The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar

by William Shakespeare

[I.85] Except immortal Cæsar. Keen, double-edged irony.

[I.86] l. 63 Two lines in Ff.—Cassius, Pope Camb Globe | Cassius? Ff.

[I.87] you yet F₁F₂ | yet you F₃F₄.

[I.88] jealous on: suspicious of. In Shakespeare we find 'on' and 'of' used indifferently, even in the same sentence, as in Hamlet, IV, v, 200. Cf. Macbeth, I, iii, 84; Sonnets, lxxxiv, 14. See Abbott, § 181.

[I.89] laughter | Laughter Ff | laugher Rowe Camb Globe.

[I.90] laughter: laughing-stock. Although most modern editors have adopted Rowe's emendation, 'laugher,' the reading of the Folios is perfectly intelligible and thoroughly Shakespearian. Cf. IV, iii, 114.

[I.91] To stale: to make common by frequent repetition, to cheapen. So again in IV, i, 38. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, II, ii, 240.

[I.92] 'To protest' is used by Shakespeare in the sense of 'to profess,' 'to declare,' 'to vow,' as in All's Well that Ends Well, IV, ii, 28, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, I, i, 89. The best commentary on ll. 72-74 is Hamlet, I, iii, 64-65: "But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade."

[I.93] myself | my selfe F₁ | omitted in F₂F₃F₄.

[I.94] If you know that, when banqueting, I make professions of friendship to all the crowd.