TWO OR THREE DISPUTED READINGS. 599 MACBETH. 'I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Act i. sc. 7. As the text stands above we have in shadowy imagery a most extraordinary horse and rider. Macbeth was no more likely to wear a single spur that would strike on both sides than the Irishman was to discover the much-coveted gun that would shoot round a corner. Moreover his horse must have had three sides to it at the least. Now, a horse may have four sides, right and left, inside and outside, and the street gamins will at times advise an awkward horseman to ride inside for safety, but it cannot have three sides. And if the single spur had pricked two sides there could have been no other left for vaulting ambition' to fall on. The truth is that sides' is a misprint. The single spur of course implies a single side-the side of Macbeth's intent, which leaves the other' for the vaulting ambition' to alight on in case of a somersault-the side of Macbeth's unintent. The passage comes perfectly right if we read I have no spur To prick the side of my intent, but only MACBETH. 'What beast was 't then, That made you break this enterprise to me?' Act i. sc. 7. That 'beast' and not 'boast' is the genuine lection here may be illustrated comparatively, by referring to 'King Richard II.,' act iii. scene 4, where the Queen asks the reflective Gardener What Eve, what Serpent hath suggested thee?' The Serpent was sliding through the mind of Lady Macbeth just before, when she bade her husband to 'look like the innocent flower But be the serpent under 't '— and no doubt she afterwards alludes to the Serpent as the beast of the field and the tempter that beguiled Eve; 'What beast, what serpent was it that tempted you?' Here is one of those instantaneous Shakspearian flashes which smelt the meaning of many words into one with a lightning-like power. It is the strip of colour on the wing of the jay that causes that bird to be commonly called the painted jay; this creates its popular character. And the woman here spoken of is a jay 'whose mother was her painting' because her beauty was a false creation; her painting made her, or mothered her, or was her Mother. Her maker is the sense of the passage, but 'mother' was the nearest word that could be consistently used. AN OLD READING DRAMATICALLY RIGHT. 601 ROMEO AND JULIET. Spread thy close curtain love-performing night, 6 6 Act iii. sc. 2. I do not understand why there should have been such an absurd dance of the Commentators after the runnawayes' of the old editions, or such a wild-goose chase in search of unnecessary substitutes, like Rumour's' Rumourer's,'' Renomy's' unawares,' 'enemies' eyes,' &c. To my thinking the old reading, with Juliet as Runaway, is a most golden one; subtly Shakspearian; the passage poetically playfully perfect. Juliet is the Runaway! She has run away from the parental authority and from her duty as a daughter. She has run away from the arms of father and mother to the bosom of her lover. She has run away to be secretly married, and is now waiting to run into the embrace of her husband. No word could be more characteristic than this, when applied by Juliet to herself. Mr. Dyce has printed rude day's eyes,' which may easily be shown to be an impossible reading. Juliet would not wish the eyes of day to wink if she wanted them to close altogether. Besides, the closing of day's eyes would, of course, be included in the coming of night, and it is not Shakspeare's habit to state that which is already implied. This rejection of Juliet as 'Runaway' and the vulgar public appeal to the day, &c. show that the Critics have totally misapprehended the whole speech and grossly misinterpreted the character of the speaker. They have assumed that the sole incentive of this appeal for night to come was Juliet's eagerness for the perfecting of her marriage. It is not so. That would make of Juliet a forward wanton, and of her speech an invocation most immodest, whereas her appeal to Night is for protection, for its darkness to drop a veil that will, as it were, hide her from her self. She is naturally desirous for Romeo's coming, but her great anxiety for the night's coming is the sensitiveness of modesty. The appeal is for Night to curtain round the bridal bed-for the Night to teach her how to lose a winning match-for the night to 'hood her unmanned blood' as the eyes of the falcon are covered up. This is the governing thought of the speech, therefore it was of the first dramatic necessity that an early cue should be given. And so, after the first passionate outburst the Poet makes Juliet wish the night to come that her eyes may wink;' i.e. may be bashfully veiled in the shadow of the darkness so that she can modestly countenance her husband's coming. The Critics would deprive the speech of its mood indicative, the character of a suggestion which was meant to guard it; a thought that acts like a bridal veila touch that gives to the invocation the tint of virgin crimson without which the speech would be positively barefaced. They have been looking too outwardly; dwelling too much on the assumed context of night and day, and have missed the dramatic motive and the more precious personal context. Juliet was not looking quite so much abroad as they have been; her thought was more inward and had a more private appropriateness; her feeling is altogether more maidenly than has been supposed. Other reasons and illustrations might be adduced to show that the old editions have given us Shakspeare's meaning, which cannot be mended. After what the Nurse tells us of her young Lady's pleasant conceit in coupling the names of 'Rosemary' and 'Romeo,' it is very characteristic for Juliet to match the names of Runaway and Romeo in loving alliteration. Also the coupling of her name in some shape or other with Romeo' in the lines quoted is of infinitely the greater necessity. She wants the night to fold in the pair of lovers, and would not leave herself out. The and Romeo' is of itself sufficient to tell us that Runaway must be Juliet. Lastly, to come to that surface comparison be AN OLD READING DRAMATICALLY RIGHT. 603 yond which the Critics have so seldom gone for illustration, the thought in the Poet's mind respecting maiden modesty winking at marriage may be proved conclusively by reference to the play of Henry V. : • Burgundy. Can you blame her then, being a maid yet rosed over with the virgin crimson of modesty, if she deny the appearance of a naked blind boy. 'King Henry. Yet they do wink and yield,- as love is blind Here is a sufficient exemplification of Shakspeare's meaning in making the appeal for Night to come that Juliet's (the naughty Runaway's) eyes may wink under the cover of its darkness as well as Romeo's visit be perfectly secret. The Commentators had no warrant whatever for suspecting the old reading, and have shown an utter lack of insight in their attempts to alter it, which have been quite destructive of the dramatic intention and injurious to the character of Juliet. LONDON PRINTED BY SPOTTIS WOODE AND CO. NEW-STREET SQUARE |