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This word is a noun.
“Bona-roba” is a word of Italian descent. In this language, it means “good material” or “good property”. It derives from “bona” (a variant of “buona”, the feminine version of “buono”, which means good. Also comes from the Latin word “bonus”). It may also mean “a fine gown” in Italian.
This word is also similar to “roba”, a word of Germanic origin, meaning “property” or “material”.
Also similar to the Old High German word “roub”, which means “booty”, or “something stolen”
Usage in literature (general):
“They talked in high-pitched affected voices and giggled like bona-robas.”
"The Path of the King" by John Buchan
“BONA ROBA, a showy wanton.”
"Red Gauntlet" by Sir Walter Scott
“How stands it with the bona robas and the galliards?”
"The Fair Maid of Perth" by Sir Walter Scott
“The Lord knows that though only the wife of a poor parson, you might throw for gewgaws with a bona roba!”
"Audrey" by Mary Johnston
“They went thereafter into the Ketel-straat, which is the street of the bona robas.
4.7 (346)
“ This writer never make an mistake for me always deliver long before due date. Am telling you man this writer is absolutely the best. ”
”
"The Legend of Ulenspiegel, Vol. II (of 2)" by Charles de Coster
Usage in Shakespeare:
Bona-roba is just another piece of sexual imagery in Henry IV, Part 2, but expands beyond this, to all of Shakespeare’s plays. Gordon Williams defines “bona-roba” to mean “an attractive whore” within the play.
This word is just a larger piece to a puzzle of sexual imagery, of which there is a lot to explore.
Hobbyhorse - Word Study: Beeves (I just really like word studies!!)
Context in Henry IV, Part 2: “I saw it, and told John a Gaunt he beat his own name, for you might have thrust him and all his apparel into an eel-skin -- the case of a treble hautboy was a mansion for him, a court. And now has he land and beeves.” (III.ii.334-337)
Reason for studying: I was not aware that “beeves” was the plural form for the word “beef” before studying this word. Therefore, I decided to look up whether or not it is common in this day and age. I found a graph displaying the usage of the word “beeves” over time:
I found that the usage of this word was high during and before the 1800s. It picked back up again in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was used to talk about cattle. Shakespeare’s time was that late 1500s and early 1600s, so, presumably, looking at this graph, and using the information I have gathered, this word was more popular during Shakespeare’s time than it is now. It is quite uncommon in the present day.
Definition: plural of beef (the flesh of cows, bulls, or oxen, used as food). Also: “the flesh of various bovine animals, esp. the cow, when killed for eating”
This is a plural form of the noun “beef”.
In farming, this word is used for cows, bull, or ox, fattened for their meat.
In some dictionaries, this word is labelled as “archaic”
“Beef” first came from the Latin “bovem” (nominative bos, genitive bovis). This meant "ox” or “cow". This came from the root “gwou-” -- "cow, ox, bull" The original plural was, indeed, “beeves”.
This word was presented in 1300s Old French as “buef”, meaning "ox; beef; ox hide". In modern French, the word is “boeuf”.
As a verb, the word “beef” can mean "to complain". This is slang from 1880s American English. This noun, also meaning "argument", is recorded from the 1930s. There are speculation that this version of “complaint” came from the common late 19th century complaints of U.S. soldiers about the quantity or quality of their beef rations.
Water seems to be mentioned quite a bit within this play. These references seem to highlight how dangerous water can be. This correlates with the theme of rebellion and danger within the play itself. Water tends to be used also as a metaphor for someone’s actions or feelings.
“The tide of blood in me/ Hath proudly flowed in vanity till now./ Now doth it turn and ebb back to the sea,/ Where it shall mingle with the state of floods/And flow henceforth in formal majesty.” (V.ii.129-133)
The new King Henry V (as Prince Hal has just become king in this scene) is referencing his past in this section of the text. He talks about ebbing and flowing of the “tide”. He is saying that he has left his past behind, and become a new man. Though he is calm at the time, this tide and flow that he references in his past was not calm before. He had only just now tamed it -- though this raises a quesiton to me: Can a body of water really be tamed? We will have to see in Henry V!
“"Now let not Nature's hand/ Keep the wild flood confined! Let order die!" (I.i.153-154)
Northumberland is trying to get a rise out of people and come against King Henry IV. He is getting people to do so by using a metaphor that contains water within it. He talks about not letting nature keep “the wild flood confined”, and he wants order to die. He is using water for chaos.
“We all that are engage to this loss/ Knew that we ventured on such dangerous seas/ That if we wrought out life ‘twas ten to one./ And yet we ventured, for the gain proposed” (I.i.180-183)
In this quote, Lord Bardolph is attempting to talk his counterpart, Northumberland, down. He knows that he is distraught over the death of his son, but wishes for Northumberland to see reason -- that that is what happens in war. Unfortunately, he is not seeing it this way. Though Lord Bardolph is trying to keep peace, he says that the sea is “dangerous”.
These are only just a few examples of this ongoing metaphor of water being dangerous within the play. Water is a symbol for rebellion, chaos, and something uncontrollable. Destruction is inevitable when the water is let loose and able to wash away whatever it pleases -- whether this means destruction of what they want or destruction of themselves or their psyche.
This beautiful piece of artwork caught my eye straight away. The colors were of the sea, calming and beautiful, and the font used for the quote was perfect. It reminded me of old handwriting, as that of Shakespeare might have been. Also, as a whale is a creature of the sea, I believed that it may tie in nicely with my environmental interpretation earlier in this particular research notebook, which had to do with water, and, therefore, the sea.
I found this piece on Etsy.com. It is a piece of nursery art, in the form of an 8" x 8" “premium quality fine art print”. It is comprised of a picture of a whale, along with the quotation “Passions, like a whale on ground, confound themselves with working”. After looking up this quote from Shakespeare’s play, Henry IV, Part 2, the location is Act IV, Scene IV (lines 40-41).
This Etsy shop is owned by Laudea Martin, who writes children’s books containing unconventional quotations from Shakespeare’s works with Martin’s own illustrations.
It is stated in the description of this piece that “These are not Shakespeare's most famous lines; these are simply vivid snippets—imagery of some of Earth's animal inhabitants. The original context of each quotation is irrelevant; this is the great poet's own poetry re-imagined.”
I thought that I could delve deeper into this quotation, and analyze why it was paired with this specific piece of art. Alas, when I began to read more from Laudea Martin, I came to realize that she herself takes the quotations and re-interprets them to create her artwork. She essentially uses Shakespeare’s words as a muse instead of using them as just words. This in itself is like a re-re-appropriation at this point, which I find to be very interesting and very beautiful.
This close-up photo of the whale shows how much detail goes into this digital piece of artwork. Layer after layer are put in, and to see that this woman is so driven and inspired by Shakespeare’s work is amazing. This is not the only piece she had done with Shakespeare. She was the author of the children’s books Shakespeare's Zoo, Shakespeare's Menagerie, and Shakespeare's Complete Paragon. Each of them are very similar, containing artwork such as this, with quotes, but they are all very beautiful. I believe that Martin can be an inspiration to us all, showing that what you see is not always what you are going to get. She proves this with the artwork and quotation pairings she does. This image in particular is from her book Shakespeare’s Menagerie.
I really support what this artist/author does with her work. She embodies Shakespeare in every way -- they are both artists, inspired by other people. Shakespeare took after previous playwrights or authors, and Martin took after Shakespeare. They each made the object or writing their own, and, in that, I find the greatest discovery in this reappropriation.
In September of 1400, he led the rebellion against Henry IV, and proclaimed the title Prince of Wales, and was the last to hold this title.
“Despite England's massive military strength at the beginning of the 15th century, the Welsh, under the charismatic leadership of Glyndwr, drove the English from their land and enjoyed a hard-earned–albeit brief–independence.”
In the Henry IV, Glyndŵr claimed to have magical powers, and I wished to investigate further whether this was true within his real life. I did find a few occurrences in which magic could have been involved in this man’s life:
“In 1402 the sighting of a great comet in the sky was taken by Owen's followers to be a sign of victory and they captured Owen's enemy Reginald Grey of Ruthin.”
Though his death was not necessarily magical, he did disappear mysteriously. The only real mention I found was that he was believed to have died “somewhere”.
When Henry IV sent his armies from Shrewsbury, Hereford, and Chester, heavy storms and mists began and they had to retreat early. Rumors then spread that Glyndŵr did it with magical, weather-controlling powers.
I found that many historical people of this time believed he dabbled in magic and sorcery as well, but most are pertaining to the weather and how he used it to his advantage.
Glyndŵr’s followers firmly believe that if Wales is ever in any danger from the English, he will return and free them from oppression. Glyndŵr’s crest can now to be seen all over Wales, especially at rugby matches against the English. He has become quite popular throughout the years, and was voted the “Greatest Welshman in History” in a poll taken in 2013.
My best discovery for my Henry IV, Part II Research Notebook was my environmental interpretation. I realized early on that water metaphors were seemingly prominent within Henry IV, Part II. Upon further research, I found I was correct in thinking so. The water imagery within this play is used to enhance what a character is already trying to say, usually about danger or rebellion. I also think that water itself is like a metaphor for the actions of the characters within the play. Some act hastily, some calmly and quietly, but all are brought back into themselves at one point or another. This reminds me of water lapping at the shore. The ebbing and flowing of each of the characters and how they interact with one another is very interesting. I was unable to explore this further for sake of time, but I believe that an essay could be made surrounding these water metaphors and imagery.
A literary commentary on Henry IV the Shakespearean play. (2024, Feb 17). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/a-literary-commentary-on-henry-iv-the-shakespearean-play-essay
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