Mall, diminutive of Mary: Tp. II, 2, 50. “are they like to take dust, like Mistress --'s picture?” Tw. I, 3, 135 (commonly supposed to allude to one Mall Cutpurse, but with little probability, as Mall Cutpurse was born in 1589 and died in Tw. I, 3, 135 Perhaps Sir Toby means only to say: like a picture intended for a beauty, but in fact representing Mall the kitchenwench. In the poet's time it was the custom to hang curtains before pictures).
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
hide
Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
