IV.iii.468 (378,5) What an alteration of honour has/Desperate want
made!] [W: of humour] The original copy has,
_What an alteration of honour has desperate want made!_
The present reading is certainly better, but it has no authority. To
change _honour_ to _humour_ is not necessary. _An alteration of honour_,
is an _alteration_ of an _honourable state_ to a state of disgrace.
IV.iii.474 (378,8)
Grant, I may ever love, and rather woe
Those that would mischief me, than those that do!]
[W: rather too/...that woo] In defiance of this criticism, I have
ventured to replace the former reading, as more suitable to the general
spirit of these scenes, and as free from the absurdities charged upon
it. It is plain, that in this whole speech _friends_ and _enemies_ are
taken only for those who _profess friendship_ and _profess enmity_; for
the _friend_ is supposed not to be more kind, but more dangerous than
the _enemy_. In the amendation, _those that would mischief_ are placed
in opposition to _those that woo_, but in the speaker's intention _those
that woo_ are _those that mischief_ most. The sense is, _Let me rather
woo or caress those that_ would _mischief, that_ profess to mean me
mischief, _than those_ that really _do_ me _mischief under false
professions of kindness_. The Spaniards, I think, have this proverb;
_Defend me from my friends, and from my enemies I will defend myself_.
Pages:
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153