• Anglo-Saxon period (450-1066)
• The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes came to the
British Isles from Northern Europe
(Denmark and Scandinavia) and fuse into
one tribe.
• Beowulf
• Old English
This is Old English:
Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Shakespeare did not write in Old English.
• Medieval period (1066-1500)
• The Normans invade Great Britain (1066)
and French becomes the new language of
the ruling class. Old English is influenced by
the French and evolves into Middle English.
• The Canterbury Tales
This is Middle English:
Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Shakespeare did not write in Middle English.
• The Renaissance (1500-1660)
• Normans and English fuse into one culture
(much like the Anglo-Saxons).
• English becomes the dominant language.
• The printing press helps spelling and
grammar become standardized.
• Early Modern English
• The King James Bible (1611)
Early Modern English:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his
name's sake.
This is the language Shakespeare wrote in. It is modern English, and very understandable.
• Born in Stratford upon Avon.
• Born on April 23. Died on April 23.
• Often called “The Bard of Avon,” or just
“The Bard.”
• Didn’t receive formal higher education.
• Married Anne Hathaway in 1582, had a
baby six months later. (Hmm…)
• His most famous theater was called The
Globe.
• The Globe burned down in 1613. (They
fired a canon during a performance of
Henry VIII.)
• Shakespeare’s plays can be put into four categories:
• Comedy – ends in a wedding (Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream)
• Tragedy – ends with death (Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo & Juliet)
• History – a historical tale of England’s monarchy (Richard III, Henry IV)
• Romance – a drama with a more epic scope, and themes of forgiveness
and good conquering evil (Winter’s Tale, The Tempest)
Getting’ jiggy wit it!
…and sometimes they even
make it in the dictionary.
Yada yada
yada…
That’s part of how languages
evolve. But more often than not,
new words will go out of fashion
quickly, and nobody will use them
anymore after that.
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Accused
Addiction
Advertising
Amazement
Assassination
Backing
Bandit
Bedroom
Birthplace
Blanket
Blushing
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Bet
Bump
Buzzer
Cater
Champion
Circumstantial
Compromise
Countless
Critic
Deafening
Drugged
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Epileptic
Elbow
Excitement
Eyeball
Fashionable
Fixture
Flawed
Generous
Gloomy
Gossip
Gust
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Hint
Hurried
Impartial
Invulnerable
Label
Laughable
Lonely
Lower
Luggage
Lustrous
Majestic
Marketable
Metamorphize
Mimic
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Monumental
Mountaineer
Negotiate
Noiseless
Obscene
Outbreak
Premeditated
Puking
Radiance
Rant
Remorseless
Savagery
Scuffle
Secure
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Skim milk
Submerge
Summit
Swagger
Torture
Tranquil
Undress
Unreal
Varied
Vaulting
Worthless
Zany
• And many more
• You probably already knew that all the women in
Shakespeare’s plays were originally played by men, right?
• Shakespeare’s theater troupe always kept two pre-adolescent
boys on hand for those parts: a “sassy brunette,” and a “cute
blonde.”
• First, get over words like “thee” and “thou.” They aren’t hard.
Singular
Plural
1st person
I, me
We, us
2nd person
Thou, thee
You, ye
3rd person
He/she, him/her
They, them
Many foreign language have multiple words for “you,” but we don’t use them in
English much anymore.
• Thou/thee: singular, informal (used for close friends, family, and subordinates)
• You/ye: plural, formal (used for multiple people, strangers, and superiors)
• Don’t be afraid of words with endings like “-st” or “-th.”
Singular
Plural
1st person
I have
We have
2nd person
Thou hast
You have
3rd person
He/she hath
They have
It’s just a different verb conjugation than what we usually use nowadays. It’s pretty
easy to figure those words out.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
The language Shakespeare uses is not what’s difficult about his work.
• Shakespeare uses frequent motifs and metaphors, and they often go
together. Pay attention to things that show up often such as fire,
darkness, blood, or clothes that don’t fit (really).
• Shakespeare uses a lot of allusions. Use footnotes to help with
allusions you do not recognize.
• Shakespeare uses a lot of personification. Does night have a cheek?
No. Can days walk? No. Think about things figuratively.
• Apostrophes only mean that letters have been remov’d. Use context
clues to figure these out.
• Most of his tragedies are written in iambic pentameter. But even when
the line ends, the sentence keeps going until you see a period.
Romeo:
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s* ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
*Ethiopian man
What does this mean? Don’t think of the language as scary, just
break down the metaphors.
How do the metaphors make the text more meaningful?
Macbeth:She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
— Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.
What three metaphors for life are given? What do they have in common?
How does this add to the meaning of the text?
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Anon – soon
Attend – wait
Aught – anything
Aye – yes, always
Base – unworthy
Befall – happen
Chide – rebuke
False – deceitful
Forbear – stop
Gentle – honorable
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Ho – here, or hey
Ill – bad
Knave – scoundrel
Mark – notice
Office – responsibility
Straight – immediately
Warrant – promise