Shakespeare Decoded: Understanding the Language of the Bard

1. Shakespeare Decoded: Understanding the Language of the Bard Mr. Gunnink Survey of Literature

2. Say What??? “A father, and a gracious agèd man, Whose reverence even the head-lugged bear would lick, Most barbarous, most degenerate, have you madded.” -King Lear 4.2.41-43

3. Why Does Shakespeare’s Writing Sound so Different from Modern English? • Uses Archaic Language • Omits parts of words • Wrote scripts, not novels • Uses Unusual Syntax • Often uses Rhythm and Rhyme • Wordplay!

4. Archaic Language • Anon (Now; soon) • Arras (Wall tapestry) • Art (Are) • Ay/Aye (Yes) • Betimes (Immediately) • Betwixt (Between) • Choler (Anger; irritability) • Cozen (cheat; trick; deceive) • Cuckold (Man married to an adulteress) • Dost/Doth (Do/Does) • Ere (Before) • Fain (ready; willing; eager) • Hap/Haply (luck; chance) • Hark (Listen) • Hast (Have) • Hath (Has) • Hence (from here) • Hest (command) • Hie (go quickly) • Ho (Calls attention to) • Knave (A villain)

5. Archaic Language • Marry (I swear by the Virgin Mary) • Maugre (In spite of) • Methinks (I think) • Moe (more) • Morrow (Tomorrow) • Ne’er (never) • Oft (Often) • Perchance (Maybe) • Prithee (I pray thee; please) • Rood (Cross of Jesus) • Shouldst (If ___ should) • Shrive (confess sins) • Sirrah (mister- contemptuous)

6. Archaic Language • Soft (Be quiet!) • Thou (You, Subject) • Thee (You, Direct Object) • Thence (From there) • Thine (Yours) • Thy (Your) • ‘Tis (it is) • ‘Twere/’Twas (It were/It was) • Wouldst (if ______ would) • Withal (in addition; besides) • Wherefore (Why?) • Whence (from where?) • Woo (to seek and gain)

7. Omissions of Syllables and Letters • on and of= o’ • in= i’ • The= th’ • It= ‘t • He= ‘a • Be= b’ • With= wi’ • Them=‘em • Have= ha’ or ‘a’ • Be it= “be’t” • Do it= do’t” • Amongst= “’mongst” • Medicine=“med’cine” • Ever= “e’er” • To have= “t’have” • Whether= “Whe’r” • “God b’ wi’ you” • “’T may, I grant” • “Will you ha’ the truth on’t.”

8. O! • Expresses emotion • Based on context • Overjoyed • Surprised • Depressed • Furious • Embarrassed • Disappointed • Mourning • Amazed • Seductive • Annoyed • Scared • Understanding • In Physical Pain • Longing • Serious

9. Unusual Syntax • Syntax=the order of words in a sentence • In English, the traditional order is Subject-Verb-Object (Direct/Indirect) • The boy (S) bounced (V) the basketball (O).

10. Unusual Syntax • Ate the sandwich I. • I the sandwich ate. • I ate the sandwich. • Ate I the sandwich. • The sandwich I ate. • The sandwich ate I. • Which of these sentences would you use if you needed someone to understand you quickly? • What is the syntax of that sentence?

11. Unusual Syntax • “That handkerchief/ Did an Egyptian to my mother give.” (Othello 3.4.55-56) • Three major parts: Egyptian gave handkerchief • Rearranged: “An Egyptian gave that handkerchief to my mother.” • How do the two sentences read differently?

12. Unusual Syntax • “A glooming peace this morning with it brings.” (Romeo and Juliet 5.3.305) • Three major parts: Morning brings peace • Rearranged: “This morning brings with it a glooming peace.” • How do the two sentences read differently?

13. Unusual Syntax • “And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed/That roots itself in ease on the lethe wharf,/Wouldst thou not stir in this.” (Hamlet 1.5.32-34) • Three major elements: Thou be duller • Rearranged: Wouldst thou not stir in this, thou shouldst be duller than the fat weed that roots itself in ease on the lethe wharf.

14. Unusual Syntax • “The prisoners/Which he in this adventure hath surprised/To his own use he keeps” (Henry IV 1.1.92-95) • Three major parts: He keeps the prisoners • Rearranged: “He keeps the prisoners, which he hath surprised in this adventure, to his own use .”

15. Rhyme • “The snow comes in January; wild winds blow, and the trees are bare.” • Turn this sentence into two lines of poetry, one in ending in “snow”, one ending in “blow” • “In January comes the snow/The trees are bare, and wild winds blow.”

16. Rhyme • “Then they did weep for sudden joy, and I sung for sorrow, that a king should play bo-peep and go among the fools.” • Four lines, ending with weep, sung, bo-peep, among. • “Then they for sudden joy did weep,/And for sorrow I sung/That a king should play bo-peep/And go the fools among.”

17. Rhyme • Perfect rhyme: true/blue; scars/stars; lying/dying • Imperfect rhyme: lap/shape; glorious/nefarious • Eye rhyme: love/move/prove; why/philosophy • End rhyme: Roses are red, violets are blue/Flowers are lovely, and so are you.

18. Rhythm • We add emphasis to word and syllables in everything we say. • Where we add the emphasis (stress) helps determine the meaning of the sentence. • I didn’t say he had a tattoo.

19. Rhythm • Shakespeare wrote most of his lines in iambic pentameter. • Iambic= repeating iambs • Iamb= two syllables, first one unstressed, second one stressed • Pentameter= five units in a line • Five iambs= ten syllables • Shakespeare does not always follow this exactly, but usually he does.

20. Rhythm • ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM ta TUM • “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” • “But soft! What light breaks through yonder window?” • “And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up.” • “And they bore her up awhile, mermaid-like.” • Syntax changes to better fit the rhythm

21. Wordplay! • Puns: words with similar sounds but different meanings • Oxymorons: words with opposite meanings used together • Paradox: a statement that appears to be logically impossible yet is somehow true • Ambiguity: when words convey more than one meaning • Sexual double-entendres: common words with sexual connotations • Responding using the words previously spoken

22. Sonnet • Shakespeare loved to write in sonnets • He wrote stand-alone sonnets, but also included many sonnets in his plays • Most sonnets within plays were soliloquies (spoken by the actor to himself with no one else on stage) • Shakespearean (or English sonnet) different from Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet

23. Sonnet • English Sonnet rules: • 14 lines of iambic pentameter • Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCDEFEFGG • 12 lines of alternating rhyme • End with rhyming couplet • First 8 lines (octave) usually describe a situation, problem, question • Second 6 lines (asestet) usually respond to the octave • In between there is often “the turn” (volta) • Rhyming couplet offers final insight

24. Sonnet 138, by William Shakespeare 1. When my love swears that she is made of truth, 2. I do believe her though I know she lies, 3. That she might think me some untutored youth, 4. Unlearnèd in the world’s false subtleties. 5. Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, 6. Although she knows my days are past the best, 7. Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue: 8. On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed. 9. But wherefore says she not she is unjust? 10. And wherefore say not I that I am old? 11. O love’s best habit is in seeming trust, 12. And age in love loves not to have years told. 13. Therefore I lie with her, and she with me, 14. And in our faults by lies we flattered be.