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Shakespeare's influence on english language
Shakespeare's influence on english language
The influence of Shakespeare on english language
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William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida is a play filled with marked variations of tone. The language ranges across the gamut from satirical to anticlimactic to dignified to tragic. This explains, to some extent, the level of difficulty that commentators have had in classifying the work. A close reading of the word choice and sense of tone in the play contributes a great deal to a better understanding of its meaning. Analysis of particular word choice should be, in fact, a very important consideration when attempting to understand Shakespeare's works. He is known to often make use of neologisms and his style thus reveals a familiarity with the intricate emotional weight that diction brings to literature.
Whenever relatively obscure words appear in a work with any frequency a careful reader must ask what significance they have been given in the context in which they are used. This is the case with the verb "tickle," which makes a number of high profile appearances in Troilus and Cressida. In fact, of the twenty-one instances that Shakespeare uses a form of the word "tickle" in his entire canon, six appear in this single play. It is a word that fits the character of the play well.
The play begins with a prologue composed in a prosodically and semantically harsh style describing the war-torn scene at Troy. "Orgulous" princes have their "high blood chafed," longing to "ransack" the city; the gates of Troy are "massy," the walls "strong" within which lies the "ravished" Helen; the Greek ships "disgorge" fresh young men who pitch their "brave pavilions" on the Dardan plains (Pro. 2–15). The strikingly extravagant register of this description ("orgulous" is an obscure word even in 1600) is interrupted by a more pleasing, colloquia...
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...ings. It could be a use of the term "tickle" in the sense of chastise, that is Troilus will chastise Diomedes for his concubine, Cressida. Or, and more likely, it could refer to Troilus attempting to resolve the situation because of his love (which Thersites and the audience see as lust). The use of "tickle" provides an extra layer of farcical humor to the scenario.
In summary, the use of "tickle" in Troilus and Cressida is a product of the diversity of messages the play seeks to instill. Just as tickling is a complicated action from which is derived pleasure and pain, irritation and amusement and the intentions of which are never very clear, so the word provides layers of meaning to the action in the play. In each usage, it helps to instill a sense of mocking to the tone of the speaker and underscores the complex nature of love, as the play does in its entirety.
As the play opens, there is much merrymaking and festivity in preparation for the play. The sheer happiness of all of the colorful characters is transferred to the reader almost instantly. The mood is portrayed very well as being light and bubbly, an overall good feeling. The next major shift comes when Cyrano enters and, after riding himself of Montfleury, puts on the spectacle wherein he demonstrates not only his impeccable verbal dexterity, but also his fencing abilities - and both at the same time. This whole scene causes a strong reaction from the audience, and in turn, the re...
3 Dec. 2013. Kerschen, Lios. A. A “Critical Essay on ‘Romeo and Juliet’. ” Drama for Students. Ed.
The reader is introduced to an insight of Titus Andronicus’ cruel nature, after he ignores Tamora’s cry to have her first-born son saved from his sacrifice to revenge the lives of his sons that her Goth people took. This new interpretation of Titus as a ruthless murderer heavily contradicts the reader’s first impression of Titus that Marcus gave the reader. Marcus initially leads the reader to except that Titus is good and honorable man. Titus’ sudden act of violence makes the reader realizes that he has two sides to his character: the relentless warrior and the beloved hero. However as the play unfolds, an individual can realize that everything that occurs throughout the play is connected to the initial sacrifice. It is evident that Titus’ character goes through many changes, the not one but many sides of his personality are revealed.
he is putting on an act. (I, v). Hamlet also tells his mother that he is
By exaggerating characters to the point where they represent a group of people but do not resemble them closely, Shakespeare was able to portray characters negatively without losing an audience. Many of the characters in The Taming of the Shrew are extreme. Katherine is the most heinous person in the city, Bianca is the fairest, and Petruchio is perhaps one of the crudest of the upper class. For example, Petruchio says that “women are made to bear” (II. i). This could be seen as offensive as it is saying that women’s sole purpose is to bear children. However, by placing the quote in the midst of banter between two clashing extremes, Shakespeare is able to acknowledge a point of view without offending people. His use of humor lightens the mood so that Shakespeare can touch on real issues without drawing reactions. Shakespeare uses humor again in the play when Petruchio says “rescue thy mistress, if thou be a man” (III. ii). Petruchio is implying women’s dependence on men but when he says this he is drawing a broken sword and waving it around like a madman at the guests of his wedding. Shakespeare again manipulates gend...
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 39-55)
One of the aspects of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde that seemed most confusing at first was the apparent ambiguity or complete lack of motivation that the author provides for the main characters. Chaucer provides little explanation for why his major characters act the way that they do; when he does, his explanations are often ambiguous or contradictory. Pandarus is an excellent example of a character whose motives are ambiguous. The only motives clearly attributable to him based on the poem's text seem to be the friendship and affection he and Troilus have for each other, which is supported by the narrator's claim that "Pandarus ... [was] desirous to serve his fulle frend." (Chaucer 1.1058-9); a voyeuristic instinct (which could be supported by pointing out that Pandarus seems to arrange opportunities for Troilus and Criseyde to tryst, as much as possible, in his presence -- for instance, his presence for an unspecified length of time during the night Troilus and Criseyde spend in his guest room); and a wish to vicariously fulfill, through his friend Troilus, those romantic desires which have been thwarted throughout life. This last (and perhaps most supportable) explanation is suggested by the constant identifications that Pandarus makes with Troilus, by saying "myn avys anoon may helpen us" and in asking Troilus if "Fortune oure joie wold han overthrowe," and by his explanation that "I ... nevere felte in my servyse / A frendly cheere or lokyng of an eye." (1.620, 4.385, 4.397-8) All of these motives for Chaucer's Pandarus could be supported, but none seems clearly to be more plausible than any of the others. However, for these vaguely defined motives,...
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare’s Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994.
William Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, has often been accused of being a farce and farce, for those of you who don’t know is a subgenre of comedy that chooses to entertain through the use of verbal humor both low-brow and witty, as well as improbable and exaggerated situations (“Farce.”). The male lead Petruccio openly declares to the audience; “Thus have I politically begun my reign, and ‘tis my hope to end successfully. My falcon now is sharp and passing empty, and till she stoop she must not be full-gorged, for then she never looks upon her lure...” his plan to train his wife Kate, the shrew of Padua, as if she were some sort of animal (4.1. 169-72). Petruccio’s success in wooing and taming Kate through the use of ludicrous and absurd techniques such as killing Kate’s shrewdness with kindness, word play, and public embarrassment are what lead the play to be considered a farce.
What is so interesting about Shakespeare's first play, The Comedy of Errors, are the elements it shares with his last plays. The romances of his final period (Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest) all borrowed from the romantic tradition, particularly the Plautine romances. So here, as in the later plays, we have reunions of lost children and parents, husbands and wives; we have adventures and wanderings, and the danger of death (which in this play is not as real to us as it is in the romances). Yet, for all these similarities, the plot of The Comedy of Errors is as simple as the plots of the later plays are complex. It is as though Shakespeare's odyssey through the human psyche in tragedy and comedy brought him back to his beginnings with a sharper sense of yearning, poignancy, and the feeling of loss. But to dismiss this play as merely a simplistic romp through a complicated set of maneuvers is to miss the pure theatrical feast it offers on the stage - the wit and humor of a master wordsmith, the improbability of a plot that sweeps...
By charming her with kind words, Petruchio is able to manipulate Katherine into marriage and woo her, but in an unaccustomed way, as Kate is not used to men being so nice and direct with her. Petruchio is able to achieve this end by manipulating Katherine’s words. He twists what Kate says and makes it seem as if she is coming on to him sexually, while in reality he is the one implying the sexual innuendo. This manipulation can be seen when they have an argument about whether or not the wasp carries his sting on his tail or tongue, and Petruchio says “What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again, good Kate. I am a gentleman—” (II, 1; 230-231). By contorting the words he ...
The largest contributor of sexual puns and metaphors in the play is Petruchio. A vast majority of the sexual puns and metaphors, if not spoken by Petruchio, revolve around him. (I:ii,73-75) "She moves me not, or not removes at least affection’s edge in me, were she as rough as are the swelling Adriatic seas." Spoken by Petruchio to Hortensio in regards to Katherine's harshness, Petruchio tells Hortensio even if Katherine were as rough as the Adriatic seas, he would still be able to handle her. The quote is a sexual metaphor in saying even if Katherine's vagina was as rough and moist as the Adriatic seas, she would not be able to remove his erection. (I:ii,96-97) "For I will board her, though she chide as loud as thunder when the clouds in autumn crack." Petruchio tells Hortensio in this quote that he will go after Katherine regardless of the fact that she is as loud as thunder. This quote is a ship metaphor as well as a sexual met...
Shakespeare, William. The History of Troilus and Cressida. Ed. Jonathan Crewe. 4. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2000. Print. November 2013.
Scott, Mark W. Shakespearean Criticism: Volume 8, Excerpts from the Criticism of William Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry, from the First Published Appraisals to Current Evaluations. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1987. Print.
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare’s Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994.