Category Archives: Curculio: English

Two or three corrections in Edith Wharton short stories

Posted on Monday: October 1, 2018 by Michael Hendry

My first venture into textual criticism of modern printed authors is now (I believe) out of embargo, so I have made a PDF and uploaded it here. If you’re not yet sure you want to click the link, the title … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture: Fiction, Curculio: English, Publications | Tagged | Leave a comment

Marring Marlowe: A Low Pun in Edward II?

Posted on Friday: September 30, 2016 by Michael Hendry

    Contemporary humanists often seem to operate on the principle that any possible pun in Shakespeare and his contemporaries is real or intended (loaded word!) or somehow present to the alert reader, inevitably adding to the meaning of the passage. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture: Plays, Curculio, Curculio: English, English Literature | Tagged | Leave a comment

“I’ll put her to her pension”: A Mad World, My Masters I.ii.66

Posted on Tuesday: March 8, 2016 by Michael Hendry

One of the more difficult passages in Middleton’s play is the soliloquy of Harebrain (aka Shortrod) as the “pure virgin” (actually a courtesan) fetches his wife (I.ii.62-69): This is the course I take; I’ll teach the married man A new … Continue reading →

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Curculio 5: Worst. Endearment. Ever.

Posted on Thursday: October 31, 2013 by Michael Hendry

Peter Davidson’s Poetry and Revolution: An Anthology of British and Irish Verse 1625-1660 (Oxford, 1998) includes a rather dull love-poem (number 36) by “T.C.”, most likely Thomas Cary, “Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles I” (516). The untitled poetic dialogue … Continue reading →

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Curculio 4: A Sly Joke in The Alchemist?

Posted on Monday: September 30, 2013 by Michael Hendry

Kastril or Kestrel, the ‘angry boy’ of Ben Jonson’s Alchemist, calls his sister his ‘suster’ and says ‘kuss’ for ‘kiss’.1 It is not clear whether this is meant to represent a particular regional dialect, a generalized country accent, or his … Continue reading →

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Curculio 2: ‘Pervert the Present Wrath’: a Conjecture on Cymbeline

Posted on Monday: August 26, 2013 by Michael Hendry

I am experimenting with publishing original scholarly notes on this site. My first attempt, a week ago, was a single page on the structure of Silius Italicus’ Punica. I have just uploaded a PDF file of my second paper, two … Continue reading →

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