1. Shakespeare’s Use of Language
English as a Foreign Language

2. Shakespeare’s Form Rhetoric
Dressed up plain language in rich, sumptuous clothes for dramatic effect
Vestige of Greek Works
Part of the Elizabethan education

3. Shakespeare’s Form Iambic Pentameter
The line structure Shakespeare applied to all of his work.
Iambic
Refers to the series of unstressed and stressed syllables
Unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
Ex: What thou seest…..

4. Shakespeare’s Form Pentameter Meter: foot, two counts per foot
Penta: five, five meters
Five feet of two counts equal a 10 count line
So, Iambic pentameter means: a ten count line in which the first syllable is unstressed and the next syllable is stressed and so on…
EX: “Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace, four happy days bring in…”

5. Shakespeare’s Form Poetry Prose Verse
Some what free form- follows iambic pentameter, but does not rhyme.
Ex: any time the mechanicals speak
Verse
Much more structured and follows a rhyme scheme
Ex: any time royalty, the lovers or the fairies speak

6. Shakespeare’s Language
Why is Shakespeare’s language so difficult to understand?
VOCABULARY
What makes the vocabulary difficult to understand?
CULTURAL STATIC

7. Shakespeare’s Language
Anastrophe: Unusual sentence structure
Verb before subject
“Full of vexation come I”
Should be: I come full of vexation
Object before subject and verb
“And what is mine my love shall render him”
Should be: My love shall render him what is mine
Interruptions
“My fortunes every was as fairly ranked, if not with vantage, as Demetrius
Should be: My fortunes are as fairly ranked as Demetrius
Omissions
“Thrice blessed they that master so their blood”
Should be: Thrice blessed are are they that master so their blood

8. Shakespeare’s Language
Wordplay
Puns
Malapropisms
Bottom uses them frequently!!!
Simile: illustrative comparison
Ex: My love is like a red, red rose.
Metaphor or extended simile
Hyperbole
Personification

9. Tricks for Comprehension
Line notes
Numbers in the margins at the end of the lines- they mean something!!!!
Rearrange the sentences
Read for meaning
If you don’t understand a word- skip it- then go back
Imagine the stage action
Make allowances for humor
TRANSLATE