A Queen in jest only to fill the scene.
IV, 4, 91.
VICE. INIQUITY.
I say without characters, fame lives long,
Thus, like the formal vice iniquity,
I moralize two meanings in one word.
III, 1, 82.
“Formal” appears to be here used as we now use “conventional” to describe that which was regular and in accordance with ordinary rule and custom. The vice of the stage was a familiar figure to the audience, and they were thoroughly accustomed to his proceedings. It would appear from the present passage that one of his devices, in order to create a laugh, was to play upon the double meaning of words.
TRAGEDIAN.
GLOU.