william shakespeare – an introduction

William Shakespeare – An Introduction“All the world’s a stage….”

Why study Shakespeare?1. He is credited with adding more words

and phrases to the English language than anyone else (about 1500 – 10,000).

2. England was a world power during his time and has contributed to human civilization.

3. Shakespeare understood human nature and wrote about themes that we still relate to.

4. He evokes emotions through words and rhythms that we can’t duplicate by translating.

1. He is credited with adding 1500 – 10000 new words/phrases•If you have ever said or heard “It’s all Greek to

me”•If your lost property has “vanished into thin air”•If you have ever “refused to budge an inch”•If you have been “tongue-tied, a tower of

strength, or seen better days”•If you have had “too much of a good thing”•If you have had your “fill of it”•If you are going to “lie low”•…then you have been quoting Shakespeare!

Accuse, Accommodate, Addiction, Amazement, Assassination, Bandit, Bedroom, Blanket, Bloody, Bump, Champion, Countless, Critic, Denote, Dexterously, Disgrace, Dislocate, Distracted, Droplet, Dwindle, Eventful, Exposure, Eyeball, Fashionable, Fixture, Flawed, Freezing, Frugal, Generous, Gloomy, Glow, Hint, Homely, Hostile, Howl, Hurry, Impartial, Invulnerable, Lackluster, Lapse, Laughable, Lonely, Majestic, Militarist, Mimic, Monumental, Mountaineer, Negotiate, Numb, Obscene, Outbreak, Pious, Perplex, Premeditated, Puke, Quarrel, Radiance, Rant, Reliance, Squabble, Stealthy, Submerge, Summit, Suspicious, Tranquil, Uncomfortable, Upstairs, Varied, Vulnerable, Widen, Worthless, Zany

Words invented or coined by Shakespeare

2. England During Shakespeare’s Time•In the 1600’s England was a super power,

much like the United States today – “The sun never sets on the British Empire”, Rule Britannia, etc.

•England colonized much of the world and spread their culture to their colonies – similar to U.S. clothing styles, music, and TV programs today

•Countries that were colonized learned the English language and English culture, so that it became “universal” knowledge

The British Empire

3. Shakespeare wrote plays about human nature and human emotions that we can still relate to

•People haven’t changed much in the last 400 years. The technology has certainly changed, BUT, people still:

Fall in Love

Get Dumped

Argue with parents, bosses, lovers

Get emotionally hurt

Get jealous

Seek revenge

Shakespeare’s Work•Because Shakespeare recognized all of

these human qualities, he wrote:•Comedies – 17•Histories – 10•Tragedies – 10•Poems and Sonnets – Hundreds!

Examples

4. Why do we read Shakespeare in that old fashioned language?•Shakespeare was a brilliant wordsmith.

He wrote in a rhythm that evoked the emotions the story was meant to convey.

•This is why it’s very difficult to “translate” Shakespeare into modern English, because the meaning gets lost in translation.

•Many figures of speech would not make sense if they were directly translated.