Shakespeare The Dirty Old
English Man and His Times
(1564 – 1616)
Shakespearean Myth
Despite the vicious rumors started
by hateful and spite-filled
students, Shakespeare writes in
Modern English.
Beowulf Canterbury Tales
Shakespearean Myth Busting
The difficulty in Shakespeare’s language is not that he writes in a different language, but that he uses a lot of idioms, colloquialisms, and allusions specific to his time period.Just like you!
Shakespeare’s Society
Shakespeare’s Society
Shakespeare’s Society
Middle Age Class systemsRoyalty
Nobility
Peasant
Church = State
Kings/Queens = authority from God.
Shakespeare’s Society
Shakespeare is a puzzle and his
published plays are comprised (put
together) by editors using their best judgment after
analyzing multiple versions
5 Reasons Why Brain workout to capture meaning because of
text difficulty.
Universal themes with relevance today.
Master of language manipulation, rhetorical devices, and weaving plots together. Allows the strongest readers and weakest readers to work at a level that challenges them.
Make your life easier next year.
Frequently alluded to in all areas (TV, Movies, books, etc.) of Western society.
Just Fun!
Hamlet
Not in England
Characteristics of Plays
• Uses MANY layered of plots.
• Make-up = artificial beauty/corruption
• Little/No Scenery
• Inspired by social issues
Shakespeare’s Language
Alternate Word Meanings
•“Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?” •“But what is your affair in Elisnore?” (1.2.174) •“Ay, marry, is’t” (1.4.13) (Yes, indeed it is.)
Be sure to write down words like these that are defined for you because they will only be defined the first time they appear.
Syntax Differences
• “And sure I am two men there is not living to whom he more adheres.” (2.2.20-21)
• “Mad call I it, for, to define true madness what is’t but to be nothing else but mad?” (2.2.93-94)
Dashes“We have here writTo Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras – Who impotent and bedrid, scarcely hearsOf this his nephew’s purpose – to suppressHis further gait herein, in that the levies,The lists, and full proportions are all madeOut of his subject”
(1.2.27-33)
Dashes “Why, she – O God, a beast that wants discourse of reasonWould have mourned longer! – married with my uncle,My father’s brother, but no more like my fatherThan I to Hercules.”
(1.2.149-153)
Royal “We”
“Now our Queen,Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state, have we…taken to wife.
(1.2.8-10,14)
Character Activity
Characters
MajorHamletGertrudeClaudiusPoloniusLaertesOpheliaHoratioRosencrantzGuildenstern
Minor
Ghost
Reynaldo
Voltemand
Cornelius
Barnardo
Francisco
Marcellus