85 happy father fortunate old man (father was a form of address for an elderly man, though Edgar plays with the literal sense)
86 clearest brightest, purest
86 make … impossibilities acquire honor for themselves by performing things that are impossible in the human world
93 free untroubled
94 The … thus were he (Lear) in his right mind, he would never permit himself to dress like this (or possibly “Gloucester’s senses will not be able to withstand seeing his master like this”)
96 touch accuse, blame/lay hands on
100 press-money money paid to military recruits when they were conscripted (Lear seems to imagine he is recruiting an army)
100 crow-keeper scarecrow/person employed to scare crows from the crops
101 Draw … yard draw your bow to its fullest extent (the length of a longbow’s arrow, which, at about thirty-six inches, was the same as the length of a cloth-seller’s measuring rod)
102 gauntlet armored glove thrown down as a challenge to a duel
103 prove it on make good my cause against
103 brown bills long-handled weapons, painted or varnished brown and topped with axe-like blades; or soldiers carrying such weapons
103 well flown, bird the language of falconry, here used to describe an arrow’s flight
104 I’th’clout cloth at the center of an archer’s target
104 hewgh perhaps Lear imitates the sound of the arrow as it flies through the air or hits the target
104 word password (continues Lear’s military fantasy)
105 Sweet marjoram Edgar invents a password that relates to Lear’s headgear and to the plant’s alleged medicinal properties in treating brain disorders
109 like a dog i.e. as if they were fawning dogs
109 had … there i.e. was wise even while I was still a child
111 divinity theology
112 me i.e. my teeth
113 peace be still
116 ague-proof immune to fever and shivering
117 trick characteristic, individual quality
121 cause charge, offense
124 goes to’t does it, has sex
125 lecher fornicate
127 got begot, conceived
128 luxury lechery, lust
128 for … soldiers i.e. more sex means more children to man his army
130 between … snow forecasts frigidity between her legs
131 minces virtue affects chastity
131 shake the head i.e. in disapproval
133 fitchew polecat/prostitute
133 soilèd fed with green fodder, so lively, skittish
134 riotous unrestrained, lustful
135 centaurs mythical creatures that were human above the waist and horse below; reputed to be lustful
136 But … girdle only as far as the waist
136 inherit possess, have power over
138 hell slang term for the vagina
138 sulphurous suggests both hell and syphilis
139 burning … consumption alludes to painful syphilitic burning, odor and decay (consumption)
140 civet perfume
140 apothecary person who prepared and sold drugs, spices, perfumes etc.
143 mortality being human/death
145 so similarly
147 squinny squint
147 Cupid Roman god of love, traditionally depicted as blind or blindfolded
148 challenge written challenge to a duel
148 penning style/handwriting
150 take … report believe it if I heard it reported
153 case sockets
155 heavy case sorrowful predicament
157 feelingly literally, through touch/with great emotion
159 justice judge
160 simple humble
161 handy-dandy take your pick (from the child’s game of guessing which clenched hand contains something)
165 a … office given authority, even a dog will be obeyed
167 beadle parish officer, responsible for punishing thieves, prostitutes, and vagabonds
169 use employ sexually
169 kind manner
170 usurer moneylender, notorious for charging excessively high interest
170 cozener cheat
172 Place … gold i.e. when sins are committed by the rich
173 hurtless harmlessly
174 it i.e. sin
175 able ’em authorize them
178 scurvy politician despicable schemer
179 Now … now perhaps comforting Gloucester, perhaps distracted by his boots
181 matter and impertinency sense and nonsense
184 hither i.e. into this world
189 block style of hat or mold for hats (perhaps Lear removes his headgear)/block from which to mount a horse/tree stump (stage may even give rise to a sense of “scaffold and executioner’s block”)
190 delicate ingenious
191 put’t in proof try it out
4.3 Gentleman perhaps the same man that Kent gave instructions to in Act 3 Scene 1
197 natural fool born fool (as opposed to a professional jester)
201 seconds supporters (as for a duel)
202 salt i.e. tears
204 die plays on the sense of “orgasm”
204 bravely handsomely
205 jovial cheerful/majestic (like Jove, king of the gods)
206 Masters sirs
209 Sa … sa hunting cry, from French ça (“that’s it,” “it’s there”)
212 nature i.e. human nature
212 general curse curse of original sin
213 twain Adam and Eve (but also suggests Goneril and Regan)
214 gentle noble
215 speed you (may God) prosper you
216 toward impending
217 vulgar widely known
219 by your favour if you would be so good
221 main … thought sight of the main army is expected hourly