Transcript Shakespeare`s Language

Shakespeare’s
Language
Cornell Notes
• What did almost all plays do?
• Shakespeare’s Words
– He introduced _______ words
– He knew _________ words
• What did the Elizabethans omit in their
writing?
• My four words
• Rewrite a five times sentence like
Shakespeare
The Elizabethans
• They loved language
• Even poorly-written plays usually
rhymed and alliterated
• Sound of language was more
important than logic of sentence
structure
– E.g. they changed word order or
repeated words for emphasis
William Shakespeare
• Introduced nearly 3,000 words into
English
• His vocabulary is upward of 29,000
words (quadruple that of an average
well-educated person!)
So…why is it so hard to
understand?
• Many words have shifted meaning
since Shakespeare’s day, or have
fallen out of use
Still hard to un’erstand…
• Letters, syllables, or whole words
were sometimes omitted
'tis: it is
o'er: over
ne'er: never
e'er / ere: ever
oft: often
e'en: even
Understand it not I
• Word order was more flexible.
I ate the sandwich.
I the sandwich ate.
Ate the sandwich I.
Ate I the sandwich.
The sandwich I ate.
The sandwich ate I.
Understand? Get it?
• Pronunciation was quite different
from ours, so Shakespeare’s perfect
rhymes usually are imperfect rhymes
to us
love / prove
Some Tips
• Thou vs. You
– Thou = an informal address to one's
friends or social inferiors
– You = a formal address to strangers
and social superiors
• Forsooth = No kidding
• Marry!, By my faith = Wow
• Alack, Alackaday, Alas, Fie, Out upon it!
= Darn it!
• God's wounds, S'wounds, Zounds =
swearing
• Prating = Babbling, talking too much
• Perchance = Maybe
• Forswear = To lie or cheat
• Betimes = Very early in the morning
With thanks to:
http://www.bardweb.net/language.html
Best, Michael. Shakespeare's Life and Times. Internet Shakespeare Editions,
University of Victoria: Victoria, BC, 2001-2005. <http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/>.
http://www.shakespearehigh.com/classroom/guide/page1.shtml
http://www.krucli.com/shakespeare_intro's.htm
What do these two passages
have in common?
Lord Chief Justice: "Your means are very
slender and your waste great."
Falstaff (an obese and high-living man): "I
would that my means were greater and my
waist slenderer."
Romeo and Juliet: Mercutio is a young man
with wit and little seriousness. As he lies
dying: "Ask for me tomorrow and you will
find me a grave man."
They both contain PUNS.
Lord Chief Justice: "Your means are very
slender and your waste great."
Falstaff (an obese and high-living man): "I
would that my means were greater and my
waist slenderer."
Romeo and Juliet: Mercutio is a young man
with wit and little seriousness. As he lies
dying: "Ask for me tomorrow and you will
find me a grave man."
Pun
• A joke that comes from play of
words
• Can make use of a word’s multiple
meanings or of a word’s rhyme
• Ex) In “Battle Report”, the phrase
“Drops a note” plays on the two
meanings of note as a message and
as a musical note.
What device is Shakespeare
using in these passages?
"Death, death, O amiable lovely
death."
"Parting is such sweet sorrow."
They are both OXYMORONS.
"Death, death, O amiable lovely
death."
"Parting is such sweet sorrow."
Oxymoron
• a combination of words with
opposing or contradictory meanings
• Ex) “the sound of silence” or “cool
fire” or “jumbo shrimp”
What do these passages
illustrate?
Shylock, a character in The Merchant
of Venice, feels mistreated and says:
"You foot me as you spurn a stranger
cur."
When Cleopatra thinks she is the
victim of some fast talk from Antony,
she says: "He words me, girls, he
words me."
They both are INVENTIVE
with language.
Shylock, a character in The Merchant
of Venice, feels mistreated and says:
"You foot me as you spurn a stranger
cur."
When Cleopatra thinks she is the
victim of some fast talk from Antony,
she says: "He words me, girls, he
words me."
What do these passages
illustrate?
King Henry IV, who was not fat, was called
"portly."
In The Merchant of Venice, a servant who
intends to hurry tells his mistress he will go
with all "convenient" speed.
When Antony makes an alliance with
Octavius in Julius Caesar, he calls him his
"competitor."
They contain words that have
SHIFTED MEANING.
King Henry IV, who was not fat, was called
"portly”. (stately; imposing)
In The Merchant of Venice, a servant who
intends to hurry tells his mistress he will go
with all "convenient" speed. (near at hand)
When Antony makes an alliance with
Octavius in Julius Caesar, he calls him his
"competitor”. (one who strives in
common/agrees)
What are these passages
examples of?
King Henry IV says the soil of England will no
longer "daub her lips with her children's blood."
In A Midsummers' Night Dream, the course of
young love is described as "swift as a shadow,
short as any dream, brief as lightning."
In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo says, "But soft,
what light through yonder window breaks? It is
the east, and Juliet is the sun."
They all use FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE.
The soil will no longer "daub her lips with her
children's blood” = England will no longer be at
war (METAPHOR)
The course of young love is described as "swift as
a shadow, short as any dream, brief as lightning”
= it moves extremely quickly (SIMILE)
Romeo says, "But soft, what light through
yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet
is the sun“ = she is a bright beautiful light
(METAPHOR)