Table Of ContentShakespeare and Animals
i
ARDEN SHAKESPEARE DICTIONARY SERIES
SERIES EDITOR
Sandra Clark (Birkbeck College, University of London)
Class and Society in Shakespeare Paul Innes
Military Language in Shakespeare Charles Edelman
Shakespeare’s Books Stuart Gillespie
Shakespeare’s Demonology Marion Gibson
Shakespeare and Domestic Life Sandra Clark
Shakespeare’s Insults Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin
Shakespeare and the Language of Food Joan Fitzpatrick
Shakespeare’s Legal Language B. J. Sokol and Mary Sokol
Shakespeare’s Medical Language Sujata Iyengar
Shakespeare’s Musical Language Christopher R. Wilson
Shakespeare and National Identity Christopher Ivic
Shakespeare’s Non-Standard English N. F. Blake
Shakespeare’s Political and Economic Language Vivian Thomas
Shakespeare’s Theatre Hugh Macrae Richmond
Shakespeare and Visual Culture Armelle Sabatier
Women in Shakespeare Alison Findlay
Shakespeare and London Sarah Dustagheer
Shakespeare and the Environment Sophie Chiari
Shakespeare and Science Katherine Walker
FORTHCOMING:
Shakespeare’s Classical Mythology Katherine Heavey and Janice Valls-Russell
Shakespeare’s Voyaging and Maritime Language Jo Esra
ii
Shakespeare and Animals
A Dictionary
KAREN RABER AND KAREN L. EDWARDS
iii
THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK
1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA
29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland
BLOOMSBURY, THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE and the Arden Shakespeare logo are trademarks
of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2022
Copyright © Karen Raber and Karen Edwards, 2022
Karen Raber and Karen Edwards have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as the authors of this work.
For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. vi constitute an extension
of this copyright page.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any
third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book
were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience
caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no
responsibility for any such changes.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Raber, Karen, 1961– author. | Edwards, Karen L., author.
Title: Shakespeare and animals : a dictionary / Karen Raber and Karen Edwards.
Description: London ; New York : The Arden Shakespeare, 2022. |
Series: Arden Shakespeare dictionary series | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2022009176 | ISBN 9781350002531 (hardback) | ISBN 9781350002517 (ePDF) |
ISBN 9781350002524 (epub) | ISBN 9781350002548
Subjects: LCSH: Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616--Knowledge–Animals–Dictionaries. |
Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616–Language--Glossaries, etc. | Animals in literature. |
English literature–Early modern, 1500–1700–History and criticism.
Classifi cation: LCC PR3044 .R33 2022 | DDC 822.3/3—dc23/eng/20220428
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022009176
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3500-0253-1
ePDF: 978-1-3500-0251-7
eBook: 978-1-3500-0252-4
Series: Arden Shakespeare Dictionaries
Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
To fi nd out more about our authors and books visit w ww.bloomsbury.com
and sign up for our newsletters .
iv
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
Series Editor’s Preface vii
Conventions Observed in this Volume viii
List of Illustrations x
List of Abbreviations xi
List of Headwords xiii
Introduction 1
A–Z 13
Index of Shakespeare’s Works 449
Bibliography of Shakespeare’s Works 457
Bibliography of Primary Sources 459
Bibliography of Secondary Sources 465
Index 489
v
Acknowledgements
Any project as massive as this one involves dozens if not hundreds of informal conversations,
Facebook posts, listserv queries, emails and other ephemeral communications. We want to
thank everyone who might have shared information in passing, sometimes without even
knowing they were adding to the knowledge this book represents. We are grateful to our
editors at The Arden Shakespeare, Lara Bateman, Sandra Clark and Mark Dudgeon, for
their suggestions, patience and diplomacy.
Karen Raber particularly wants to thank Craig Dionne, Holly Dugan, Shannon
Garner, Erin Kelly, Sarah Neville, Megan Palmer and Rob Wakeman for their help with
specifi c entries. She also thanks Allison Nixon, who assisted with formatting and editing
the manuscript during its long progress to conclusion, and Elijah Two Bears, who
provided signifi cant editing support in its last phases.
Karen Edwards wishes to thank Inna Matyushina and Peter New for their generous
and expert advice on a complex entry; and Ile Ashworth, Francine Blanchet, Jo Esra,
Anthony Fothergill, William Harvey, Naomi Howell, Eddie Jones, Charles Page, Philip
Parkinson, Esther Rashkin, Jane Spencer, Margaret Yoon and Patricia Zakreski for their
friendship and unstinting support when it was most needed. She wishes, above all, to
thank Steve Neale for gifts beyond naming.
vi
Series Editor’s Preface
The Arden Shakespeare Dictionaries aim to provide the student of Shakespeare with a
series of authoritative guides to the principal subject areas covered by the plays and
poems. They are produced by scholars who are experts both on Shakespeare and on the
topic of the individual dictionary, based on the most recent scholarship, succinctly
written and accessibly presented. They offer readers a self-contained body of information
on the topic under discussion, its occurrence and signifi cance in Shakespeare’s works,
and its contemporary meanings. The topics are all vital ones for understanding the plays
and poems; they have been selected for their importance in illuminating aspects of
Shakespeare’s writings where an informed understanding of the range of Shakespeare’s
usage and of the contemporary literary, historical and cultural issues involved will add
to the reader’s appreciation of his work. Because of the diversity of the topics covered
in the series, individual dictionaries may vary in emphasis and approach, but the aim
and basic format of the entries remain the same from volume to volume.
Sandra Clark
Birkbeck College
University of London
vii
Conventions Observed in this Volume
Headwords and cross-referencing
Headwords that represent alternative spellings or names refer readers to the main entry
for that item. To aid in cross-referencing, the fi rst appearance in an entry of the name of
any animal that appears under another headword is bolded, with the exception of
‘human’ and ‘animal’. Words appearing in quotations are not included in this rule.
Entries of length are divided into three sections: (A) provides defi nitions and descriptions
along with sources of information in early modern England and contemporary
commentary; (B) demonstrates uses and ramifi cations in plays; (C) offers a digest of
criticism and scholarship particularly in the twentieth to twenty-fi rst centuries. Shorter
entries omit the division into three sections.
Criteria for entries
Entries include all mammals, fi sh, birds and insects, whether specifi c (ram, gelding) or
generic (sheep, horse); all groupings of animals or other creatures (fl ock, herd); mythic
or folkloric beasts and monsters (Grimalkin, Minotaur); parts of animals or other
creatures (quill, horn); products derived from animals (civet, pearl); abstract concepts of
note in relation to animals (human, inhuman, tame, wild); techniques related to animals
(horsemanship, husbandry); individual characters strongly associated with animals
(Caliban, Dauphin); foodstuffs derived from animals (pork, beef); and mythical gods
and characters associated with animals (Actaeon, Philomel).
Quotations
All quotations are indicated by an abbreviated title (see list), act, scene and line numbers
(e.g. C YM 3.1.24). All quotations are taken from Arden Series 3 editions; in some cases
where Arden series 2 is referenced, the distinction is specifi ed ‒ see the List of Abbreviations.
Citations
All citations of secondary works are in parentheses and include author’s last name, date,
and, where the relevant discussion is more limited than the complete text cited, inclusive
page numbers (e.g., Name, 2011, or Name, 2011, 32‒ 5). Where an author has two or
more works in a single year, these are listed as a, b, c and so on. The review of scholarship
in each C section mainly includes works dating from the twentieth through the twenty-
fi rst century; earlier texts are included where deemed appropriate.
viii
Conventions Observed in this Volume
Taxonomy
Where possible, we have provided taxonomic information on individual animal species.
Since all early modern references to animals predate Linnaean taxonomic systems,
however, this information should be understood to be a best guess; in cases where the
identity of the animal in question is clear, we have offered the binomial designation;
where only the family or genus can be determined, we have noted that fact, and we have
additionally indicated where our guesses (and those of other sources) cannot be
confi rmed.
Division of labour
All entries are credited primarily to one of the two authors by initials. Raber wrote the
Introduction and compiled the Works Index; Edwards fi nalized the bibliographies.
ix
