Page 343 - King Lear: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

268 N O T E S 5.3.
to Edmund' which J. and many mod. edd. insert at 1.156
'
after I perceive you know it'. Yet Alb. could not give
Edm. what he was just about to make Gon. look at; and
why give away at all, least of all to Edm., a vital piece of
evidence in settling the account with his treacherous
wife, which must come to the State trial he is clearly
preparing for in the double arrest at 11. 83-5. At the
moment what he clearly wishes is to confront her with
the damning document while keeping a tight hold of it
himself. S.D. (ii) (J.D.W.) All he shows, as 1.15 5 tells
us, is her name subscribed.
156. tearing Sh. improves on the old play, where
Leir asks Ragan 'Knowest thou these letters?' and
there follows the S.D. 'She snatches them and teares
them'.
158-9. monstrous! O/\ Know'st (Globe, subs.) Q
'monstrous know'st', F 'monstrous! O, know'st'.
159. Know'st...paper? Addressed to Gon. in Q; to
Edm. in F. But 'Gon. needs an hysterical, not a
defiant, exit line; Alb. wd not turn to Edm. to ask his
question about the letter, and then belatedly give
instructions about his wife; and it is difficult to reconcile
Edm.'s confession (1. 162) with his defiance two lines
earlier. Knight and Kirschbaum argue that as Gon. has
already admitted she knows the letter, it is unnecessary
for Alb. to ask again "Know'st thou this paper?". But
Gon. has only implied that she knows the paper in the
words "Say, if I do"; Alb. wants a direct admission'
[Muir <G.I.D. 1949 ed.].
Ask...know. Given to Gon. in Q (+most edd.); to
Bast. [Edm.] in F. See previous note. S.D. (G.I.D.)
<Q 'Exit. Gonorill'. F gives her an 'Exit.' at 1. 158
('arraign me for't').
160. S.D. (Cap., subs.) Q, F om.
167,172. thou'st (Rowe) F 'th'hast', £>(+Camb.)
'thou hast'.