Page 249 - King Lear: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

174 NOTES 1.5.

32. horns Not that Lear is a cuckold but that horns
are 'the inevitable adornment of married men' (K.).
33. forget my nature sc. forget I was once her
(Gon.'s) father.
36. the seven stars=the Pleiades, moe (<F) Q
(+Camb.) 'more'.
39. again=hack. He is meditating either (a) 'on
his resumption of royalty' (J.)—a continuation of the
hint in 1. 33 (cf. 1. 4. 258) or less likely (/>) 'on his
daughter's having in so violent a manner deprived him
of those privileges which before she had agreed to
grant him' (Steev.).
45-6. O, let me not etc. This sudden fear is occa-
sioned by the Fool's last remark; since 'wise' often =
4
'in one's right mind' being a poss. Cf. Oth. .1. 2 39, n.
(N.S.) and G. 'wisdom'. S.D. (<Theob.) Q, F om.
50-1. She...shorter Addressed to the audience.
'The maid who sees only the funny side of the Fool's
gibes, and does not realize that Lear is going on a tragic
journey, is such a simpleton that she won't know how to
preserve her virginity' (Muir). departure...shorter—a
rhyme in Sh.'s English, and Muir sees a homonymic pun
in 'deporture'=deportment, i.e. the Fool's goings on.
Unless...shorter Cf. Chaucer's Wife's Prol. 1. 121 and
G. 'thing'. S.D. F 'Exeunt'.

2. I
S.D. Loc. (Mai.) Entry (Q, subs.) F 'Enter
Bastard, and Curan, seuerally.'.
1. sp.-hdg. Q, F have 'Bast/ throughout the scene.
Saz>e=}Aa.y God save.
2. you, sir (<Q) F 'your sir'.
8. bussing (Q) F (+Camb.) 'kissing'—perh. so-
phistication or misreading. The two words mean
the same, but 'bussing' is also a play upon 'buzz-