The Works of Aphra Behn Volume I Part 104

p. 272, l. 21 _Rummer._ 4to 1673 'Romer'.

p. 272, l. 33 _that's not the Fas.h.i.+on._ 1724 omits 'not'.

p. 272, l. 34 _I'll manage her._ 1724 'I manage her'.

+Act III: Scene iii+

p. 273, l. 6 _Scene III. Draws off. A Grove._ 1724 omits 'Draws off.' I have added the locale 'A Grove.'

p. 278, l. 24 _how darst thou._ 1724 'how durst thou'.

p. 278, l. 34 _that could not defend._ 4to 1673 omits 'that'.

+Act III: Scene iva+

p. 283, l. 34 _you knew not of my Brother's._ 1724 'you know not my Brother's' and omits '[To Franc.'

p. 284, l. 4 _to see the fair Clarinda [Goes to Clarinda] here, is a Happiness._ 1724 'to see the fair Clarinda [Goes to Clarinda.] Here is a Happiness'.

p. 285, l. 7 _Goes out._ 1724 'Exit'.

+Act IV: Scene i+

p. 286, l. 27 _Surlily to him._ 1724 'Goes surlily to him'.

p. 287, l. 26 _by instinct. [Aside._ 1724 omits 'Aside'.

p. 287, l. 27 _Stands looking very simply._ 1724 omits 'very'.

p. 288, l. 5 _new-fas.h.i.+on'd Spanish Civility._ 1724 omits 'Spanish'.

p. 289, l. 13 _it made my Stomach wamble._ 1724 'it had made'.

p. 289, l. 32 _Gaber._ 1724 'Gabor'.

p. 290, l. 28 _Fakes, to entertain._ 1724 'Faith'.

p. 291, l. 5 _They two dance._ 1724 'They too dance.'

+Act IV: Scene ii+

p. 296, l. 2 _Runs behind Lovis._ 1724 omits.

p. 297, l. 1 _I declare it here upon._ 1724 'Here I declare it upon'.

p. 298, l. 13 _who starts as afraid._ 1724 misreads 'as aforesaid.'

+Act IV: Scene iii+

p. 301, l. 6 _Oh, is it bravely done._ 1724 'Oh, it is bravely done ...' and punctuates ':' instead of '?'

p. 301, l. 12 _on this Body._ 1724, wrongly, 'on thy Body'.

p. 301, l. 34 _Takes to his Sword._ 1724 'the Sword'.

+Act V: Scene i+ p. 310, l. 3 _Cleo. Oh my Fears._ 4to 1673 wrongly marks 'aside'.

p. 312, l. 3 _Weeps._ This stage direction is not given by 4to 1673.

p. 319, l. 1 _How very very wicked._ 1724 'How very wicked'.

p. 319, l. 32 _Count d' Olivarez._ 4to 1673 here and elsewhere when the name occurs 'Conte De Olivari's'.

p. 320, l. 17 _if you are pleas'd._ 1724 'if your are pleas'd'.

+Act V: Scene ii+

p. 322, l. 1 _Carlo's House._ 4to 1673 'House of Carlo'.

p. 322, l. 5 _Dor. As for._ 4to 1673 misreads 'Dom. As for'.

p. 323, l. 11 _Hau. What a Devil._ 1724 'Hau. What the Devil'.

p. 324, l. 7 _Truth. [Goes out._ 1724 'Exit.'

p. 324, l. 20 _G.o.d-ha'-Mercy._ 1724 'G.o.d-a-Mercy'.

p. 324, l. 20 _Go in._ 1724 omits.

NOTES: CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY.

+Epistle+

p. 221 _An Epistle to the Reader._ This amusing and witty Epistle only appears in the 4to, 1673, finding no place in the various collected editions of Mrs. Behn's plays. The writer of comedy-- 'the most severe of Johnson's sect'-- with his 'musty rules of Unity'-- at whom she glances pretty freely is Shadwell, who had obtained great success with _The Sullen Lovers_ (produced 2 May, 1668; 4to, 1668), and in spite of some mishaps and opposition, made another hit with _The Humourists_ (1671; 4to, 1671). An ardent disciple of Ben Jonson, he had in the two printed prefaces to these plays belauded his model beyond all other writers, insisting upon the Unities and the introduction of at least two or three Humours as points essential to any comedy.

p. 221 _Doctor of Malmsbury._ The famous philosopher, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1670), who was born at Westport, a suburb of Malmesbury (of which town his father was vicar).

p. 222 _unjantee._ --'Jantee' obsolete form of 'jaunty': see _N.E.D._

p. 222 _the mighty Echard._ That facetious divine, John Eachard, D.D. (1636-97), Master of Catherine Hall, Cambridge. His chief work, _The Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy and Religion enquired into. In a Letter to R. L._ (London, 1670), published anonymously, is stuffed full with Attic salt and humour.

He has even been censured for a jocosity (at his brethren's expense) beneath the decorum of the cloth.

p. 224 _English Game which hight long Laurence._ To play at Laurence = to do just nothing at all; to laze. Laurence is the personification of idleness. There are many dialect uses of the name, e.g., N.W. Devon 'Lazy's Laurence', and Cornish 'He's as lazy as Lawrence', vide Wright, _English Dialect Dictionary._

+Act I: Scene ii+

p. 234 _Women must be watcht as Witches are._ One of the tests to which beldames suspected of sorcery were put-- a mode particularly favoured by that arch-scamp, Matthew Hopkins, 'Witch-Finder General'-- was to tie down the accused in some painful or at least uneasy posture for twenty-four hours, during which time relays of watchers sat round. It was supposed that an imp would come and suck the witch's blood; so any fly, moth, wasp or insect seen in the room was a familiar in that shape, and the poor wretch was accordingly convicted of the charge. Numerous confessions are recorded to have been extracted in this manner from ailing and doting crones by Master Hopkins, cf. _Hudribras_, Part II, canto iii, 146-8:--