II. ii. 172. miracles, etc. The miracle is the letter from Cordelia, which he reads aloud, picking out the words in the uncertain light: enormous state means prodigious state of affairs.
II. iii. 14. Bedlam. These beggars, called 'Tom o' Bedlam,' pretended to have been confined in Bedlam (Bethlehem Hospital for lunatics); they called themselves 'Poor Tom.'
II. iii. 20. Turlygood. Possibly a corruption of thoroughly good; but no one knows.
II. iv. 271. gorgeous. What Lear means is, that if clothes were worn merely for warmth, then Regan is absurd; for her clothes are evidently chosen for appearance rather than for comfort. Possibly the line (meaningless as it literally stands), if only to go warm were gorgeous, has the following significance: 'if you are going to condemn a beggar for loving finery when really his clothing is only sufficient for warmth, why, then, how much more worthy of condemnation is Regan.'
III. ii. 84. No heretics burned, but wenches' suitors. This refers either to syphilis, or the treatment for it.
III. ii. 95. Merlin. A playful anachronism. King Lear's reign was supposed to have happened long before the time of Christ. Merlin was the magician of King Arthur's court. Thus the Fool would have lived about 1300 years before Merlin.
III. iv. 49. Who gives, etc. Theobald was the first to show that the allusions to superstitions and fiends in Edgar's simulated ravings were largely taken from Harsnet's Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures, 1603.
III. iv. 74. pelican. The pelican's offspring were believed to smite their parents.
III. iv. 144. Smulkin . . . Modo . . . Mahu. From Harsnet.
