Footnote of the Day
On Merchant of Venice 5.1.273-9 --
Antonio, you are welcome;
And I have better news in store for you
Than you expect. Unseal this letter soon;
There you shall find three of your argosies
Are richly come to harbor suddenly.
You shall not know by what strange accident
I chanced on this letter.
And the note, from Arthur Quiller-Couch and John Dover Wilson, but quoted by apparently all editors of the play:
A beautiful example of Shakespeare's dramatic impudence.
I must admit it's a detail I'd forgotten about. Its effect is somewhat akin to the moment in Huckleberry Finn where Tom Sawyer reveals that Jim has been a free man all along.
Antonio, you are welcome;
And I have better news in store for you
Than you expect. Unseal this letter soon;
There you shall find three of your argosies
Are richly come to harbor suddenly.
You shall not know by what strange accident
I chanced on this letter.
And the note, from Arthur Quiller-Couch and John Dover Wilson, but quoted by apparently all editors of the play:
A beautiful example of Shakespeare's dramatic impudence.
I must admit it's a detail I'd forgotten about. Its effect is somewhat akin to the moment in Huckleberry Finn where Tom Sawyer reveals that Jim has been a free man all along.