[I.135] In Troilus and Cressida, III, iii, 256, Thersites says of the wit of Ajax: "It lies as coldly in him as fire in a flint, which will not show without knocking." The same figure is found in the description which Brutus gives of his unimpassioned nature, [IV, iii, 112-114].
[I.136] Scene IV Pope.
[I.137] ll. 178-179 Four lines in Ff.
[I.138] proceeded: happened, come to pass. So in All's Well that Ends Well, IV, ii, 62.
[I.139] worthy note. Cf. All's Well that Ends Well, III, v, 104. For the ellipsis of the preposition, see Abbott, § 198 a.
[I.140] One of the marked physical characteristics of the albinotic ferret is the red or pink eye. Shakespeare turns the noun 'ferret' into an adjective. The description of Cicero is purely imaginary; but the angry spot on Cæsar's brow, Calpurnia's pale cheek, and Cicero with fire in his eyes when kindled by opposition in the Senate, make an exceedingly vivid picture.
[I.141] Cæsar? Theobald | Cæsar. Ff.
[I.142] o' nights Capeli | a-nights F1F2.
[I.143] "Another time when Cæsar's friends complained unto him of Antonius and Dolabella, that they pretended some mischief towards him, he answered them again, As for those fat men, and smooth-combed heads, quoth he, I never reckon of them; but these pale visaged and carrion lean people, I fear them most; meaning Brutus and Cassius."—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar. There are similar passages in Plutarch's Life of Brutus and in the Life of Marcus Antonius. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III, xi, 37. Falstaff's famous cry was for 'spare men.' See 2 Henry IV, III, ii, 288. 'Sleek-headed' recalls Lamb's wish that the baby son of the tempestuous Hazlitt should be "like his father, with something of a better temper and a smoother head of hair."
[I.144] well given: well disposed. So in 2 Henry VI, III, i, 72.