Shakespeare’s Language
A pre-Othello 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

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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 what
we 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:
Now
You...
are
have
will
can
shall
do
Then
Thou…
art
hast
wilt
canst
shalt
dost
did

Past Tense:
Now
You...
were
had
would
could
should
Then
Thou…
wast
hadst
wouldst
couldst
shouldst didst
Reading Tips


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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 drama study…
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Enjoy Othello
Use the information
from this
presentation to
further your
understanding
Ask questions at
any time