The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.0854  Tuesday, 3 May 2005

[1]     From:   Vick Bennison <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sunday, 1 May 2005 15:08:27 EDT
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

[2]     From:   Nora Kreimer <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sunday, 1 May 2005 16:28:03 -0300
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

[3]     From:   Norman Hinton <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sunday, 01 May 2005 14:39:07 -0500
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

[4]     From:   Susan St. John <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sunday, 01 May 2005 13:49:52 -0700
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

[5]     From:   Bill Arnold <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:54:41 -0700 (PDT)
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Vick Bennison <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sunday, 1 May 2005 15:08:27 EDT
Subject: 16.0842 Good my Lord?
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

Re: someone asked if "Good my lord" was used only poetically.

One of the few things I do know, is that "Good my lord" was used as a
form of address in personal correspondence of the period.

Now back into the woodwork.

Vick Bennison

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Nora Kreimer <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sunday, 1 May 2005 16:28:03 -0300
Subject: 16.0842 Good my Lord?
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

Search Results for ""Good, my lord"" in http://www.bartleby.com in
REFERENCE section and Shakespeare. It will provide 86 examples.

Regards,
Nora Kreimer

[3]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Norman Hinton <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sunday, 01 May 2005 14:39:07 -0500
Subject: 16.0842 Good my Lord?
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

"Good" in "Good my lord,", "Good Sir", etc. has no more meaning than
"dear" in "Dear Sir".  It's what linguists have occasionally called
"phatic communication" (emphatic striped of its -em): noise made only to
"be polite" or to show that communications are open.

[4]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Susan St. John <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sunday, 01 May 2005 13:49:52 -0700
Subject: 16.0842 Good my Lord?
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

Matthew Baynham assumes the phrase "shows a depth of affection."

 >The same order, though with a
 >different adjective, does the same job in Lady Macbeth's, 'Gentle my
 >Lord/ Sleek o'er your rugged looks...' (3.2.28-29) - a moment of real
 >tenderness, I think.

I've always read "Good my lord" as a show of respect, or possibly false
respect (as when brown-nosing).  Imagine a butler saying "very good, my
lord", meaning essentially, "yes, sir".

But the phrase above, from MacB, does not speak to me of tenderness or
respect at all...rather it sounds like an order, or at the very least a
request, that Macbeth be less expressive.  Sort of "easy, big guy, don't
give so much away with that facial expression you're wearing"

Susan St. John

[5]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Bill Arnold <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:54:41 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 16.0842 Good my Lord?
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.0842 Good my Lord?

Matthew Baynham writes, "The same order, though with a different
adjective, does the same job in Lady Macbeth's, 'Gentle my Lord/ Sleek
o'er your rugged looks...' (3.2.28-29)...."

In modern day terms, I guess there would be a comma inserted between
"Gentle, my lord."  This is known as *direct address*.

Bill Arnold
http://www.cwru.edu/affil/edis/scholars/arnold.htm

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