that Udall gives his play names its prominent character, and does not, like the Eunuch and Heautontimorumenos of Terence, and the Trinummus and Rudens of Plautus, to name no others, derive from some secondary personage or accidental stage property. Roister Doister is, after all, a comedy of English life and English manners, suggested in part by the classical reading of its author, but with substantial claim to an originality as genuine as one often meets in this imitative world. Tufts College, Mass. D. L. Maulsby. NOTES ON SOME PLAYS OF BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER'). IV, 4, 3. The Elder Brother. "but, ere ye part, I'll ride you, And spur your reverend justiceship such a question, As I shall make the sides o' your reputation bleed." As Mr. Greg says, "to 'spur a question' seems fair nonsense"; though the direct object of 'spur' is not 'question' but 'justiceship'. Compare, say, 'I'll ride you such a hunt'. Theobald was on the right track when he read 'such a quest on't'. I believe we should read 'questing'. There seems to be a play upon the chivalric and the legal meanings of 'quest'. The Spanish Curate. Mr. McKerrow's gallant assurance that Amaranta "remains faithful to her husband" is a verdict of not guilty in the absence of proof positive, and is charmingly creditable to his good breeding. It was Leandro's duty to clear the character of a lady whose reputation had been impaired by his indiscretion, and it is the duty of every gentleman to accept his statement without question. I, 1, 33. Dyce's statement that "throughout the play Jamie is accented on the last syllable" may be accepted without reserve. Mr. McKerrow thinks that line 33 furnishes an exception. "Don Jamie's noble born, his elder brother Don Henrique rich. . ." But the line is equally good whether we accent the last syllable or the first. 1) The works of Beaumont and Fletcher; variorum edition; volume II. London, George Bell & Sons and A. H. Bullen, 1905. I, 1, 83. Mr. McKerrow assures us that he has followed the folio of 1647 wherever possible. But here he accepts the reading of F, and is forced thereby to accent heavily a word which in ordinary speech would be but lightly touched. He omits 'and' from the line: "Of a base and abject mind. I wish my years . . .” Of course his reading would be defensible if it were authoritative. But this is by no means the only occasion on which Mr. McKerrow has unnecessarily slighted F1. In this very scene he takes a characteristic Fletcherian line (1. 141) and reduces it to conformity with the normal pentameter. One must hesitate, too, at his alteration of line 240; his shifting of the parenthesis in II, 2, 81; his change of the present (expressive of an act resulting in a state still existent and of prime importance to the speaker) to the past in III, 3, 150. And in III, 4, 34, "Will ye be there? then here? I'll spare ye that man," the only change that is needed is the alteration of the second to ; which is mere modernization, or, perhaps we should say, correction of a common error of seventeenth century printers. In IV, 7, 73: Talk' may be taken as the cognate object of 'talked' in line 71: "And talk'd aloud, that every ear was fix'd to him Did I not suffer, do you think, in this time? - And there is another unnecessary addition of a letter in V, 2, 48. The transformation of 'and' (= if it) to 'an't' (as in V, 2, 61) is an unfortunate habit of the editors in this volume. It would be excusable if 'and' were really a corruption of 'an't', and not rather a colloquial contraction of 'and't'. Etymologically 'and' is more respectable than 'an'. At any rate, Mr. McKerrow should recognise the possibility of treating F, with respect in most, if not all, of the cases here cited. When one of the very best editors in England slights his authoritative text on such imperceptible provocation, how can we reprehend the carelessness of the ready-made commentator; "if gold ruste, what shal yren do?" III, 3, 12: "I am confident Arto. Meminí: nempe illum dícis cum armis aúreis, Quasi uéntus folia aut pániculum tectórium. Pyrgop. Istúc quidem edepol níhil est. Arto. Eccum. edepol uél elephanto in India Illud, féminur uolui dícere. Conísus esses, pér corium, per uíscera Perque ós elephanti tránsmineret brácchium. Pyrgop. Nolo ístaec hic nunc. The Braggart Captain 1). Act I, Scene I. Arto. I do remember this. In Cilicia there were a hundred and fifty men, a hundred in Cryphiolathronia, thirty at Sardis, sixty men of Macedon, whom you slaughtered altogether in one day. Pyrgop. What is the sum total of those men? Pyrgop. It must be as much: you keep the reckoning well. Arto. Yet I have none of them written down; still so I remember it was. Pyrgop. By my troth, you have a right good memory. Arto. (aside) 'Tis the flesh-pots give it a fillip. Pyrgop. So long as you shall do such as you have done hitherto, you shall always have something to eat: I will always make you a partaker at my table. Arto. Besides, in Cappadocia, you would have killed five hundred men altogether at one blow, had not your sabre been blunt. Pyrgop. I let them live, because I was quite sick of fighting 1). 1) Riley's Pl. I, p. 72. 2) Because they were wretched foot-soldiers, in the following Latin text. Arto. Miles Gloriosus '). Actus I, Scene I, lines 42-54. Mémini: centum in Cílicia Et quinquaginta, céntum in Scytholatrónia, Sunt omnes quos tu occídisti una unó die. Septem mília. Arto. Arto. Arto. Quid in Cappadocia, úbi tu quingentos simul, Ni hebés machaera fóret, uno ictu occíderas? Pyrgop. At péditastelli quía erant, siui uíuerent. Faust points out (p. 14) an interesting parallel to one other passage. See R. D., III, 4, ll. 121-124: "Refraine from Custance a-while now, And I warrant hir soone right glad to seeke to you; Compare M. G. Plauti, IV, 5, 1233-1238 (p. 88): Palaestrio. Nam tú te uilem féceris, si te últro largiére: Sine últro ueniat quáeritet desideret exspéctet. And Riley's translation (p. 133): Mínume. Acrot, (aloud). Troth, if he shall refuse to take me as his wife, by heavens I'll embrace his knees and entreat him! If I shall be unable to prevail on him, in some way or other, I'll put myself to death. I'm quite sure that without him I cannot live. Pyrg. (to Pal.). I see that I must prevent this woman's death. Shall I Pal. accost her? By no means; for you will be making yourself cheap if you lavish yourself away of your own accord. Let her come spontaneously, seek you, court you, strive to win you. 1) M. S. Plauti pp. 7, 8. |