Page 244 - King Lear: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

i.4. NOTES 169
232-5. / would...father (<Q) F om. "The F
comp., having set up the short speech of the Fool, may
have accidentally let his eye return to the copy after the
Fool's next speech' (1949. ed. p. 376). For A.W.'s
emendation and lineation see Note on Copy, p. 137.
Prose in Q. The scansion seems convincingly verse; the
succession of strong accents underlining Lear's agonized
insistence. that=i.e. who I am. He has not heard the
Fool's (extrametrical) reply [G.I.D.]. Yet a problem
remains; see next n.
c
232-4. for by...daughters K. interprets this the
outward signs of sovereignty, which would persuade me
that I am Lear—and he, I know, had daughters.
knowledge and reason are not to be taken in opposition
with "the marks of sovereignty"'. But 'sovereignty'
surely implies not self-recognition but a realization that
he should command obedience and respect; and J.C.M.
interprets therefore 'judging by the normal signs of
sovereignty...my belief that I have daughters must be
false; for if I had daughters they would obey me, but
these creatures do not'. Yet this also leaves 'knowledge'
and 'reason' as a loose end. Despite last note, J.D.W.
finds 1. 232 unmetrical, and conj. the reporter shd perh.
have written 'Of knowledge, reason—and of sove-
reignty', wh. wd make sense.
235. Which Antecedent 'I' .
237. admiration = (pretended) astonishment.
240. should (Q, F) Q 2 (+Camb.) 'you should'.
F poss. transmits a common error. Yet the elision of an
understood 'you' is also poss.
242. debauched (Pope) F (+Camb.) 'debosh'd'.
We modernize. 244. Epicurism see G.
245. Makes it (F) Q ( + Camb.)'make'. 'Tavern
refers to epicurism, and brothel to lust' (Muir).
246. graced see G.
250. remainders (F) Q (+Camb.) 'remainder*.