Shakespeare:
Still Going Strong after 400 Years
I am a confirmed fan of Shakespeare. To those of you who had to study “The Bard” every year of high school and did not enjoy it, I maintain you did not escape his influence. Although Shakespeare died 400 years ago this past April, he is with us still and his influence on our culture is impossible to ignore.
The contemporary of William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, noted playwright, poet, and critic, even anticipated how lasting Shakespeare would be: “He’s not of an age, but for all time.” This he wrote in the preface of the collection of Shakespeare’s plays known as the First Folio. Why did Jonson anticipate this popularity? Four reasons may help us make sense of Jonson’s belief.
*Shakespeare’s works summarize the range of human emotions in simple, yet eloquent language. It is said that collecting Shakespearean quotes is one of the prime reasons John Bartlett compiled the first major book of familiar quotations.
*Shakespeare is a remarkable storyteller. Even when he adapted/used old tales already known, he told every kind of story – comedy, tragedy, history, melodrama, adventure, love, and fairy tales, with a few ghosts and witches (popular still today!) thrown in.
*The characters are compelling and complex. Hamlet is an easy example – a gentle young man seeking to avenge murder. Lear and his daughters. Are all daughters loved equally? Or Romeo and Juliet (West Side Story)? Teenagers in lustful love who will not be convinced otherwise?
Do we not know a Falstaff – a fat, jolly, entertaining reprobate who both lies and tells brutal truths? Verdi even wrote a whole opera about him! How about a strong, passionate wife (Lady Macbeth) who convinces her husband to do her will – even if illegal and immoral?
Do you know a Puck – mischievous, magical, and sometimes cruel?
*Common day expressions (some even considered clichés) pepper our language. Even should you say that reading Shakespeare “is all Greek to me,” you are quoting the Bard. If you are missing an item which has “vanished into thin air,” or if you admit “the game is up,” – yes, still Shakespeare. Or should you think I am “blinking idiot” for being a Shakespeare fan, then “what the dickens”--you are quoting him yet again. Even if it is not always clear to scholars whether some of the words and phrases were already in existence in Shakespeare’s day or actually coined by him, it is in his plays where they manifest themselves for all time.
The contemporary of William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, noted playwright, poet, and critic, even anticipated how lasting Shakespeare would be: “He’s not of an age, but for all time.” This he wrote in the preface of the collection of Shakespeare’s plays known as the First Folio. Why did Jonson anticipate this popularity? Four reasons may help us make sense of Jonson’s belief.
*Shakespeare’s works summarize the range of human emotions in simple, yet eloquent language. It is said that collecting Shakespearean quotes is one of the prime reasons John Bartlett compiled the first major book of familiar quotations.
*The characters are compelling and complex. Hamlet is an easy example – a gentle young man seeking to avenge murder. Lear and his daughters. Are all daughters loved equally? Or Romeo and Juliet (West Side Story)? Teenagers in lustful love who will not be convinced otherwise?
Do we not know a Falstaff – a fat, jolly, entertaining reprobate who both lies and tells brutal truths? Verdi even wrote a whole opera about him! How about a strong, passionate wife (Lady Macbeth) who convinces her husband to do her will – even if illegal and immoral?
Do you know a Puck – mischievous, magical, and sometimes cruel?
*Common day expressions (some even considered clichés) pepper our language. Even should you say that reading Shakespeare “is all Greek to me,” you are quoting the Bard. If you are missing an item which has “vanished into thin air,” or if you admit “the game is up,” – yes, still Shakespeare. Or should you think I am “blinking idiot” for being a Shakespeare fan, then “what the dickens”--you are quoting him yet again. Even if it is not always clear to scholars whether some of the words and phrases were already in existence in Shakespeare’s day or actually coined by him, it is in his plays where they manifest themselves for all time.
Here are some of my favorite single words
- Scuffle – Antony & Cleopatra
- Swagger – Henry V
- Grovel – Henry IV
- Lonely - Coriolanus
- Unreal - Macbeth
- Zany – Love’s Labour’s Lost
- Puking – As You Like It
- Obscene – Love’s Labour’s Lost
- Addiction - Othello
- Manager – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Dishearten – Henry V
- Rant - Hamlet
- Laughable – The Merchant of Venice
- Jaded – Henry VI
- Fashionable – Troilus & Cressida
And favorite phrases
- Dead as a doornail – Henry VI
- Not slept a wink – Cymbeline
- In stitches – Twelfth Night
- One fell swoop – Macbeth
- Give the devil his due – Henry IV
- There’s method in my madness – Hamlet
- Spotless reputation – Richard II
- Foregone conclusion – Othello
- A sorry sight – Macbeth
- For goodness sake – Henry VIII
- Good riddance – The Merchant of Venice
- Break the ice – The Taming of the Shrew
- A wild goose chase – Romeo and Juliet
- Knock, Knock! Who’s there? – Macbeth
- All of a sudden – The Taming of the Shrew
- And finally, my grandmother’s favorite: Eaten out of house and home! – Henry IV
To my readers, you savvy, wonderful people--I hope this bit of the Bard reminds you of how much William Shakespeare--
Glenne
P.S. “To be or not to be”--is it still the question?
No comments:
Post a Comment