Prenzie (Vol. iii., p. 401.).
—Several words have been suggested to take the place of the unintelligible "prenzie" in Measure for Measure; but none of them appear to me to satisfy all the four conditions justly required by LEGES.
I would suggest phrensied or phrenzied, a word extremely like prenzie both in sound and appearance, and of the proper metre, thus perfectly satisfying two of the conditions.
With respect to the propriety of using this word in the two instances where prenzie occurs, Claudio, in the first place, when informed by his sister of the villany of Angelo, may well exclaim in astonishment—
"The phrenzied Angelo?"
i.e. "What, is he mad?" or, with a note of admiration, "Why, Angelo must be mad!" Then, I think, naturally follows Isabella's reply:—
"O 'tis the cunning livery of Hell,
The damned'st body to invest and cover
In phrenzied guards!"
that is, in the disguise or under the cloak of madness.