A BRIEF STUDY GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND SHAKESPEAREAN LANGUAGE
Shakespeare’s 400-year-old verses can be intimidating. But understanding the style and structure of his writing can help unlock its meaning and beauty.
This page lays out the basic ‘rules’ that he rigorously adopted to help you quickly understand Shakespearean language.
LEARNING SHAKESPEARE FAQs
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Approaching Shakespeare for the first time can be daunting, but with the right approach, it can be a rewarding and enriching experience. Here are some tips for beginners:
Start with accessible resources:
Modernised versions: Reading modernised versions of the plays can make the original story and characters more accessible while using contemporary language. This helps grasp the plot and dialogue more easily. For example, you might begin with our modern translations of "Twelfth Night" or "The Merchant of Venice".
Annotated editions: Choose editions with annotations that explain complex vocabulary, historical references, and cultural context, enhancing your understanding of the play.
Audiobooks: Listening to audiobooks can bring the play to life, aiding comprehension through vocal inflections and character differentiation.
Actively engage with the text:
Read aloud: This helps you hear the rhythm and flow of Shakespeare's language, making it more familiar and enjoyable.
Break down the text: Pause, re-read sections, and consult dictionaries or online resources to clarify unfamiliar words or phrases.
Take notes: Jot down key points, character motivations, and questions you have as you read to solidify your understanding.
Seek additional resources:
Watch film adaptations: This can provide visual context and aid in understanding character interactions and plot developments.
Attend live performances: Experiencing Shakespeare's plays live offers a unique opportunity to feel the power of the language and the characters brought to life on stage.
Join online communities: Engaging with online communities dedicated to Shakespeare can provide valuable insights and discussions from fellow enthusiasts.
Remember, understanding Shakespeare takes time and effort. Focus on the story and characters, and enjoy the journey of discovering the timeless brilliance of his plays. You can even try Shakespeare Retold to gain an extra level of understanding.
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Choosing the "right" Shakespeare play to start with depends on your individual preferences and interests. However, some plays are considered more accessible for beginners, offering a smoother introduction to Shakespeare's language and themes. Here are a few suggestions:
"Romeo and Juliet": This timeless love story is a great starting point, featuring familiar themes and straightforward language. It's a good example of Shakespeare's ability to blend tragedy with poetic beauty. Explore our modern translation here.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream": Known for its magical elements and lighthearted humour, this play is an enjoyable introduction to Shakespeare's comedies and his use of the English language.
"The Merchant of Venice": Offering a mix of drama, suspense, and humour, this play explores themes of justice, prejudice, and mercy, showcasing Shakespeare's language and its double meanings. Our modern English version can be found here.
"Julius Caesar": For those interested in history, this play provides insights into political intrigue and the complexities of power, featuring some of Shakespeare's most memorable speeches. Check out the modern English translation here.
When choosing a play, consider your interests—whether you're drawn to romance, comedy, history, or tragedy. Shakespeare's plays are rich in language, offering insights into the human condition that remain relevant today. By starting with one of these accessible works, you can begin to appreciate the beauty of Shakespeare's language and the depth of his characters. Remember, the goal is to enjoy the experience and engage with the work in a way that feels enriching and meaningful to you.
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Embarking on the study of Shakespeare can seem daunting due to the Early Modern English language and the depth of his plays. However, with a structured approach, you can begin to unravel the complexities of Shakespeare's works and appreciate their beauty. Here's how to get started:
Choose Your Approach:
Read the Play: Start with the text itself. Consider using modernised versions or annotated editions to help with comprehension. For example, our modern English translation of "Hamlet" can be a great place to begin.
Listen to Audiobooks: Audiobooks can provide a nuanced understanding of the characters through vocal performance, helping you grasp the flow and rhythm of Shakespeare's language.
Watch Film Adaptations: Films offer visual and auditory aids to understanding the plot and characters, making Shakespeare's language more accessible.
Engage Actively with the Text:
Read Aloud: Speaking the lines yourself can help you feel the rhythm of Shakespeare's language and understand the use of meter and rhyme.
Break Down the Text: Tackle the play in sections, looking up unfamiliar words and phrases. This will help you get accustomed to the Early Modern English language used in Shakespeare's time.
Analyse: Think about the characters' motivations, the plot's development, and the themes. This deeper analysis will enrich your understanding of the play.
Utilise Additional Resources:
Critical Essays and Analyses: Reading scholarly work on the play can provide new insights and interpretations, deepening your understanding of Shakespeare's language and themes.
Join Online Communities: Online forums and discussion groups can be invaluable for sharing insights and asking questions.
Attend Live Performances or Workshops: Seeing the play performed live brings a new dimension to understanding Shakespeare's works, from the staging decisions to the actors' interpretations of their roles.
Be Patient and Persistent:
Understanding Shakespeare's plays is a rewarding journey that takes time. Don't be discouraged by initial challenges; the depth of Shakespeare's language, with its double meanings and rich imagery, becomes more accessible with study and practice.
Focus on Enjoyment:
Approach your study of Shakespeare with curiosity and an open mind. Enjoy the beauty of the language, the complexity of the characters, and the universality of the themes.
By following these steps and making use of the resources available, including modern translations and annotated editions, you can start your journey into the world of Shakespeare with confidence. Remember, the goal is not just to understand Shakespeare's language but to enjoy and appreciate the timeless nature of his work.
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No, Shakespeare is not generally considered an easy read for modern audiences. The primary reasons include the use of Early Modern English language, cultural references specific to Shakespeare's time, and the poetic complexity of his works. However, this doesn't mean his plays are inaccessible. With the right approach, anyone can enjoy and understand Shakespeare's rich storytelling and language. Here's why Shakespeare can be challenging and how to make his works more approachable:
Language: Shakespeare wrote in Early Modern English, which differs significantly from the English we use today. This includes archaic vocabulary, unique sentence structures, and words whose meanings have evolved over time.
Cultural References: Shakespeare's plays are filled with references to the politics, social norms, and beliefs of Tudor England, which may not be immediately understandable to modern readers without some background knowledge.
Poetic Language: Shakespeare often employs complex metaphors, similes, and poetic devices that require careful reading to fully appreciate and understand.
Despite these challenges, Shakespeare's plays remain deeply rewarding to read, offering insights into the human condition that are as relevant now as they were in the 16th and 17th centuries. Here are some tips to make reading Shakespeare more accessible:
Modernised Versions and Annotated Editions: These can help bridge the gap between Early Modern and contemporary English, making the plays easier to follow. For instance, our modern English translations, like "Macbeth" and "Othello", offer a way into Shakespeare's stories without the linguistic hurdles.
Audiobooks and Performances: Listening to Shakespeare's plays, whether through audiobooks or live performances, can help you grasp the natural flow of the language and the emotional depth of the characters.
Supplementary Resources: Engaging with critical essays, educational videos, and discussion forums can provide additional context and interpretations that enrich your understanding of the plays.
Approaching Shakespeare with patience and using these resources can transform the experience from daunting to enjoyable, allowing you to appreciate the beauty of Shakespeare's language and the universality of his themes.
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There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to learning Shakespeare, as the best approach depends on your learning style, interests, and goals. However, combining various strategies can enhance your understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's works. Here are some effective methods:
Choose the Right Play: Starting with plays that are more accessible and align with your interests can make the experience more enjoyable. Whether it's the tragic depth of "Romeo and Juliet" or the comedic twists of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," beginning with a story that resonates with you can be a great introduction to Shakespeare's language and themes.
Use Modernised Versions and Annotated Editions: Modern translations, like our version of "Julius Caesar", can make the original text more accessible by presenting Shakespeare's language in contemporary English. Annotated editions provide valuable insights into the text, explaining archaic words and phrases, cultural references from Tudor England, and common features of Shakespeare's plays.
Listen to Audiobooks and Watch Performances: Audiobooks bring the plays to life through vocal performance, helping you understand the rhythm and emotion behind the words. Watching live performances or film adaptations can offer a visual and auditory experience that deepens your comprehension and appreciation of the plays, including their stage directions and double meanings.
Engage Actively with the Text: Reading aloud, breaking down the text, and taking notes are active engagement strategies that can help you grasp the complexities of Shakespeare's language. This engagement is crucial for understanding the poetic devices, character motivations, and thematic depth of the plays.
Seek Additional Resources: Exploring critical essays, participating in online forums, and attending workshops can provide broader perspectives and deepen your understanding of Shakespeare's works. These resources can offer insights into the historical context, literary analysis, and performance interpretation of the plays.
Be Patient and Persistent: Learning to appreciate Shakespeare's plays takes time and effort. The Early Modern English language, the depth of the themes, and the complexity of the characters mean that there's always something new to discover, even for seasoned readers.
Focus on Enjoyment and Curiosity: Remember that the goal is to enjoy the journey of exploring Shakespeare's works. Approach his plays with curiosity and an open mind, ready to appreciate the beauty of the language, the intricacy of the plots, and the universality of the themes.
By employing these strategies and making use of the various resources available, you can navigate the challenges of Shakespeare's language and enjoy the rich literary and emotional experiences his plays offer.
IAMBIC PENTAMETER:
William Shakespeare wrote the vast majority of his work in a style called ‘iambic pentameter.’
But what exactly is iambic pentameter? Let’s break it down.
Iambic pentameter is a single line of verse consisting of ten BEATS:
“If music be the food of love, play on.”
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
“A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”
Note that these ‘beats’ consist of one short beat followed by one long beat, repeated five times over:
De-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum.
Try reading the above examples again, noticing the adherence to the structure of the beats.
These two beats together — de-dum — are called a FOOT. Hence there are five FEET in an iambic pentameter line.
An IAMB is the term used for a foot consisting of a short beat followed by a long beat:
because
in fact
suppose
define
inflict
The rhythm of the line, created by combining the feet, is called the METER. Lines of poetry or verse come in different lengths, i.e. different numbers of feet. In iambic pentameter, the meter is formed of five feet.
The Greek word for five is PENTA. It is widely used in words such as pentagon (five-sided shape), or pentathlon (five-disciplined contest.) Hence, PENTAMETER means a five-footed line of verse.
So, when the feet of the pentameter line are made up of iambs, we get IAMBIC PENTAMETER.
De-dum / de-dum / de-dum / de-dum / de-dum.
If mus/ic be / the food / of love, / play on.
Shall I / compare / thee to / a summ/er’s day?
A horse! / A horse! / My king/dom for / a horse!
IAMBIC PENTAMETER RULE EXCEPTIONS:
There are two commonly used exceptions (used by all poets, not just Shakespeare) to the rigid format of iambic pentameter worthy of note that you need to know to fully understand how to speak Shakespearean language, as well as read. They give variety and flexibility that Shakespeare exploits to amplify his verse.
1. WEAK ENDINGS
It is common for an additional single short beat to be added to the end of the line, taking it from ten beats (as above) to eleven. This allows far greater flexibility for the author. Indeed, Shakespeare’s most famous line has a weak ending:
“To be, or not to be? That is the question.”
De-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum de.
If it were ‘pure’ iambic pentameter, the line would read: “To be, or not be? That is the quest.” But that makes no sense. Some other examples:
“Is this a dagger which I see before me?”
“The better part of valour is discretion.”
“I am a man more sinned against than sinning.”
2. TROCHAIC SUBSTITUTION
Feet come in four combinations, each given their own name:
short-long — ‘de-dum’ — called an iamb
long-short — ‘dum-de’ — called a trochee
short-short —’de-de’ —called a pyrrhic
long-long — ‘dum-dum’ — called a spondee
A common practice is to change the opening iamb in a line to a trochee. This is called TROCHAIC SUBSTITUTION. Examples:
Dum-de de-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum
“Making a famine where abundance lies.”
“Now is the winter of our discontent…”
SPLIT LINES
Sometimes Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter spreads across two lines. In this case, modern formatting indents the lines to indicate the continuation of the iambic line, as in this example from Hamlet:
VERSE vs PROSE:
Shakespeare wrote the majority of his work in VERSE, predominately in iambic pentameter. But he also used a lot of PROSE, namely sentences that don’t follow any structured rhythm.
He tends to have characters of lower social standing speaking in prose, reserving his verse for more formal characters. Sometimes, if the conversation is colloquial, a character who normally uses verse will switch to prose, e.g. Hamlet and the gravedigger.
It may initially appear difficult to spot when Shakespeare is writing in verse or prose, but there is a simple way to identify it: the first letter of a line of verse is always capitalised, even it is a continuation of the previous line, whereas prose lines are not.
For example, in this exchange between Shylock and his servant Launcelot in The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene 5, notice that Shylock speaks in verse but his underling uses prose:
Five plays are written entirely in verse (Henry VI, Part I; Henry VI, Part III; King John; Edward III; and Richard II). The Merry Wives of Windsor contains the most prose at 87%.
RHYME:
Shakespeare uses rhyme widely in his plays, and exclusively in his sonnets. Let’s look at both:
THE PLAYS
Shakespeare uses rhyme for three primary reasons in his plays:
1) To indicate the end of a scene:
In an unrhymed scene, Shakespeare will often end the scene with a RHYMING COUPLET (i.e. two lines that rhyme), to indicate to the audience the scene is over, e.g. Viola contemplating the mess she is in at the end of Act 2, Scene 2 in Twelfth Night:
2) To emphasise love:
When young lovers share passionate words together, Shakespeare uses rhyme to accentuate passion in the language and give their exchange a more magical feeling, reminiscent of falling in love, e.g. Romeo and Juliet in Act 2, Scene 2:
3) To indicate an atypical character:
To show that a character is different in some way to the main protagonists, Shakespeare uses rhyme as a form of differentiation, e.g. the three witches in Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 1:
THE SONNETS
Every line of Shakespeare’s sonnets rhymes, either with line after next (in the first 12 lines) or the following line (lines 13 and 14).
The notation for describing rhyme is to use letters indicating which lines rhyme with each other. In Shakespeare’s Sonnets, there are three QUATRAINS consisting of four lines. The first line rhymes with the third, and the second rhymes with the fourth, hence:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? [A]
Thou art more lovely and more temperate: [B]
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, [A]
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date: [B]
These rhymes are not then repeated in the remainder of the poem, hence new letters are used to indicate the rhyme:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, [C]
And often is his gold complexion dimmed, [D]
And every fair from fair sometime declines, [C]
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed: [D]
But thy eternal summer shall not fade, [E]
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, [F]
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade, [E]
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. [F]
Finally, the CLOSING COUPLET is just two lines, rhyming:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, [G]
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. [G]
Hence, the rhyming pattern of a Shakespearean sonnet is said to be ABABCDCDEFEFGG.
FORM:
Shakespeare follows tight rules of form in both his plays and his sonnets. Let’s look at both:
THE PLAYS
Every play is written in five ACTS.
Within each act, there are SCENES. There is no set number of scenes per act; many acts have just one scene, whilst Act 4 of Antony and Cleopatra has 15 scenes, the most of any Act.
Sometimes a PROLOGUE precedes the scenes in the Act to set the stage with an agnostic voice, and sometimes an EPILOGUE closes out the action.
THE SONNETS
Shakespeare adapted the 14-line sonnet form from the Italian Petrarchan sonnet. They follow a set rhyming pattern (see above), but also have a clearly defined form and structure.
There are three QUATRAINS consisting of four lines each, followed by the CLOSING COUPLET of two lines.
The first two quatrains are called the OCTAVE. They usually express a discrete point of view.
After the octave, the sonnet expresses an alternate point of view in the third quatrain, then summarises the argument in the closing couplet. This third quatrain and the closing couplet are called the SESTET.
The point at which the sonnet changes between the octave and sestet is called the VOLTA.
This is more easily demonstrated by analysing sonnet 18:
