Note II.
[i. 1. 124.] The punctuation which we have adopted seems to be the only one which will make sense of this passage without altering the text. We must suppose that, during the ‘skirmish of wit’ between Benedick and Beatrice, from line 96 to 123, Don Pedro and Leonato have been talking apart and making arrangements for the visit of the Prince and his friends, the one pressing his hospitable offers and the other, according to the manners of the time, making a show of reluctance to accept them.
Note III.
[i. 1. 182, 183.] Johnson was not satisfied with his own conjecture, and supposed something to be omitted relating to Hero’s consent or to Claudio’s marriage; ‘something which Claudio and Pedro concur in wishing.’
Note IV.
[i. 2. 1.] We take this opportunity of reminding the reader that when no authority is given for the place of the scene, we generally follow the words of Capell. He, however, more frequently expands than alters the directions given by Pope. At the beginning of the next scene he puts, unnecessarily, ‘Another room in Leonato’s house.’ The stage was left vacant for an instant, but there is nothing to indicate a change of place.
Note V.
[ii. 1. 1.] Mr Spedding, in The Gentleman’s Magazine, June 1850, proposed to rearrange the Acts thus:
| Act ii. | to begin at what is now | Act i. Sc. 2, |
| Act iii. | . . . . . . . . . . . . | Act ii. Sc. 3, |
| Act iv. | . . . . . . . . . . . . | Act iii. Sc. 4, |
Act v. remaining as it is.