QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: First Lord
CONTEXT:
CLOTEN
I would they had not come between us.
SECOND LORD
So would I, till you had measured how long
a fool you were upon the ground.
CLOTEN
And that she should love this fellow and refuse me!
SECOND LORD
If it be a sin to make a true election, she
is damned.
FIRST LORD
Sir, as I told you always, her beauty and her brain
go not together: she’s a good sign, but I have seen
small reflection of her wit.
SECOND LORD
She shines not upon fools, lest the
reflection should hurt her.

DUTCH:
Zooals ik u altijd zeide, heer, haar verstand houdt
geen gelijken tred met haar schoonheid.

MORE:
Proverb: Beauty and folly are often matched together

In Shakespeare’s time beauty was seen as a signifier of virtue. See Thomas Hoby’s translation of the Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier (1561). Fourth Book: True beauty, the reflection of goodness.
Her beauty and her brain go not together=Her brain can’t match her beauty.
A good sign=Semblance. (Fig.: something of a deceptive semblance, not answering the promise)
Reflection=Shining back AND thoughtful consideration
Compleat:
Reflection=Terugkaatzing
Reflection=Overdenking, overpeinzing

Topics: appearance, intellect, perception, proverbs and idioms