Miko: annotations

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

Another reference to Hermia's dark skin or dark hair. The term is used as a racist insult by comparing her to the dark skin of Africans.

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

confused, bewildered

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

Why would Lysander say he loves me unless you wanted him to do so?

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

to rend, to tear apart

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

The First Quarto and First Folio have “praise”. However, “praise” doesn't really work here. This line and the previous line are parallel - Demetrius can't force her anymore than Hermia can implore. “Prays”, meaning to ask for something, fits the pattern much better. It is generally assumed that the compositor simply misspelled “prays”. Some modern editions put “prays”, others put “prayers”.

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

Lysander is challenging Demetrius to step aside (away from the ladies) and fight.

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

To make ugly faces. This phrase might be a variation or corruption of “make mows”, which also means to make ugly faces.

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

Persevere. Pronounced perSEVer.

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

the butt of the joke

Mar 25, 2019

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, III.2

This word is not in the First Quarto but is in the First Folio. Without “passionate”, the line does not scan as iambic pentameter.