Articles and Stories

June 14, 2013

One of the most difficult challenges involved in the studying of Shakespeare is breaking the language barrier. There are several factors that often confuse the reader about the language of Shakespeare: the use of obsolete words, the order of sentence wording, and puns that depend on the meaning, usage, and pronunciation of words.

His vocabulary, as culled from his works, numbers upward of 17,000 words (quadruple that of an average, well-educated conversationalist in the language). This fact is even more striking when you consider not only his limited education, but also the fact that at the time, there were no dictionaries nor organized grammar texts. If Shakespeare couldn’t find a descriptive word, he made one up.

Although disputed by many a high school student, Shakespeare did indeed write in English, just a slightly different version of what we consider to be modern English. And once one understands the vocabulary and sentence structure better, Shakespeare’s works become far from the dry, boring stuff of classrooms, but amusing, delightful and accessible to all. (There’s even an iPad app for making it easier and several websites that boast “Shakespeare Insult Generators”.)

Below are a few words with their “translations” that might shed some light on his timeless works.

anon—right now, OR “I come right away”……. “Anon, good nurse!  Speak!”
art—are, OR skill……“Thou art  dead; no physician’s art can save you.”
dost or doth—does or do……“Dost thou know the time?”
ere—before……“We must leave ere daybreak.”
fain—gladly……“I fain would bake Mr. Love cookies if I could get an A.”
fie—an exclamation of dismay or disgust……“You cheated?  Fie upon it!” OR “Fie!  Are you mad?”
hence—away…..“Get thee hence, beggar!”  OR “We must hence before the army arrives.”
hie—hurry……“Hie thee hence, or lose your life!”
hither—here…..“Come hither, young lad.”
thither—there……“Look to the east—thither doth the sun arise.”
hath—has……… “He hath killed many a man.” OR “He hath a horse.” 
ho—hey (roughly equivalent). “Lucius, ho!”  [Brutus calling his servant]   
mark—pay attention to…….. “Mark my words.” 
marry—indeed……“He says I should respond quickly; marry, I want to.”
pray/prithee—a polite way of asking something……“I prithee answer the question.”
saucy—cheeky; sassy……“Hence, thou saucy boy!”
sirrah—a term of address used for inferiors……“Sirrah, bring the letter over here.”
whence—from where…….. “Whence came that news?” OR “Return to whence you came.” 
wherefore—why……“Wherefore dost thou leave?”  OR “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” [As in, “why can’t you be someone else, whom my family doesn’t hate?”]