According to the Telegraph, an Australian expert well grounded in the contextual history of Shakespeare's time claims a recent shocker that many famous phrases credited to him might have been so attributed without solid basis outside the bard's fame. Dr David Mclnnis of the University of Melbourne claims that “[Shakespeare’s] words were mostly in circulation already or were logical combinations of pre-existing concepts”. His argument makes sense, for otherwise the concurrent audience of Shakespeare’s time would not have been able to understand never mind appreciate his plays in the first place. The revelation is not to accuse the playwright of plagiarizing—absolutely not. From personal conviction and textual investigation, I have always believed …show more content…
that language is a literary palimpsest that builds on previous foundation, on which account Shakespeare’s genius lied just as much in inventing as in refashioning. Misled citations rise out of the bias from our canonical Oxford English Dictionary, whose undisputed reputation prevents people from questioning its supreme validity and potential susceptibility to error.
It appears to Mclnnis that the OED holds over 33,000 Shakespearean quotations of which 1,500 are concluded as original invention and 7,500 as original usage or meaning. However, recent evidence from the Australian expert encourages us to second doubt the point of reference we have taken for granted with a series of examples traceable to earlier works. Mclnnis dissents from the OED on a few contentions, including the inappropriate attribution that “a wild goose chase” first appeared in Romeo and Juliet. Per his findings, the phrase was used “at least six times” in the English poet Gervase Markham’s book about horsemanship published in 1593. That “eaten me out of house and home” sprang from Henry IV Part 2 was also invalidated by an earlier proof from 1578 now given access through a digital resource bank. Last but not least, the famous “tis Greek to me” from Julius Caesar predates Shakespeare in Robert Greene’s The Scottish History Of James The Fourth, where a lord pleaded a lady to love him at which request she replied “Tis Greek to me, my Lord”. That being said, the above does not exclude phrases that Shakespeare did genuinely make up
as he went. “To make an ass of oneself” is one of his top on-the-go hit amongst many others. Perhaps what is more remarkable than creating is bringing depth to existing creation. While it is important to give birth to new articles of interest, horizontal development can never bring literature the evolution that vertical profundity is capable of. The ultimate condition to innovation entails in reach and out reach to occur at once, so that widespread seeds may strengthen in growth while to-be seeds may enter in realm. Extraordinarily imaginative as he was, Shakespeare recollected inspiration from a combination of contemporary accounts as well as the political arena of his time. Sentences form upon phrases upon words upon letters just as Shakespeare emulated from previous expressions, each bestowed with its proper precedents.
Friar Lawrence is a humble and holy who is respected by the other characters. Figurative language and dramatic conventions give a well-grounded understanding of his motives, traits and values. His main motive is peace between the families he “All I had wanted to achieve was peace.” As a friar he respects the Montague’s and Capulet’s. The quote represents his motive that he wanted the feuding to stop. When he married Romeo and Juliet he wished for more then their happiness. He hoped that the marriage would bring families together. When witnessing the deaths he says in sorrow, “I’m a friar holy and peaceful.” “Oh lord the poor deaths that lie in front of me. Are due to my greed to resolve the feud.” The term friar represents his traits, being
7. John Wisdom, Paradox and Discovery (Berkeley: The University of California Press, 1969), p. ix.
Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. Dublin: University of Oxford, 1710. Print.
“Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex...People are irrational” said physiologist, Hugh Mackay. As a matter of fact nothing was perfect for Romeo and Juliet. Their lives were messy. Their relationship was complex. And they certainly did act irrationally. Romeo and Juliet quickly fell in love at the beginning of the plot in the play, named after them, created by Shakespeare. To be able to escape from her home and be with her love, Juliet drank a potion that made her seem dead. Romeo, not knowing about the plan, took his life at the sight of her “dead” body. When Juliet woke up and saw Romeo dead, she ended up killing herself as well due to his death. Shakespeare portrays the message that being in love can cloud people’s
Donnellan, Keith S. (July 1966). "Reference and Definite Descriptions". The Philosophical Review (The Philosophical Review, Vol. 75, No. 3) 75 (3): 281–304. doi:10.2307/2183143. JSTOR 2183143
One of the main catalysts in Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' is powerful, uncontrollable emotions; love, hate, wrath, infatuation, and outrage are all apparent in the play and have a direct impact on the tragic events that unfold. In act one, scene two, the strongest emotions conveyed are those of despair, love and sincerity. Shakespeare uses imagery, figurative language and powerful vocabulary to convey these emotions to the audience.
Language and Dramatic Devices in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Introduction Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is known as a love tragedy. features many rhymed verses, especially when Romeo and Juliet first. speak.
Hamlet’s quote from his famous soliloquy “To be, or not to be?” (3.1.56) has been included in thousands of even the most unlikely modern media pieces. Sesame Street dedicated an entire segment of the show to the phrase to teach children the letter B (Soliloquy on B). Faber-Castell cleverly broadcasted the quote to sell pencils (Faber-Castell). It has even been used in the beginning of a Beyoncé song (Knowles). Shakespeare’s timeless works are often presumed to be affiliated with high culture, but if Shakespeare supposedly wrote such high-brow literature, then why are the works often quoted in low-brow modern media such as The Simpsons, Star Trek, and every other romance novel? Some artworks are heavily based on Hamlet, such as the Lion King.
Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. 1710. Ed. Kenneth Winkler. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1982.
Fieser, James, and Norman Lillegard. "7." A Historical Introduction to Philosophy: Texts and Interactive Guides. New York: Oxford UP, 2002. 339. Print.
By using just the right combination of words, or by coming up with just the right image, Shakespeare wrote many passages and entire plays that were so powerful, moving, tragic, comedic, and romantic that many are still being memorized and performed today, almost four centuries later. But the greatness of Shakespeare’s ability lies not so much in the basic themes of his works but in the creativity he used to write these stories of love, power, greed, discrimination, hatred, and tragedy.
Stumpf, Samuel Enoch, and James Fieser. The Origin of All Our Ideas in Experience. 1690.Philosophy: History and Problems. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. 197. Print.
Generally, when people think of Shakespeare, they tend to associate him with old English and plays like Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. They wrongly disassociate him from modern English terms used by youth. People inaccurately think Shakespearean English and modern English are two very different things. However, Shakespeare authored a number of today’s catchphrases. Countless people quote Shakespeare without realizing! While many people know that William Shakespeare’s way with words rose high above his peers’, few recognize that Shakespeare devised several of today’s popular phrases, including, “it is all Greek to me”, “break the ice”, and “too much of a good thing”.
Shakespeare has written vulgar, comical, hateful, abominable and cruel insults that his audience can enjoy and relate to. Shakespeare’s insults were usually hidden in a cleverly produced fashion. People today say if Shakespeare had not evolved and demonstrated such an abundant amount of literature he mastered, he wouldn’t have had much of an impact on the English language or works of literature today.
Shakespeare got much recognition in his own time, but in the 17th century, poets and authors began to consider him as the supreme dramatist and poet of all times of the English language. In fact, even today, no one can match his works or perform as well as he did. No other plays have been performed as many times as Shakespeare’s. Several critics of theatre try to focus on the language of Shakespeare and to take out excerpts from the literary text and make it their own resulting in various persons, poets, authors, psychoanalysts, psychologists and philosophers.