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All Site ContentJulius CaesarAct 1Scene 1
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"out", "mend you"
Context and Language Videos
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 12-20

An explanation of the double meanings of being "out" and "mend you" in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare's Julius Caesar. 

myShakespeare | Julius Caesar 1.1 Double Meaning: "being out"

Marullus

But what trade art thou? Answer me directly.

Cobbler

A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe
conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.

Marullus

What trade, thou knave? Thou naughty knave, what trade?

Cobbler

Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me: yet,
if you be out, sir, I can mend you.

Marullus

What mean’st thou by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow!

Cobbler

Why, sir, cobble you.

Flavius

Thou art a cobbler, art thou?
Video Transcript: 

RALPH:  When Marullus gets irritated, the Cobbler says, “be not out with me; yet if you be out, sir, I can mend you.”

 

SERVILIA: It sounds like the Cobbler is getting irritated, too.  He means something like, “Hey, don’t get mad at me; if you do, I’ll fix your attitude for you.”

 

RALPH: That’s what it sounds like he’s saying, but there’s a second meaning. In the shoe repair business there’s an expression: "out at heel." It describes a shoe completely worn through at the heel. In this second meaning, the Cobbler is simply offering to mend Marullus’ shoe if it’s worn out. So it might sound like he’s getting rude, meaning something like: “I’ll fix you.”  But he’s disguising it by saying something that could also be interpreted as, “Let me fix your shoe for you.”