Comedies. Two gentlemen of Verona |
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present profession a tinker ? Ask Marian Hacket , the fat alewife of Wincot , if she
know me not : if she say I am not fourteen pence on the score for sheer ale , score
me up for the lyingest knave in Christendomn . What ! I am not bestraught .
What need the bridge much broader found her accordant , he meant to take the
present than the flood ? time by the top , and instantly break with you of it . The
fairest grant is the necessity . Leon . Hath the fellow any wit , that told you this ?
Where will you find men worthy enough fable : some certain special honours it
pleaseth his to present them ? greatness to impart to Armado , a soldier , a man
of Hol . Joshua , yourself ; myself , or this gallant travel , that hath seen the world ...
I have brought him then , to ' scape drowning thrice , and to be in perili a present .
How agree you now ? of my life with the edge of a feather - bed : -here Laun .
Well , well ; but , for mine own part , as I are simple ' scapes ! Well , if fortune be a
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SOURCE OF THE PLOT AND CHARACTERS . The Shakespearian critics of the
present century have been very industrious in their endeavours to trace out the
sonrce of the plot of the Twelfth Night . I abridge , from Mr. Collier , the substance
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"like a wood woman" might indeed have meant "frantic" or "wild" (with grief) which Launce mentions referring to the "shoe" which he adopts for the sake of illustration. However, Shakespeare, even at his earliest writings, was vastly entertained by double entendres and his love of puns is so well documented. In that time in Italy, women wore platform shoes which were raised to elevate the shoes from the mud and other unpleasant "stuff". These were called "chopines" and the platforms were constructed of wood. The higher the platform, the higher the pretentiousness of the lady. Her height could have put her above many others. Since Launce has his father and mother represented as shoes, this second meaning is certainly not outside of the possibility for Shakespeare's intention. Naturally, it would have had the effect of a rather "localized" and "temporary" idea, but the fact of its having been very popular in that day makes it a candidate for the Bard's delight.