Notes on Act V, scene v

He: the unnamed author of the book

material: actual, real

rake: the devil with a pitchfork; the Cardinal's hideous vision resembles Ferdinand's fear of his shadow, both symbols of guilt and self-loathing.

lightens: becomes visible as action

proffers: offers

unseasonable: come too late

suffer: permit

chamber: you are going where Julia is (the grave)

above: in the original production on the Globe stage, these characters would have appeared in the upper balcony (the inner above) 

counterfeiting: pretending to need help, as he warned them he might do to test their obedience; ironically his attempt to conceal his guilt has sealed his doom.

laugh: make a fool of me by tricking me to abandon my pledge

engines: tools such as a crowbar

aloof: at a distance

Justice: often depicted with a sword in one hand and scales in the other

outward: you only appeared to be a great man, when actually you were always a coward

fall'st faster ... drive thee: you bring about your own ruin faster than the events themselves

leveret: small rabbit, defenseless animal

horse: possibly an allusion to Richard III's famous line, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" a part which Richard Burbage (who played Ferdinand in the first production) also originated

honors of arms: the right to retain arms after a defeat, if a person surrenders

adverse party: Ferdinand thinks his brother is the enemy in battle

ransom: there is no chance of a ransom if the prisoner is dead

Pompey: Julius Caesar defeated his one-time ally Pompey to become the supreme general of Rome, before his own assassination

barber: barbers also served as dentists and surgeons at this time

wet hay: in his madness he thinks of himself as the horse he called for a moment ago

vault credit:  by leaping over (surpassing) expectations that I'll burn in hell, I'll surprise everyone by enjoying the pleasures of the afterlife (a doubtful prediction)

in my teeth: the soul was thought to pass out of the mouth at death

pyramid: you began large (like the pyramid's base) but have ended up small (like its pinnacle) 

this hand: his own

neglected: in the end I neglected to follow my good nature. It is characteristic of tragic heroes to accept responsibility for their own actions.

rushes: the reeds covering the stage floor

withstand: how ironic that he did not permit us to rescue him

dead walls: walls that lead to a dead end

womanish: implying weakness, powerless

stagger: waver

arm'd: prepared

right: his mother's inheritance

eminent things: the brothers; combining "eminent" with "things" is telling irony; how the mighty have fallen


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