Breaking the Code
Strategies for Unlocking
Shakespeare’s Use of Language
Why bother?
 Thinking about how language works helps
one…
 Interpret Shakespeare’s plays.
 Learn another language.
 Understand one’s own language.
 Write more fluently and effectively.
 Perform well on “standardized” tests.
Three “Key” Areas
 Diction.
 Syntax.
 Imagery.
Other things that come in threes...
The First Key: DICTION
 Double Negatives.
 Double Superlatives.
 Difficult Vocabulary.
 Wordplay.
Double Negatives
 “I pray you, bear with me; I cannot go no
further.” (As You Like It)
Double Superlatives
 “This was the most unkindest cut of all.”
(Julius Caesar)
 “Oh that this too too solid flesh would
melt.” (Hamlet)
 “Excellent, excellent well.” (Hamlet)
 “I must needs tell thee all.” (Merchant of
Venice)
Vocabulary:
Same word, different meaning
 WS: “I would you had won the fleece that
he had lost.” (Merchant of Venice)
 US: “I wish you had won the fleece that he
had lost.”
 WS: “What find I here? Fair Portia’s
counterfeit?” (Merchant of Venice)
 US: “What do I find here? Fair Portia’s
picture?”
Vocabulary:
Word no longer used
 “Come, bring me unto my chance.” (Merchant of Venice)
 “Come, bring me to my chance.”
 “I will anon. First let us go to dinner.” (M. of Venice)
 “I will soon. First let us go to dinner.”
 “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (Romeo & Juliet)
 “Why are you [named] Romeo [Montague]?”
Wordplay: Puns
 One word that has two (or more) meanings
(one of which is often obscene).
 Lancelet: “I beseech you, sir, go. My young
master doth expect your reproach.”
Shylock: “So do I his.”
 [Lancelet uses “reproach” as “approach”;
Shylock uses “reproach” as “reprimand” or
“scold.” (Merchant of Venice)
The Second Key: SYNTAX
 Unusual sentence structures.
 Words are arranged in an unusual order, or
“inverted.”
 Words usually next to each other are
separated.
 Words or parts of words are omitted.
Why is the syntax so unusual?
 WS shifts words around …
 for rhythmic effect.
 for rhyming effect.
 to emphasize certain words.
 to give certain characters unique voices or
speech patterns.
Inversion
 Subject – verb.
 WS: “Away from light steals home my
heavy son.” (Romeo and Juliet)
 US: “My heavy son steals home away from
light.”
 US: “My heavy son steals home away from
light.”
Inversion
 Subject – verb – object.
 WS: “Me they shall feel.” (Romeo and Juliet)
 US: “They shall feel me.”
 US: “They shall feel me.”
Inversion (continued)
 Subject – verb – object.
 WS: “This kindness will I show.” (Romeo and Juliet)
 US: “I will show this kindness.”
 US: “I will show this kindness.”
Inversion
 Subject – verb – compliment.
 WS: “Black and portentious must his humor
prove.” (Romeo and Juliet)
 US: “His humor must prove black and
portentious.”
 US: “His humor must prove black and
portentious.”
Inversion (continued)
 Subject – verb – compliment.
 WS: “Such comfort as do lusty young men
feel shall you this night.” (Romeo and Juliet)
 US: “This night you shall feel such comfort
as do lusty young men.”
 US: “This night you shall feel such comfort
as do lusty young men.”
Inversion
 Adjective placed after the noun.
 “…whether the body public be / A horse
whereon the governor doth ride.” (Measure
for Measure)
 “…whether the public body be / A horse
whereon the governor doth ride.” (Measure
for Measure)
 Consider: little boy blue vs. little blue boy;
the soup spicy vs. the spicy soup.
Separation
 Words usually next to each other are
separated or interrupted (sometimes by
many long, intervening phrases).
 “And she was weaned (I never shall forget
it) / Of all the days of the year, upon that
day.” (Romeo and Juliet)
 “And she was weaned (I never shall forget
it) / Of all the days of the year, upon that
day.”
Baby, Bottle, and Mom Nurse
Omission
 Words (or parts of words) are omitted.
 Lancelet: “I beseech you, sir, go. My young
master doth expect your reproach.” Shylock: “ So
do I his.” (Merchant of Venice)
 “So do I [expect] his [reproach].”
 WS: “I am glad on ‘t.” (Merchant of Venice)
 US: “I am glad on [as in “about”] it.”
The Third Key: IMAGERY
 Metaphor.
 Implied Action.
Metaphor
 One idea or object is expressed as if it were
something else.
 WS often reinforces, echoes, or extends an
image throughout a passage, scene, or entire
play.
Metaphor (continued)
 “If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender
kiss.” (Romeo and Juliet)
 Profane, holy, shrine, sin, pilgrims…
 Diction, syntax, as well as imagery are at
work in this passage.
What is a “metaphor”?
For putting
cows in!
Metaphor (continued)
 “…her sunny locks
Hang on her temples like a golden fleece,
Which makes her the seat of Belmont
Colchos’ strond,
And many Jasons come in quest of her.”
(Merchant of Venice)
 Temples (pun, too), golden fleece, Colchos,
Jason, quest. (diction: strond = shore)
Fun Shakespearean Images
 “She is spherical, like a globe. I could find
out countries in her.” (Comedy of Errors)
 “…he has not so much brain as ear-wax.”
(Troilus and Cressida)
 “…when I shun Scylla your father, I fall
into Charybdis your mother.” (Merchant of
Venice)
Scylla and Charybdis
Implied Action
 Lines are spoken at the same time the actors
move, gesture, weep, shake their fists, draw
swords, pick up objects, etc…
 Watch for signals of stage directions in the
language (stage the play in your
imagination as you read).
 “Nurse, give leave awhile. / We must talk in
secret. – Nurse, come back again.” (R&J)
 Mercutio is killed “under Romeo’s arm.”
Sword Fight!
Put it all together…
 WS: “There came divers of Antonio’s creditors in
my company to Venice that swear he cannot
choose but break.” (Merchant of Venice)
 Divers= several; company=group; break=bankrupt
(as in “broke”).
 US: “Several of Antonio’s creditors in my group
that traveled to Venice swear he will surely go
broke.”
 Wow: inversions, omissions, vocabulary… all at
work.
Take these keys and use them
 Using these keys will enhance your
understanding and enjoyment of
Shakespeare, literature, and life.
Thanks and Credit to…
 N. F. Blake for writing Shakespeare’s
Language: An Introduction, a text heavily
borrowed from to create this presentation,
as well as Barbara A. Mowat and Paul
Werstine, the editors of The New Folger
Library Shakespeare drama series.