IS SHAKESPEARE CONFUSING?

 The title of this blog is that one question that every student who studies Shakespeare can give the answer to, and most likely the answer would be yes. But why? Here, i am going to be talking about how Shakespeare's English is different from ours, just a little comparison.

The language in which Shakespeare wrote is referred to as Early modern English, a linguistic period that lasted from approximately 1500 to 1750. The language spoken during this period is often referred to as Elizabethan English or Shakespearian English. It falls between two major linguistic stages in the history of English, Middle English, the language written and spoken during the Middle Ages, and Modern English, the language we write and speak today.

While the use of the apostrophe for genitive expressions was not fully established until the 18th century, Shakespeare used it in his plays. Negatives were no longer marked with the older ‘ne’ but instead by ‘not’. Adjectives started appearing in comparative and superlative forms, using the suffix <-er> as a marker of comparatives (e.g. better) and <-est> for superlatives (e.g. fastest). Furthermore, adverbs were now formed with a <-ly> suffix (e.g. faithfully).

Language change can happen in various aspects, including semantics, pronunciation, and grammar. There are a lot of words that have changed their meaning over time. It is because of these semantic changes that we have difficulty understanding Shakespeare. As speakers of modern English, sometimes we even misunderstand Shakespeare because the words or phrases that he used have different meanings in the English of our age. For example, the word silly originally meant blessed, but now it means foolish or many have even misinterpreted the phrase "wherefore art thou" to where are you when it really means why are you. As wrong as it sounds when you hear it, it just shows the difference in the language. 

If someone has to process the language of Shakespeare at a different pace from their everyday normal English, it is not because they are ignorant or do not have a proficient grasp of their mother tongue. The reason is that the language that Shakespeare spoke and wrote in is different from what we speak and write in today.

One of the words that has seen a change in meaning is wit. In Shakespeare’s comedy, Twelfth Night, it is used with a different denotation. Viola says: “This fellow is wise enough to play the fool. And to do that well craves a kind of wit.” If we take wit with the meaning it has today, the sentence makes no sense. Does it mean being a fool requires being funny? 

Another interesting case is a sentence in which all the parts have shifted their meaning. In Hamlet, we read: “Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.” What we are inclined to get from this sentence is: let people criticize you but reserve your judgment. It is definitely not an advice that we would take as rational. It is because it doesn’t mean that. It actually means size someone up but keep quiet about it.

The English Language has transformed over its history. It changed from Old English to Middle English to Modern English. All features of the language, namely grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and spelling have changed over time.

There are many more examples. The English language has gone through so many changes since Shakespeare existed that when one reads Shakespeare now, they wonder whether learning a new language would be easier than reading Shakespeare but once you can differentiate his writing from current day, reading his plays would be a much more enjoyable process.

Feel free to ask questions or just share your views. Contact me though mail if you want to :)

Contact: shahmisri10@gmail.com

-misri xx