Download Reading Shakespeare Aloud

SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE
Even with doths, haths and thys, it’s still English
Many students when faced with Shakespeare have been turned off by his language because they were not told
the truth…when in doubt, William Shakespeare made up words and whole phrases. And he was often simply
writing what he heard on the street. Once you get used to “doth” for do and “hath” for has, the language flows. It
is even easier—if when you get stuck—you just figure he has made something up—again—and it will make
sense in context… once you get a general sense of what is going on.
Think of Shakespeare’s dilemma. There he was, writing in verse and he had to make words work for him, and
sometimes the right word did not rhyme (or exist). In the 1500s when Shakespeare was creating masterpieces
of English literature there were a lot less words. Need a word? Make one up! More than 10,000 words were
created during Shakespeare’s lifetime. About 1200 “modern” words are credited to Shakespeare, including –
addiction, amazement, assassination, besmirch, bloodstained, dawn, gossip, lonely, luggage, misplaced,
negotiate, obscene, pander, undress, zany … and about 1,184 more.
Also, realize that Elizabethan England was mainly an aural and verbal society—people were used to listening.
Less than 50% of Shakespeare’s audience would have been able to read or write. Shakespeare used 26, 000
completely different words in his work. An Elizabethan teenager used daily 2100 words. Today an average
American uses 900 words in a lifetime.
Common words/phrases:
adieu = farewell
afeard = afraid
an = if
anon = soon, shortly
art = are
attend = listen to
ay = yes
bid = ask
counsel = advice
decree = order
discourses = speaks
dispatch = kill
doth = does
e’en = even
ere = before
eyne = eyes
gi’ = give
give lease = excuse us (to leave)
hath = has
heavy = sad, depressed
hie = go
hither = here
i’ = in
in = on
knowest = know
mark = pay attention to
marry = indeed
me thinks = I think
nay = no
ne’er = never
nought = nothing
o’er = over
oft = often
on = of
ope = open
plague = curse
pray = beg
prithee = “ pray to thee ( I beg you)
privy = informed
quoth = said
resolve = plan
sirrah = “boy” (insulting)
soft = Wait a minute!
thee = you
thine = your, yours
thither = there
thou = you
thou art = you are
thou’s = you shall
thy = your
thyself = yourself
tidings = news
‘tis = it is
to = in
tut, tut = shame on you
‘twere = it were
upon = by
wert = were
wherefore = why
whereto = to which
whither = where
will = desire
wilt = will
withal = with
woo = to date
wot = know
would = wish
wrought = provided
Reading Shakespeare Aloud
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Emphasize the words you think are important.
Pause at commas, semi-colons and full stops.
If there is no punctuation at the end of a line, read straight on to the next line.
-ed at the end of a word is pronounced as a separate syllable:
advis-ed
inform-ed
trench-ed
If the syllable is not to be pronounced, an apostrophe is used:
‘vis’d
inform’d
trench’d
Try to give expression to the feelings of the characters.
Wherever possible, convey these feelings by your tone of voice, your facial
expressions, your gestures and your movements.
Don’t rush to get through the speech.
Some of what Shakespeare wrote is in verse. Some of the verse is in Iambic Pentameter.
 Pentameter is a line of poetry having five metrical feet (“Penta-” is the prefix meaning five; as in
Pentagon).
 An Iamb is a metrical foot having two syllables, the first one short, and the second long.
 So, Iambic Pentameter feels like a heartbeat: Short, Long; Short, Long; Short, Long; Short, Long; Short,
Long.
One example from the play:
Romeo:
“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” (Act two, scene 2)
Some of the verse is in Rhyming Couplets, pairs of lines of Iambic Pentameter that rhyme. The rhyming
couplet is often used at the end of scenes to indicate to the audience, the other actors, and the crew, that the
scene is over.
Much of the verse in Shakespeare’s plays rhymes, however Blank Verse is a kind of poetry that does not
rhyme, and is written in Iambic Pentameter.
Some of the characters in Shakespeare speak in Prose. Prose is common language that does not necessarily
have an underlying rhythmical sound to it. Usually servants or the lower classes speak prose in Shakespeare’s
plays.
Shakespearean Syntax (Word Order):
Notice the following 6 sentences:
I ate the sandwich.
I the sandwich ate.
Ate the sandwich I.
Ate I the sandwich.
The sandwich I ate.
The sandwich ate I.
Four words can create six unique sentences which carry the same meaning. When you are reading
Shakespeare, look for his unusual word arrangement. Locate the subject verb, and object of the
sentence. Notice that the object of the sentence is often placed at the beginning in front of the verb and
the subject. This should help with making sense of Shakespeare.