Read The Merry Wives of Windsor Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
61
having
wealth, means
61
wild … Poins
i.e. Prince Henry and Poins, who appear in Shakespeare’s
Henry IV
plays
62
region
social standing
63
knit a knot
secure/repair
64
substance
wealth
64
simply
i.e. as she is, with no dowry
68
monster
i.e. Falstaff, imaged here as a so-called monster exhibited at a fair
72
anon
shortly
73
hearts
fine friends
74
canary
sweet wine from the Canary Islands (in Ford’s response, he plays on the sense of “lively dance”)
75
pipe wine
wine from the wooden cask (
pipe
puns on the sense of “musical instrument”)
76
make him dance
i.e. make him leap/beat him
76
gentles
gentlemen
77
Have with
we shall come
2
buck-basket
laundry basket (to
buck
is to wash)
6
charge
instructions
8
hard
close
8
brew-house
outhouse for brewing beer
11
whitsters
bleachers of clothing
11
Datchet Mead
meadow between Windsor Little Park and the River Thames
18
eyas-musket
young hawk that has not been fully trained
22
Jack-a-Lent
figure or puppet of a man traditionally pelted during Lent
25
liberty
i.e. unemployment
25
turn me away
sack me
33
humidity
dampness/collection of fluids (i.e. Falstaff)
33
pumpion
pumpkin
34
turtles from jays
turtledoves (proverbially faithful) from brightly colored birds (i.e. loose women)
35
Have … jewel?
a slightly adapted line from Philip Sidney’s sonnet sequence
Astrophil and Stella
36
period
goal/climax
39
cog
cheat/flatter
39
prate
prattle/brag
47
ship-tire
ornamental headdress shaped like or inspired by a ship
48
tire-valiant
elaborate headdress
48
Venetian admittance
accepted as fashionable in stylish Venice
49
kerchief
simple head covering
49
become
suit
52
absolute
perfect
52
firm … foot
confident tread
53
semi-circled farthingale
semicircular boned petticoat worn underneath the back of the dress
54
Fortune … friend
i.e. Nature has favored Mistress Ford with beauty but Fortune has prevented her from being a lady (Falstaff continues to imply that he could raise her estate)
60
hawthorn-buds
i.e. budding courtiers/affected young gallants
61
Bucklersbury
street in the City of London known for shops selling medicinal herbs
61
simple time
midsummer, when herbs (simples) were most readily available
66
Counter-gate
gate to the Counter, a debtor’s prison in Southwark
66
reek
smoke/foul smell
67
lime-kiln
kiln for making mortar
74
blowing
puffing
75
presently
immediately
76
ensconce me
hide myself
77
arras
large tapestry wall-hanging
81
undone
ruined
83
well-a-day
expression of regret
84
to
as
86
Out upon you!
expression of frustration and condemnation
97
clear
innocent/free from blame
98
friend
lover
99
amazed
stunned
100
good life
i.e. existence as a respectable woman/reputation
105
stand
waste time (saying)
107
conveyance
contrivance to get Falstaff out of the house
111
whiting-time
bleaching time
120
dissembling
deceptive
123
cowl
(tub or basket)
123
cowl-staff
pole used by two people to carry a
124
drumble
move sluggishly
131
what … do
what business is it of yours
132
You … buck-washing
a proper concern of yours is it to interfere with washing clothes
133
Buck
laundry, but Ford puns on the senses of “stag,” whose horns represent cuckoldry, and “lecherous man”
134
of the season
in the rutting season
136
tonight
i.e. last night
137
chambers
inner rooms/bedrooms
138
unkennel
drive out
139
uncape
uncover (or perhaps a printer’s error for “escape” or “uncase”)
140
contented
calm/satisfied
152
taking
agitated state
154
need of washing
i.e. as he may have urinated or defecated in fright
157
strain
nature
161
try
test
164
carrion
old bag/whore
170
compass
achieve/embrace
172
use
treat
179
presses
large cupboards
184
distemper … kind
bad temper/disordered mind of this sort
187
as … desires
as I could possibly wish for (unintentionally punning on the sense of “as I could desire sexually”)
196
a-birding
hunt small birds using a
197
hawk
to drive them into leafless bushes
203
remembrance … host
i.e. let us remember the revenge we have planned on the Host for the trick he played on us over the duel
2
turn
refer
4
be thyself
i.e. take matters into your own hands
6
state … expense
my estate being damaged by my spending
6
galled
made sore through chafing
8
bars
obstacles
9
riots
wasteful/dissipated lifestyle
9
societies
companionships
13
speed
prosper
17
stamps
coins (stamped with an image)
24
Break
interrupt
26
I’ll … on’t
i.e. I’ll do it one way or another (a
shaft
is a slender arrow used in a longbow, while a
bolt
is the shorter, thicker one used in a crossbow)
26
’Slid
by God’s eyelid (a common phrase)
26
but venturing
only a matter of having a go
27
dismayed
frightened; Slender’s reply suggests that he does not understand the word
33
ill-favoured
ugly
37
thou … father
i.e. remember that you had a valiant father/a father who once wooed a woman; Slender misunderstands this as a prompt for conversation with Anne
45
come … long-tail
come what may (literally, refers to a horse/dog with either a docked or a long tail)
48
jointure
marriage settlement provided for the wife by the husband in the event of his death
54
will
wish (Slender understands the legal sense of the term; there may also be a play on the sense of “sexual desire”)
55
’Od’s heartlings
by God’s dear heart
60
motions
urgings
61
happy … dole
i.e. may the man who gets you be happy with his lot
66
haunt
hang around
76
for that
because
78
Perforce
of necessity
78
checks
rebukes/obstacles
78
manners
means of behaving (to me)
79
advance the colours
raise the flag (as if toward an opposing army)
81
yond
yonder
84
set quick
buried alive (up to the neck)
89
affected
inclined
96
once
at some point
97
There’s
i.e. there’s money
103
sooth
truth
105
speciously
malapropism for “specially”
105
of
be on
3
quart
i.e. two pints
3
toast
piece of hot toast sometimes added to wine
4
barrow
barrow-load
8
slighted me
tipped me contemptuously
9
blind bitch’s puppies
the newborn, blind puppies of a bitch
11
down
sink
12
shore was shelvy
banks were sloping
15
mummy
dead flesh
19
reins
kidneys
21
cry you mercy
beg your pardon
24
pottle
drinking vessel containing half a gallon (equivalent to four pints)
26
Simple
plain/unmixed (with eggs) I
’ll
I’ll have
26
pullet-sperm
chicken seed (i.e. eggs)
31
ford
river water
33
take on with
rant at, berate
34
erection
malapropism for “direction” (i.e. instruction; Falstaff’s response brings in the architectural and phallic senses)
38
yearn
move to compassion
43
frailty
moral frailty (contrasted here with Falstaff’s supposed resolution in keeping his appointment with Mistress Ford)
48
miss
fail to meet
58
sped you
were you successful
59
ill-favouredly
poorly
60
determination
intention/decision
61
peaking cornuto
skulking/mean-spirited cuckold
62
’larum
alarm/agitation
63
comes me
comes (
me
is an intensifier)
64
protested
declared (love)
76
Rammed
perhaps, coming after
buck
, with a play on “ram” (male sheep, horned like the buck, and also associated with lust)