Use of Profanity by Shakespeare
The evolution of written profanity began roughly in the sixteenth century, and continues to change with each generation that it sees. Profanity is recognized in many Shakespearean works, and has continually evolved into the profane language used today. Some cuss words have somehow maintained their original meanings throughout hundreds of years, while many others have completely changed meaning or simply fallen out of use.
William Shakespeare, though it is not widely taught, was not a very clean writer. In fact, he was somewhat of a potty mouth. His works encompassed a lot of things that some people wish he had not. "That includes a fair helping of sex, violence, crime, horror, politics, religion, anti-authoritarianism, anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia, sexism, jealousy, profanity, satire, and controversy of all kinds" (Macrone 6). In his time, religious and moral curses were more offensive than biological curses. Most all original (before being censored) Shakespearean works contain very offensive profanity, mostly religious, which is probably one of many reasons that his works were and are so popular. "Shakespeare pushed a lot of buttons in his day- which is one reason he was so phenomenally popular. Despite what they tell you, people like having their buttons pushed" (Macrone 6). Because his works contained so many of these profane words or phrases, they were censored to protect the innocent minds of the teenagers who are required to read them, and also because they were blasphemous and offensive. Almost all of the profanity was removed, and that that was not had just reason for being there. Some of the Bard's censored oaths are;
"God's blessing on your beard"
Love's Labors Lost, II.i.203
This was a very rude curse because a man's facial hair was a point of pride for him. and "to play with someone's beard" was to insult him.
"God's body"
1 Henry IV,II.i.26
Swearing by Christ's body, (or any part thereof,) was off limits in civil discourse.
"God's Bod(y)kins, man"
Hamlet, II.ii.529
The word bod(y)kin means "little body" or "dear body," but adding the cute little suffix does not make this curse any more acceptable.
"By God's [blest] mother!"
2 Henry VI, II.i;
3 Henry VI, III.ii;
Henry VIII, V.i
Swearing by the virgin was almost as rude as swearing by her son, especially when addressing a catholic cathedral as Gloucester did in 2 Henry VI, II.
Swearing has the ability to get someone in a whole load of trouble at the dinner table with their mother but could also be their choice of words when they accidently stub their toe on the coffee table in the living room. Natalie Angier discusses this controversial topic of words that shouldn’t be said in her article feature in The New York Times, “Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore”. Provoked by a recently proposed bill to increase fines for using swear words on television, Angier analyzes not only the impact of swearing, but also where the desire to speak obscene words comes from. She references many credible studies and sources as she unfolds her argument. She uses a diverse slew of studies, experiments, and famous pieces of literature and
“Language is frequently used to stir up & manipulate emotions.” - Mary Hamer. The words that people say can appear brutal or detrimental. These violent words take up many forms such as lying, insulting, etc. Along with its’ comedic formula, William Shakespeare's, Much Ado About Nothing is enhanced with humorous mockery and intertwined dialogues. In the play, the soldiers have just returned from a successful war. Love is traveling through the village; however the “language of war” appears rooted in the language. Numerous times do the characters joke around in cruel dialects. The mockery, however, is not considered to be as harsh due to the presence of comedy within the play. William Shakespeare’s intricate use of language in his play, Much Ado About Nothing, allows immense aggressive language to thrive in the characters yet is able to use this to alleviate the violence.
Hamlet answers her question of why he takes exception to her by berating her for insinuating his character is lacking. In society today I see white and black. White representing happiness, goodness,...
Piggy tries to lecture the boys, yet because they don’t respect him they mostly just ignore him. Also, Piggy might be disappointed with himself that he cannot participate in physical activities such as building the shelter. Therefore, he must be lethargic and lonely.
The line between the old, traditional southern values and culture versus those of the New South seemed to have been drawn during post-civil war United States of America. This period saw many people moving away from life in the south and establishing a new life in the north. The primary reason for the mass migration from south to north was mainly due the nation’s industrial advancements. As America grew more industrialized, plantation based agrarian system became less attractive economically. People sought to work and make a better living working in factories which consequently led the nation as a whole becoming more urbanized and less rural. A streetcar named desire engages and sheds a li...
One example is the use of the word “fuck”. In my house hold growing up I attempted to use this work once when I dropped a plate. It was the angriest my father has ever been at me. This word is often considered the worst of the curse words in modern English. This simple utterance has been in use since the early 16th century. Fuck often evokes strong emotion and response, considered one of the seven dirty words that can’t be said on American broadcast
William Shakespeare, poet and playwright, utilized humor and irony as he developed specific language for his plays, thereby influencing literature forever. “Shakespeare became popular in the eighteenth century” (Epstein 8). He was the best all around. “Shakespeare was a classic” (8). William Shakespeare is a very known and popular man that has many works, techniques and ways. Shakespeare is the writer of many famous works of literature. His comedies include humor while his plays and poems include irony. Shakespeare sets himself apart by using his own language and word choice. Shakespeare uses certain types of allusions that people always remember, as in the phrase from Romeo and Juliet, “star-crossed lovers”.
King, B. (2011). The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or Hiding? They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
The essay starts off quoting a freshman at University of Texas: “’Cheating is an answer. It might not be a good answer, but none the less it is an answer.’” (20) Clayton goes on saying that the student does not believe in cheating but was only trying to prove a point. Clayton later quotes an associate provost at Rutgers University who describes how cheating is on the rise. Clayton says, “He and others blame poor role models and lack of parental guidance for the growing acceptance of cheating in colleges.” (20) Neither Clayton nor the associate provost proves themselves to make a pathos statement such as this one. Clayton never states why the reader should trust what he has to say or what he believes. All of his information comes from quoted material; so what makes his position any more credible than the average Joe with access to the internet or a library?
Poetry like so many other things in life is complicated and easily misunderstood, similar to the poem entitled “Poetry” by Marianne Moore. Through her unique way of writing Moore uses literary devices imagery and personification to make the readers question why it is she has come to “dislike”(line 1) poetry. In particular, her word choice leaves a lot of room to wonder exactly why she has chosen to write it this way. A main theme that is represented in this poem is conformity and whether or not it is something to be followed.
Across the Universe of Time: Shakespeare’s influence on 21st century society. It is harder to imagine a more universal writer than William Shakespeare. Rarely, if ever, is one of his many plays not being performed anywhere in the world and similarly rare is the tertiary English student who has not examined his work at length. His plays, sonnets and poems are common fodder for high school English departments across the globe.
The impeccable style and craft of Shakespeare’s writing has always been looked upon with great respect, and it continues to serve as an inspiration to writers and thinkers today even as it did when it was being first performed in London. Shakespeare’s modern audience, however, is far less diverse than the one for which he originally wrote. Due to the antiquity of his language, Shakespeare’s modern readership consists mostly of students and intellectuals, whereas in Shakespeare’s own time, his plays were performed in playhouses packed with everyone from royalty to peasants. Because of this, Shakespeare was forced to write on many different levels, the most sophisticated of which appealed to his more elite audience members, while the more straightforward and often more crude of which appealed to his less educated viewers, and the most universal of which still appeals to us.
There is an epidemic of cheating in American universities. Students are finding easier and more efficient ways to cheat. Morals and morality are changing. Students, members of the younger generation, and teachers, members of the older generation, differ on what is cheating. Morality even differs amongst students. Some students still adhere to the traditional sense of morality, and find what other students do an abhorration of morality. This essay is a mostly a pathos and ethos argument that attempts to appeal to the reader’s sense of right and wrong by using so-called “authorities.”
Shakespeare’s ability to mold the English language into eloquently written poetry gave him the ability to affect the language as he did. Hundreds of clichés that are used daily by English speakers were invented in Shakespeare’s writings. Few people are aware, but expressions such as “dead as a doornail” (Henry IV, Part II) or “something wicked this way comes” (Macbeth) can both be accredited to Shakespeare. In The Story of English, Bernard Levin writes that “if [the reader] cannot understand my argument, and [declares] ‘It's Greek to me’, you are quoting Shakespeare” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 99). Levin is simply reminding the reader that much of common English speech can be traced back to idioms used in Shakespeare’s writing. Shakespeare even took the liberty to invent words of his own, supposedly inventing over one thousand commonly used words. Shakespeare was able to create words in multiple ways, including changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and coming up with words that were completely original (pathguy.com). Shakespearian words include “assassination” and even “obscene” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 99), and other such words that are used by English speakers daily. Although a number of writers have used the English language to their advantage, no writer has taken the language to the level that Shakespeare was able to do.
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