Glossary

Act I, Scene 2

• generally — Bottom is mixing up “severally,” which means “specifically,” and “generally,” which means “all together.”
• scrip — a scrap of paper with a list or schedule written on it.
• treats — regards; deals with.
• Ercles — Hercules.
• tear a cat — rant and rave.
• condoling — expressing sympathy.
• extempore — Latin for “out of the moment”; improvised.
• aggravate — Bottom is mixing up “mitigate” or “moderate,” both of which mean “change” or “control,” with “aggravate,” or “make worse.”
• sucking dove — the phrase ought to be either “the sucking (nursing) lamb” or “the sitting (on the nest) dove.”
• con — learn.
• dole — one’s allotted share or destiny.
• thrum — the fringe of warp threads left on a loom after the cloth has been cut off.

Act I, Scene 1

• gawds — showy knick-knacks.
• abjure — solemnly renounce.
• avouch — assert.
• collied — darkened.
• league — usually meant how far a person could walk in an hour; about three miles.
• lode-stars — bright, easily found stars used for navigation, like the North Star.

Act II, Scene 1

The cowslips tall her pensioners be: In their gold coats spots you see

• pale — a space or field having bounds; enclosure.
• cowslips — see picture.
• pensioners — bodyguards.
• savors — scents.
• lob — synonym for the lubber fiend.
• square — square off; prepare to fight or settle an argument.
• bootless — without gain.
• quern — a hand-turned grain mill. (Robin Goodfellow could be helpful with household chores or mischievous, as the mood took him.)
• barm — the yeasty foam that rises to the surface of fermenting malt liquors.
• roasted crab — roasted crab-apple.
• and “Tailor!” cries — “Tailor” might be slang for “thief;” it might be a dirty joke about the lasciviousness of tailors, and the aunt’s position on the floor with her legs in the air; it might be an off-color remark about her “tail” being broken by fallen.
• quire — choir.
• neeze — sneeze.
• rash — ill-considered and hasty.
• wanton — a promiscuous woman.
• buskin’d — a “buskin” is a half-boot covering the foot and calf up to the knee, made of leather and laced.
• glance — make reference to.
• margent — margin, edge.
• mazed — amazed.
• votaress — faithful female follower.
• promontory — high ridge of land or rock jutting out into the water.
• vestal — virgin or nun.
• love-in-idleness — pansy.
• woo’d — insane, rabid. Possibly “wooed,” as in “courted” or “seduced.”
• adamant — legendary stone of impenetrable hardness.
• impeach — to call into question.
• desert — deserted.
• brakes — overgrown thicket.

Act II, Scene 2

• roundel — round dance.
• ounce — lynx.
• pard — leopard.
• darkling — in the dark.
• fond — foolish.
• eyne — eyes.
• surfeit — excessive amount.

Act III, Scene 1

The ousel cock so black of hue / with orange-tawny bill

• By’r lakin — “By our lady-kin,” or “by our little (dear) lady.”
• parlous — perilous.
• casement — window.
• disfigure — Bottom is confusing “figure,” or “symbolize,” with “disfigure,” or “deface.”
• loam — paste of clay and sand used for plastering walls.
• rough-cast — a coarse plaster of lime, shells, and pebbles used for outside wall surfaces.
• hempen home-spuns — a plain, coarse, usually woolen cloth made of homespun yarn; unsophisticated bumpkins.
• auditor — a listener.
• odious — foul-smelling.
• odorous — sweet-smelling.
• brisky juvenal — lively youth.
• eke — also.
• ousel cock — male thrush (see picture).
• gambol — dance.
• apricocks — apricots.
• peascod — pea pod; also, a style of doublet

Act III, Scene 2

• nole — head.
• injurious — doing injury.
• chid — scolded.
• rent — tear.
• persever — persevere; remain constant.
• canker-blossom — decaying flower, or that which infects and decays a flower.
• urged — advocated for.

Act IV, Scne 1

• coy — caress.
• neaf — hand.
• bottle of hay — bundle of hay.
• exposition of sleep — Bottom is confusing “disposition,” or “inclination,” with “exposition,” or “explanation.”

IVB

• vanguard — leading position.

Act IV, Scene 2

• transported — kidnapped.
• discharge — perform the obligations or demands of an office, duty, or task.
• paramour — a lover, especially one in an adulterous relationship.
• paragon — a perfect, peerless example.
• pare his nails — cut his nails.

Act V, Scene 1

• antic — ludicrous; fantastical.
• apprehend — perceive.
• despite — contemptuous defiance.
• sensible — feeling; sentient.
• moused — shaken, like a cat shakes a mouse.
• palpable-gross — obviously dense.
• triple Hecate — the triple goddess of magic and crossroads.
• prodigious — portentous.
• patched — foolish.
• “The eye of man hath not heard . . .” — See 1 Corinthians 2:9-10.
• peradventure — perhaps

September 29, 2010 | Categories: Actor Packets | Tags: definitions | 1 Comment

What’s in a name?

The Mechanicals

• Nick Bottom
  A “bottom” is the wooden spool a weaver winds his thread on.
• 

  Architectural quoins.

  Peter Quince
  Derived from “quines” or “quoins,” wooden wedges used in carpentry.

• Robin Starveling
  “Starveling” means someone skinny. Tailors were generally poor and unlikely to be well-fed.
• Tom Snout
  “Snout” might refer to the spout of a kettle, the sort of thing tinkers would work on.
• Snug
  Joiners, like carpenters, work with wood — but unlike carpenters, a joiner doesn’t use nails. A joiner’s joints must therefore be especially snug.
• Francis Flute
  “Flute” could refer equally to Flute’s profession mending bellows — devices that blow air — or to his high voice, as the youngest of the Mechanicals.

The Lovers

[From here] Of the four lovers, the names of Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena, are of course classical; Shakespeare would find lives of Lysander and Demetrius in North’s Plutarch. The name of Hermia, who corresponds with Emilia or Emily of The Knightes Tale, as being the lady on whom the affections of the two young men are set, may have been taken from the legend of Aristotle and Hermia, referred to more than once by Greene. The name cannot be called classical, and appears to be a mistranslation of Hermias.^[7]

• Hermia
  Greek. Feminine form of “Hermes,” meaning “messenger.”
• Helena
  Greek. Variation of “Helen,” meaning “shining light.”
• Lysander
  Greek. “Liberator.”
• Demetrius
  Greek. “Follower of Demeter.”

The Nobles

• Theseus
  Greek. “Orders.” See Theseus and Hippolyta.
• Hippolyta
  Greek. “Loosener of horses.” See Theseus and Hippolyta.
• Egeus
  Greek. “Protection; shield.” Variation of “Aegeus,” Theseus’ father.
• Philostrate
  Greek. “Master.”
  [From here] The name of Philostrate also comes from Chaucer, where, as we shall see, it is the name adopted by Arcite when he returns to court in disguise, to become first “page of the chamber” to Emelye, and thereafter chief squire to Theseus. It is in this latter capacity that Chaucer’s “Philostrate” is nearest to Shakespeare’s character, the Master of the Revels.

The Fairies

• Titania
  Greek. Variation of “Titan,” meaning “giant.” Ovid mentions the daughter of the Titans, named Titania.
• Oberon
  Probably French or German. “Royal bear.” Oberon the elf seems to have first appeared in a 13th century French heroic song, Les Prouesses et faitz du noble Huon de Bordeaux.
• Peaseblossom
  English. The flower of a pea plant.
  

  Peaseblossom.

• Cobweb
  English. A spider’s web.
• Moth
  English. Also “Mote,” in some versions of the text. A moth is a flying, often nocturnal insect; a mote is a speck of dust.
• Mustardseed
  English. The spicy seed of a mustard plant.
• Puck
  See [Puck].

September 26, 2010 | Categories: Actor Packets | Tags: definitions | Leave a comment