Shakespeare’s Language

A Primer

Shakespeare’s Language

Why do people have trouble understanding his writing?

Shakespeare’s Language

A lot has happened to the English Language since the late 1500’s

Shakespeare was a poet, as well as an actor and playwright, and thus interacted with language differently than most others

Shakespeare as Poet / Actor

Used figurative language, slang, and word-play for effect

Wrote with poetic meter (rhythm of word sounds) in mind

Employed contemporary references Was an actor in his own plays;

employed soliloquy & aside

Changes in language over time

Changes in Word Order:“These babes for Clarence weep”

Omission of words:“I’ll to Norway”

Apostrophe use:“Unless I have mista’en his colours”

Changes in language over time

Grammatical Shifts:“One thing to rejoice and solace in”

Archaic words / Phrases:“Yet doth beauty, like a dial hand…”

Current words with older meanings:“A couch for … damned incest!”

Changes in language over time

Poetic Meter:“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes”

Royal Plural:“Shall we wear these glories?”

Pronoun &Verb Inflection differences…

Elizabethan Pronouns

…just close enough to whatwe use to be confusing.

Elizabethan Verbs

Inflections:

- 3rd Person Singular: -th, not –s(eg: “she giveth,” not “she gives”)

- 2nd Person Familiar: add –est, -st, ‘st(eg: “you givest,” not “you give”)

Elizabethan Verbs

Present Tense:

Past Tense:

Now You... are have will can shall do

Then Thou… art hast wilt canst shalt dost

Now You... were had would could should did

Then Thou… wast hadst wouldst couldst shouldst didst

Reading Tips

Shakespeare’s English is similar to, but different from ours

Read carefully, bearing the differences in mind; exploit the similarities

Use your glossary for explanations Don’t try to pronounce words you

already know differently

FYI: It’s not “Old English”

Shakespeare writes in “Early Modern” English

“Old English” look like this:

Oft Scyld Scefing         sceaþena þreatum, monegum mægþum,         meodosetla ofteah, egsode eorlas.         Syððan ærest wearð feasceaft funden,         he þæs frofre gebad, weox under wolcnum,         weorðmyndum þah, oðþæt him æghwylc         þara ymbsittendra ofer hronrade         hyran scolde, gomban gyldan.         þæt wæs god cyning!

Shakespeare & our English

Words:"advertising", "assassination", "bedazzled", "dishearten", "eventful", "eyesore", "moonbeam", "outbreak", "quarrelsome", "radiance", "reclusive", "stealthy", "submerge", "time-honored", "undervalued", "unmitigated", "unreal", "well-read", "watchdog" …

Shakespeare & our English

Phrases:

- All that glitters is not gold (The Merchant of Venice)- As good luck would have it (The Merry Wives of

Windsor)- Bated breath (The Merchant of Venice)- Be-all and the end-all (Macbeth)- Refuse to budge an inch (Measure for Measure /

Taming of the Shrew)- Dead as a doornail (2 Henry VI)- Eaten me out of house and home (2 Henry IV)- Elbow room (King John)

Shakespeare & our English

Phrases:

- Faint hearted (I Henry VI)- Forever and a day (As You Like It)- For goodness' sake (Henry VIII)- Full circle (King Lear)- Good riddance (Troilus and Cressida)- 'Tis high time (The Comedy of Errors)- In a pickle (The Tempest)- In my heart of hearts (Hamlet)

Shakespeare & our English

Phrases:

- In my mind's eye (Hamlet)- Kill with kindness (Taming of the Shrew)- Knock knock! Who's there? (Macbeth)- Laughing stock (The Merry Wives of Windsor)- Live long day (Julius Caesar)- Love is blind (Merchant of Venice)- Melted into thin air (The Tempest)- Naked truth (Love's Labours Lost)

Shakespeare & our English

Phrases:

- Not slept one wink (Cymbeline)- Own flesh and blood (Hamlet)- Snail paced (Troilus and Cressida)- A sorry sight (Macbeth)- The short and the long of it (The Merry Wives of

Windsor)- There's no such thing (Macbeth)- Too much of a good thing (As You Like It)- Wild-goose chase (Romeo and Juliet)

As we start our Shakespeare study…

Enjoy Shakespeare’s work

Use the information from this presentation to further your understanding

Ask questions at any time