Key points
William Shakespeare was an English actor, poet and playwright. Some of his most famous plays include Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and The Tempest.
Shakespeare鈥檚 plays were written over 400 years ago, and some of the language can be unfamiliar to modern audiences.
Shakespeare helped transform the English language. Many words and phrases that are commonly used today were first written down by Shakespeare.
Video about Shakespearean language
Watch this video about Shakespeare鈥檚 influence on the English language
Female performer: Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
Female presenter: So beautiful. There鈥檚 lots of lovely language in Shakespeare鈥檚 plays, but people don鈥檛 speak the way that Shakespeare wrote, not in real life, so why is it鈥
William Shakespeare: Yeah they do. People are always using words and phrases I鈥檝e written.
Female presenter: Like when?
William Shakespeare: Like constantly. You can鈥檛 help it, you鈥檒l probably do it any minute now.
Female presenter: Well I鈥檒l bet you I don鈥檛.
William Shakespeare: Bet, that鈥檚 one of mine. Henry IV Part 1.
Male theatregoer: Shh!
William Shakespeare: It鈥檚 my play mate, I can talk if I want.
Female presenter: So whilst we may use some of Shakespeare鈥檚 words and phrases, we certainly don鈥檛 speak in blank or rhyming verse, but if we did, it might be quite revealing.
Male theatre staff member: No talking, those are the rules.
William Shakespeare: Yeah, whatevs mate, you don鈥檛 run the show here.
Female presenter: You see blank verse is mostly left to nobles or royalty, or those in positions of power.
Male theatre staff member: I asked you once, I鈥檝e tried to be nice. Now stay away; I鈥檓 not gonna tell you twice.
Female presenter: Hold on! Rhyming verse is mostly left to the magical characters like, like witches or fairies.
Oh, that must be his day job! Oh!
The young lovers Romeo and Juliet even speak in rhyming couplets, rhyming each other鈥檚 sentences, to show just how in love they are.
Male theatregoer: I reckon that this girl is stalking us.
Female theatregoer: I think you鈥檙e right, she鈥檚 weird. Let鈥檚 get the bus?
Female presenter: Aw, bless.
William Shakespeare: I think he鈥檚 punching a bit above his weight.
Female presenter: Well, love is blind.
And most of his characters speak in a rhythm called鈥
William Shakespeare: Iambic pentameter.
Female presenter: Yes, thank you. Ten syllables to a line with the stress on each alternate syllable.
Female cafe customer 1: Oh my gosh, guess what? Jo and Josh have split.
Female cafe customer 2: He鈥檚 way too good for her and she鈥檚 a cheat.
Female cafe customer 1: That鈥檚 true. But you鈥檙e the one he fancies now.
Female cafe customer 2: Don鈥檛 give me jokes, that boy is so bare fit.
William Shakespeare: If music be the food of love, play on. Oh she doth teach the torches to burn bright. Now is the winter of our鈥
Female presenter: Yes, thank you, we get the point. A juicy bit of gossip there in iambic pentameter. But when a character is speaking in prose or ordinary speech, it might mean a number of things. They might be of a low- a lower status or it might mean that something chaotic and unusual is happening.
Male production staff member: Hi guys, I got your coffees. A macchiato and a latte with鈥
Female presenter: We鈥檙e filming.
Male production staff member: 鈥kimmed milk.
Member of film crew: Cut. What the hell do you think you鈥檙e doing? We鈥檙e in the middle of a take here you worthless- Cut, I said cut!
Female presenter: Oh, now that is an eyeball popping, puke inducing rant of remorseless savagery. I鈥檓 surprised there wasn鈥檛 a scuffle.
William Shakespeare: D鈥檡ou think he鈥檒l calm down?
Female presenter: Well, it鈥檒l take some grovelling. He鈥檚 very hot-blooded.
William Shakespeare: I鈥檓 sorry.
Female presenter: No, d鈥檡ou know what? I鈥檓 quite impressed. Hob-nob? You didn鈥檛 invent the hob-nob?!
William Shakespeare: The phrase, not the biscuit.
Female presenter: Oh. Right come on, let鈥檚 go before I catch a cold. Blimey, this is unreal.
William Shakespeare: Mm.
What do the following words mean?
Blank verse
Rhyming couplet
Iambic pentameter
Prose
Blank verse - a type of poetry with a regular rhythm but no rhyme
Rhyming couplet - two lines that have rhyming words at the end
Iambic pentameter - a line of verse with ten beats, alternating between five stressed beats and five unstressed beats
Prose - written or spoken language that has no rhythm or rhyme
Did you know?
Shakespeare contributed 1,700 words to the English language.
How did Shakespeare influence language?
Shakespeare often invented new words or used existing words in a different way. Many of his plays are the first record of a word or phrase being used in the English language, for example:
Bedroom - A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream
To gossip - The Comedy of Errors
Cruel to be kind - Hamlet
Elbow room - King John
Insults
Shakespeare loved playing with language, and many of his plays contain creative insults, for example:
鈥淭hou cream faced loon鈥 - Macbeth
鈥淥ut of my sight! Thou dost infect mine eyes!鈥 - Richard III
Did you know?
Shakespeare鈥檚 plays have been translated into over 80 languages. In 2012, as part of the celebrations for the Olympic Games in London, 37 international acting companies presented all 37 of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays in 37 different languages.
Speaking in verse and prose
Shakespeare used rhythm and rhyme in his plays for many different purposes. A strong rhythm gives the language energy. Rhythm and rhyme is also used to distinguish between certain types of characters.
Blank verse
Most of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays are written in blank verse. Blank verse is a type of poetry with a regular rhythm but no rhyme.
Rhythm
The rhythm is usually iambic pentameter, which is a line with ten beats, five stressed and five unstressed (da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM). This rhythm has a sound like natural speech and tends to be used by educated or high status characters.
Rhyme
Sometimes characters speak in rhyming couplets, which are two lines that have rhyming words at the end. Couplets could signal the end of a scene, or they might be included to create a particular effect, like emphasis or a moment of tension.
Prose
Prose has no rhythm or rhyme. We can tell when Shakespeare is using prose in his plays because the text appears as a block on the page, instead of shorter lines that each start with a capital letter. Comic characters or characters of a low status tend to speak in prose.
Did Shakespeare always stick to these language rules?
No. There are times in Shakespeare鈥檚 plays when characters of high status use prose, which is normally spoken by low status characters. In the play Hamlet, for example, Hamlet, who is a prince, speaks in prose to express madness. In the same play there are examples of low status characters speaking in verse, that is, lines that contain either rhythm or rhyme, to show the audience they are acting the parts of royalty.
Activity
The following lines are all from the play A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream. Are they examples of prose, blank verse or rhyming couplets?
- 鈥淗ippolyta, I woo鈥檇 thee with my sword,
And won thy love, doing thee injuries;
But I will wed thee in another key,
With pomp, with triumph and with revelling.鈥
Blank verse - these lines are written in iambic pentameter, so although they do not rhyme, they do have a regular rhythm.
- 鈥淎 very good piece of work, I assure you, and a merry. Now, good Peter Quince, call forth your actors by the scroll. Masters, spread yourselves.鈥
Prose - these lines have no regular rhythm and they do not rhyme.
- 鈥淚n that same place thou hast appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee.鈥
Rhyming couplets - these lines both end with words that rhyme.
Imagery
Shakespeare鈥檚 plays are full of bold and striking imagery. Imagery is when a writer uses words to create vivid images for the reader or audience.
Some of the types of imagery Shakespeare used include:
Describing something as something that it is not, for example 鈥渁ll the world's a stage鈥.
A description that compares two things using the words like or as.
To give human qualities to something that isn't human.
The choice of imagery is often linked to the themes of the play. Shakespeare often used groups of images to highlight an important theme or idea.
For example, in Romeo and Juliet there are lots of images linked to the stars and planets to highlight the theme of fate.
Listening activity
In this audio clip from A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream, the character Helena is upset about love. She uses imagery comparing love to a boy. This kind of metaphor is called personification because love is given human characteristics in the description.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
Nor hath Love鈥檚 mind of any judgement taste;
Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste;
And therefore is love said to be a child
Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.
As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,
So the boy Love is perjured everywhere.
What is the name of the rhyme scheme used in this extract?
The rhyme scheme in this extract is rhyming couplets. The words at the end of each two lines rhyme.
Getting to grips with the language
Useful words to know
Shakespeare鈥檚 language can be tricky to understand.
Many of Shakespeare鈥檚 words are unfamiliar to a modern audience, for example the word 鈥榮ans鈥 means 鈥榳ithout鈥. Some words that are familiar may have a different meaning, for example the word 鈥榳ant鈥 means 鈥榣ack鈥 in Shakespeare鈥檚 language.
Here are some other useful words to know with their modern-day translation:
| Shakespearean language | Modern-day translation |
|---|---|
| art | are |
| aught | anything |
| dost | do |
| doth | does |
| hence | from here |
| oft | often |
| nay | no |
| wast | were |
| whence | from where |
| wherefore | why |
| yea | even |
Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence, for example 鈥榯hey鈥 or 鈥榠t鈥. Pronouns are used in an interesting way in Shakespeare鈥檚 plays.
Thou and thee, which mean 鈥榶ou鈥, and thy and thine, which mean 鈥榶our鈥, are used in an informal way to address someone in Shakespeare鈥檚 plays. Examples of when these pronouns might be used include:
Family members talking to each other
Close friends talking to each other
Talking to a character of lower status
You and your, on the other hand, are more formal ways of addressing someone. Examples of when these pronouns might be used include:
A cold and distant relationship
Talking to a noble or royal character
Contractions
Contractions were common in Shakespeare鈥檚 time, and they appear frequently in the plays. These words or phrases can look strange, but it鈥檚 useful to remember that the apostrophe just shows that there is a missing letter or letters.
| 苍别鈥檈谤 | never |
| 别鈥檈苍 | even |
| 辞鈥檈谤 | over |
| 鈥檛颈蝉 | it is |
| 鈥檛飞补蝉 | it was |
| 鈥檈谤别 | before |
Listening activity
Listen to this audio clip from the play Macbeth, in which a captain describes Macbeth鈥檚 violent fighting on the battlefield.
For brave Macbeth 鈥 well he deserves that name 鈥
Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish鈥檇 steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like Valour鈥檚 minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave,
Which 苍别鈥檈谤 shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he 耻苍蝉别补尘鈥檇 him from the nave to th鈥 chaps
And fixed his head upon our battlements.
Click below to reveal what the bold words mean.
鈥淭ill he faced the slave;
Which 苍别鈥檈谤 shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he 耻苍蝉别补尘鈥檇 him from the nave to the chaps,
And 蹿颈虫鈥檇 his head upon our battlements.鈥
苍别鈥檈谤 鈥 never
耻苍蝉别补尘鈥檇 鈥 unseamed (this means to cut open)
蹿颈虫鈥檇 鈥 fixed
chaps 鈥 the cheek or jaw
nave - the belly button
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