Shakespeare's language Flashcards
what is early english
old english (anglo saxon) developed in Britain from the dialects spoken by the Germanic tribes called anglos and saxons (arrived in 5th and 6th century). Later invades such as Danes and Norman Frenchmen and their vocabulary and also influenced the grammar of English
Early modern english
By the time Shakespeare was writing, the language had passed through the phase now known as Middle English (the language, for example, of such fourteenth century writers as Chaucer) and was entering the period we now call Early Modern English
When is ‘You’ used? (Shakespearean time)
- when addressing more than one person
- when addressing someone of a higher rank
- when a degree of formality is required
When is ‘thee’ and ‘Thou’ used in Shakespearean language
- used to friends, intimates and close family
- used to inferiors/ to imply inferiority and contempt as an insult
When is ‘thee’ used (and with what effect)
1) (1,4) Gertrude addresses her son as ‘thee’- sign of affection (also un-reciprocated as Hamlet predominantly replies using you) ‘let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet; I pray thee stay with us’
2) (1,5) Hamlet addresses the Ghost with thee/ thou- conveys a sense of trust and proxitmity ‘wither wilt thou speak to me?’
3) (3,1) the most vile/ aggressive dialouge to Opehlia - used to show contempt/ digust ‘get thee to a nunery’
What is the royal plural
a mode of address used historically- when teh monarch uses the plural form of ‘we’ to refer to them-self
When is the royal plural; used in Hamlet
1) (1.2)Claudius holding court and acting as the sincere and noble king ‘Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death… Our sometimes sister, now our queen’
2) (5,1) At Ophelia’s funeral when Hamlet jumps into the grave declaring ‘This is I, Hamlet the Dane’
3) (4,3) When Claudius is planning to send Hamlet back to England he says ‘ Hamlet, this deed for thine especial safety- which we do tender as we dearly grieve’ - in this extract Claudius simultaneously stresses his own kingship through the use of the royal plural whilst using the intimate thou to Hamlet
Rhythmic Characteristic of Hamlet’s soliloquy’s
-Soliloquy in 2,2 (Hamlet berating himself for failing to avenge his father)- very noticeable departure from iambic pentameter ‘and can say nothing- no not for a king’ - almost entirely monosyllabic, nearly all stressed syllables and many caesuras- suggest Hamlets fraught mental state
Smooth rhythms in Hamlet
-in Claudius’ speeches (notably when he addresses the court in 1,2 is rhythmically very smooth- this is created through Shakespeare’s use of feminine endings and use of enjambment -> might create an artificial sense of smoothness- too rehearsed= suspicious
How where scenes concluded and why?
rhyme was used to mark the end of scenes- this was because there were no curtains of the Shakespearean stage
When is the one instance in which Hamlet uses Rhyme (other than when ending scenes)
3,4: Hamlet has just killed Polonius and Gertrude cries ‘o what a rash and bloody deed is this!’ to which he replies (in rhyme) ‘A bloody deed. Almost as bad, good mother, And kill a king and marry with his brother’
