a missing "fast"?

[Dan Goncharoff]

I vote for "securely". Under the laws of the time, it was possible to
engage in a secret marriage, but the couple was not entitle to
copulate until the marriage was publicly declared. That is Claudio's
issue here -- he is married (upon a true contract...she is fast my
wife), but he also "got possession" of his wife's bed without the
"denunciation ... of outward order".
DanG



On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 10:32 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      a missing "fast"?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Just saw a production of "Measure for Measure" in the park here last =
> night and was struck by a use of _fast_ that doesn't seem to correspond =
> to any of the entries under the adverbial FAST in the OED.  The speaker, =
> Claudio, has just been condemned to death by Angelo, the puritanical =
> fill-in chief of state in Vienna, for fornication, as revealed by=85well, =
> you'll see:
>
> CLAUDIO:
> Thus stands it with me: upon a true contract
> I got possession of Julietta's bed:
> You know the lady; she is fast my wife,
> Save that we do the denunciation lack
> Of outward order: this we came not to,
> Only for propagation of a dower
> Remaining in the coffer of her friends,
> =46rom whom we thought it meet to hide our love
> Till time had made them for us. But it chances
> The stealth of our most mutual entertainment
> With character too gross is writ on Juliet.
>
> So they were affianced or common-law-married partners who would have =
> been actually married except without the official banns being posted.  =
> As far as I can tell, when Claudio says "she is fast my wife" in the =
> third line, he means that Juliet is almost, nearly, or virtually his =
> wife.  But as noted, this isn't in the OED entry for FAST, adv.  What's =
> striking is that this is precisely the main (or only?) sense of the =
> German word _fast_.  Is this just a coincidence, or did that sense =
> persist into Early Modern English as well, in which case why no subentry =
> for it along with those for 'fixedly', 'diligently', 'vigorously', =
> 'securely', 'strictly', 'rapidly', 'immediately', and 'in a dissipated =
> manner'?  Or is Claudio's use somehow an instance of 'securely' (with =
> the "save" clause marking the way in which the bond isn't all that =
> secure)?  None of the relevant cites at that subentry really seem at all =
> parallel. =20
>
> LH
> =09=
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org