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Notes on Act II, scene i
fain: desire to
main: chief goal
nightcap: white cap worn by lawyers
expresses your ears: shows off your ears (i.e., like a jackass)
band: part of the lawyer's attire
president: presiding judge
causes: cases
roaring boys: rowdy young men
nightcaps: lawyers; that is, if the people hear that you are dying and curse you, then be certain they think you are a true lawyer.
painting: putting on makeup
scurvy face-physic: medicine for a diseased complexion
sloughs: muddy ditches, commenting on her wrinkles which she tries in vain to cover up with makeup
nutmeg crater: because her skin was so marked by small pox
hedgehog: similar to a porcupine; flayed skin would be taken off in strips and roll up, like a hedgehog when protecting himself
careening: scraping barnacles off a ship
morphew'd: blistered, scaly skin
disembogue: disembark, as a ship leaving port; that is, as she leaves for a potential affair
rough-cast phrase: there's a speech as rough and ugly as your plastered face
closet: private room where she would do her makeup
ordure: excrement, filth; Bosola suggests she uses these strange ingredients to make potions for her face
pigeon: dead pigeons were thought to absorb the poison out of plague sores
sin of your youth: Bosola implies that Castruchio and the old lady suffer from venereal disease, which keeps the doctor in business
footcloth: extravagant coverings for the feet of horses, bought only by the wealthy
fall of the leaf: he can afford to change courtesans every autumn
prodigy: unnatural monster
rich tissue: fine clothes
sweet: to become a tasty treat for the worms
couple: Bosola implies that while Julia, Castruchio's wife is away (committing her own adulteries, as we discover in II.iv), he should take advantage of her absence and take this old woman.
wells of Lucca: warm springs near Pisa, known for their healing properties
on foot: in progress (at hand)
fins: edges
teeming: to teem means to give birth
wanes: grows thin
waxes: grows fat
somewhat: something in it (both in this suspicious manner of behavior, and in her belly)
apricocks: apricots; Bosola hopes to appeal to the cravings that pregnant women have for fresh fruit, thus finding her out
tetter: skin disease
simplicity: simple-minded as opposed to philosophical: "ignorance is bliss"
inside: I understand your inner meaning
preferment: advancement to the status of keeper of the Duchess' horses
the devil, that rules i'th'air: allusion to Ephesians 2:2, "the prince of the power of the air"
ascendant: your fortune is on the rise, based on good astrological signs
cousin-german: first cousin
King Pepin: Pippin, father of Charlemagne, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire around 800 AD
meaner: common
tithe-pig: greed makes even a holy man sue another for the tenth of his possessions including so much as a pig, tithe being the tax paid to the church; this same greed leads men to war.
short-winded: out of breath
litter: carriage
great with child: pregnant
ruff: lace collar
when?: she is impatient with her servant
peels: chewed to remedy bad breath (the first quarto edition of the play has "pills")
sound: swoon, faint
mother: hysteria, but Bosola picks up on another meaning
presence: former meeting hall of the court
bare: bare-headed, removing one's hat as a sign of respect; but Antonio may also intend a double meaning, sharing a secret joke with his wife
to-year: this year
colour: blush
pare: peel
musk: strong perfume
loath: you would hate to rob me of such delicacies
restorative: healthful
grafting: the art of taking a branch of one fruit tree and making it grow on another kind of tree; Bosola also alludes to the "grafting" of a husband (unknown to him at this time) to the noble house of Malfi
pippin ... crab: different kinds of apples
bawd farthingales: hooped skirts which would hide a pregnancy
springal: young animal, usually born in the spring
cutting a caper: dancing, kicking
politic: secret
colour ... close: this story will give some justification for her keeping herself closed up in her room
