Cynthia Hallen
ELANG 324 sec. 1
1 December 2009
Shakespeare: Putting Words into Mouths
Hamlet is one of the greatest classics from Shakespeare’s time till today. It is recognized for its intriguing tragedy, the action, the speeches, and Shakespeare’s amazing use of words. The play takes place in Denmark and tells the story of Prince Hamlet’s revenge over his father’s death. His father’s ghost tells Hamlet of his murder by his brother, Hamlet’s uncle. It ends in many tragic deaths revolving around Hamlet’s reaction to the situation, as well as the pending invasion of Norway.
As Shakespeare was writing this play around the year 1600 many shifts in English life had been taking place to alter the Language. In 1588, the Spanish sought to overthrow Queen Elizabeth and so they traveled to England. Although they were unsuccessful, their travels lead to language contact which can make an ever so slight to great change. By Shakespeare’s time, Middle English existed in old writings and the new common language Early Modern English was upheld by syntax because of the lack of inflections left in Middle English. Even though Shakespeare did not introduce another language to English, his syntax did reveal a new light. The way he uses the idiom, “love is blind,” and it lasts through out the morphology that has taken place between the 1600’s and today is profound.
The Written Language and Rhetoric-
Shakespeare puts rhetoric devices into play with unique mannerisms. He uses hendiadys, which are not very common devices which turns a subordination into a conjunction. In Ophelia's speech at the end of the nunnery scene she says, "Th'expectancy and rose of the fair state"; "And I, of ladies most deject and wretched" (Bevington 594). This must have invited other writers of Early Modern English, as well as later writers, to further incorporate his uncommon devices to achieve depth of their desired effect of the language. Although puns were not introduced by Shakespeare, in this pun it is evident that he used word play along with puns to convey several ideas of a character simultaneously, "Not so, my lord, I am too much in the sun" (Bevington 575). This is Hamlet's response to the King's question, "How is it that the clouds still hang on you?" He means that the King has called Hamlet "son" once too often.
The way language was used and manipulated in plays, evolved through Shakespeare’s work. Not only did he use metaphors, but he also brought into the play a new intensity with his use of stichomythia. In the play, Hamlet is questioned by his mother, the queen, about the play which Hamlet set up to expose his murderous step-uncle:
QUEEN: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.
QUEEN: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
HAMLET: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
This is an example shows how Shakespeare use rhythmic alternating of lines to intensify the conversation.
Vocabulary
“Shakespeare uses some six hundred words in Hamlet that he had not used in the previous twenty-plus plays and two long poems; indeed, many of these words cannot be found in the English language prior to this play” (Bevington 568). It is just amazing how Shakespeare was able to add so many words, and have faith in the audience and readers that they would be able to understand and absorb the words. It must have been easier for him to have faith when he used his newly invented words so well and accompanied by such particular context in his play. When I did an advance search for “Spakespeare” in entries in the Oxford English Dictionary, 4075 results came up. For “Hamlet,” 826 results appeared. Not all of the words were introduced by Shakespeare, but the words that weren’t invented by him were influenced or had their meaning changed from their use in Hamlet.
Words and Phrases-
There's method in my madness
Brevity is the soul of wit
Conscience does make cowards of us all
Dog will have his day
Hoist with his own petard
In my heart of hearts
In my mind's eye
Infinite space
Own flesh and blood (Hamlet)
Sweets to the sweet (Hamlet)
Sick at heart (Hamlet)
There's the rub (Hamlet)
This mortal coil (Hamlet)
To thine own self be true (Hamlet
Trippingly on the tongue
Witching time of night (Hamlet)
Words
buzzer (Hamlet; means gossipper)
excitement (Hamlet / Troilus and Cressida; both times as plural; first use as a noun)
fanged (Hamlet, first attestation)
outbreak (Hamlet, first attestation as a noun)
perusal (Sonnets / Hamlet; first use as a noun)
to unhand (Hamlet)
Works Cited
Bevington, David, Anne Marie Welsh, and Michael L. Greenwald. Shakespeare: Script, Stage, Screen. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006.
“Oxford English Dictionary.” Second Edition. 1989. University Press, Web. 25 Nov. 2009.
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