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The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 6 of 9] cover

The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 6 of 9]

Chapter 36: FOOTNOTES:
By William Shakespeare
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About This Book

The volume collects four dramatic works that range from a historical drama focused on court politics and questions of succession to a skeptical treatment of love and honor amid a prolonged war. Another play examines pride, civic unrest, and the fraught relationship between a celebrated public figure and the populace, ending in alienation and political catastrophe. A final piece delivers a brutal revenge tragedy where cycles of atrocity and retaliation escalate into extreme violence. The edition pairs the plays with scholarly notes and textual commentary that document variant readings and editorial decisions.

THE EPILOGUE.

'Tis ten to one this play can never please
 All that are here: some come to take their ease,[918]
 And sleep an act or two; but those, we fear,[919]
 We have frighted with our trumpets; so, 'tis clear,[920]
 They'll say 'tis naught: others, to hear the city[921] 5
 Abused extremely, and to cry 'That's witty!'
 Which we have not done neither; that, I fear,
 All the expected good we're like to hear[922]
 For this play at this time, is only in[923]
 The merciful construction of good women;[923] 10
 For such a one we show'd 'em: if they smile,
 And say 'twill do, I know, within a while
 All the best men are ours; for 'tis ill hap,
 If they hold when their ladies bid 'em clap.

FOOTNOTES:

[918] ease] case F2.

[919] sleep] sleep out F3 F4.

[920] We have] W' have Ff. We've Rowe (ed. 2).

[921] 'tis] F1. it's F2 F3 F4.

[922] we're] w'are Ff. we are Capell.

[923] is only in The] we shall not owe men, But Collier conj.