![]() ![]() The noun nature does not mean "the natural world" but an "innate characteristic". That all unanimously praise new trivialities,Įven though they are (merely) old wine in new bottles, (.) One natural trait shows humanity's kinship:, The lines spoken by Ulysses mean the following: Kenneth Palmer's edition of the play (The Arden Shakespeare, second series, Routledge, 1982), glosses touch of nature as Kenneth Muir's edition of Troilus and Cressia (The Oxford Shakespeare, Oxford University Press, 1982) does not comment on this line. So the meaning of “one touch of nature makes the whole world kin” is that one small characteristic is common to everyone in the world: they like flashy novelties and disdain worthy antiquities, although the former are often merely reworkings of the latter. The juxtaposition of “dust that is a little gilt” with “gilt o’er-dusted” is an antimetabole.Compare “Wipe off the dust that hides our sceptre’s gilt” ( Richard II, act II, scene 1). “gilt o’er-dusted” is a gloss on “things past”: that is, something valuable (“gilt” = gold) that has become dusty with age.“dust that is a little gilt” is a gloss on “gauds”: that is, something worthless (“dust”) that has been made showy or ornamental (“gilt” = gilded).“makes the whole world kin” means “demonstrates that everyone is alike”.“nature” means “innate disposition or character”. ![]() ![]() “touch” means “a small quantity of any substance deposited as if by a light touch” ( OED).Though they are made and moulded of things past, That all with one consent praise new-born gauds One touch of nature makes the whole world kin: Shakespeare explains the meaning of this line in the subsequent four lines: ![]() What does "nature" mean in "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"?
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