Shakespeare wrote over four centuries ago, so his words can look strange at first. With a few tools, his meaning becomes surprisingly clear.
Old words, new sense
Some words simply meant something different then:
- thou, thee = you (to one person); thy, thine = your, yours.
- art = are; hath = has; doth = does.
- wherefore = why (not 'where'); anon = soon.
When a line puzzles you, try putting it into your own words one phrase at a time.
Verse and rhythm
Much of Shakespeare is written in blank verse: unrhymed lines with a steady beat called iambic pentameter (ten syllables, five soft-STRONG beats). Listen to this line from Julius Caesar:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Noble characters often speak in verse, while ordinary characters or comic moments may use plain prose. A change from verse to prose can signal a change in mood or status.
Context: the world behind the words
Shakespeare wrote in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Audiences believed strongly in order, loyalty and the consequences of ambition. Plays were performed by daylight at theatres like the Globe, with few props, so language did the work of describing storms, night and battle. Knowing this helps you see why characters describe their surroundings so vividly.
A simple method
- Read the line aloud for its rhythm.
- Swap old words for modern ones.
- Ask who is speaking and why.
- Note any image or comparison.
Do this and Shakespeare stops being a puzzle and becomes a story you can follow.
Put this method for reading a Shakespeare line in order:
- Read the line aloud for its rhythm
- Swap old words for their modern equivalents
- Ask who is speaking and why
- Note any image or comparison in the line