Page:Some Textual Difficulties in Shakespeare.djvu/67

Rh Commentators generally have been taken up with the problem as to what it is that is being forsaken; and many of them seem to think that it is the rope or the gully which women themselves forsake; though what these things stand for is not explained. Others think it ought to read "in such a scare" and ascribe the present reading to a mistake upon the part of the printers of the Folio. As the Folio, which is full of error in punctuation, prints the word ropes as follows—"rope's—many critics think that this stands for "rope us." The present-day state of affairs is shown in the note of Gollancz summing up the most plausible theories:

"This is one of the standing cruxes in the text of Shakespeare; some thirty emendations have been proposed for 'ropes' and 'scarre' The apostrophe in the First and Second Folios makes it almost certain that s stands for us. Possibly make is used as an auxiliary; make rope's would then mean 'do constrain, or ensnare us.' Or is make rope a compound verb? Scarre may mean scare' (i.e. 'fright'). The general sense seems to be 'I see that man may reduce us to such a fright that we'll forsake ourselves.

Inasmuch as Bertram was the opposite of threatening, and used only the softest blandishment and persuasion, Gollancz's conclusion after considering all the attempts does not seem very fit to the actual case. It is difficult to see