Elizabethan Language

Middle English- This is where the Norman and Saxon influence comes in. In the 12th century, a new form of English now known as Middle English evolved. This is the earliest form of English literature which is comprehensible to modern readers and listeners, albeit not easily. Middle English lasts up until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, became widespread and the printing press regularized the language. Middle English Bible translations, notably Wycliffe's Bible, helped to establish English as a literary language. There are three main categories of Middle English Literature: Religious, Courtly love, and Arthurian.

Example: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:he leadeth me beside the still waters.He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the pathsof righteousness for his name's sake.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadowof death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Elizabethan English- The language as spoken during the reign of Queen. The English playwrights were intrigued by Italian model: a conspicuous community of Italian actors had settled in London and Giovanni Florio had brought much of the Italian language and culture to England. It is also true that the Elizabethan Era was a very violent age and that the high incidence of political assassinations in Renaissance Italy did little to calm fears of popish plots. As a result, representing that kind of violence on the stage was probably more cathartic for the Elizabethan spectator. It was in Shakespeare’s later years, marked by the early reign of James I, that he wrote what have been considered his greatest plays: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Tempest. Marlowe's subject matter is different from Shakespeare's as it focuses more on the moral drama of the Renaissance man than any other thing. Beaumont and Fletcher are less-known, but they may have helped Shakespeare write some of his best dramas, and were popular at the time. It is also at this time that the city comedy genre develops. One of the most important poets of this period is Edmund Spenser author of The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I also produced occasional poems such as On Monsieur’s Departure. Poems intended to be set to music as songs, such as by Thomas Campion, became popular as printed literature was disseminated more widely in households.

Example: "Forsooth" "Verily""Alack!", "Alackaday!", "Alas!", "Fie!", "Out upon it!", "Go to!""I'faith!", or "Now, by my faith!""Marry!", "'Zounds (God's wounds, pron: ZOONDS)", "Hey-ho!", "God's Death!", "God's Teeth!", or "What ho!".

Early Modern English was unstable in structure and vocabulary in comparison to Greek and Latin and was always changing. By the Elizabethan age, more sciences and philosophies were being expanded, but writers didn’t have the words to express their ideas. So writers, including Shakespeare, invented, borrowed, or adopted words and phrases from other languages. Shakespeare’s plays contributed to the standardization of the English language. He experimented with blank verse and introduced new poetic and grammatical structures. Warren King estimates that “in all of [Shakespeare’s] work – the plays, the sonnets and the narrative poems – Shakespeare uses 17,677 words: Of those, 1,700 were first used by Shakespeare.” Many of Shakespeare’s original phrases are still used in conversation and language today. Some examples are, “seen better days, strange bedfellows, chay, a sorry sight,”, “full circle”, and, “a pair of star-crossed lovers”.

Why is Shakespeare considered such a master of language?

How does Shakespeare provide wisdom on life?

He provides wisdom on life through his writings and his plays. He has the hero or the main character go through experiences that the reader/viewer can learn from.

There are morals in his stories that teach the audience and make them become better people.

Shakespeare is considered a master of language because many said that he has the largest vocabulary of anybody who has ever wrote. He created new words, as well as old ones. He also used old words in new ways, to create new phrases.

He has a vocabulary of words of 25,000 words

-What are the most famous passages from his plays? From his poems?

-Define and explain iambic pentameter

Sonnet 18

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date".

Macbeth:

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." - (Act IV, Scene I).

Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?

Romeo and Juliet:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

Hamlet, III:1:

To be, or not to be: that is the question.

Iambic pentameter is the name given to a line of verse that consists of five iambs (an iamb being one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed, such as "before").

1.Iambic pentameter is a verse rhythm often used in Shakespeare’s writing

2.It has 10 syllables per line

3.Syllables alternate between stressed and unstressed beats, creating this pattern:

“de/DUM de/DUM de/DUM de/DUM de/DUM”

-How did Shakespeare affect the English language?

-Difference between Old English, Middle English, Elizabethan English (examples of all 3)

Old English- related to German. Spoken by the various tribes of England prior to the Normans conquering England. The first works in English appeared in the early Middle Ages. The oral tradition was very strong in the early English culture and most literary works were written to be performed. The first written literature dates to the early Christian monasteries founded by Augustine of Canterbury and his disciples and it is reasonable to believe that it was somehow adapted to suit the needs of Christian readers.

Example: Father our thou that art in heavens be thy name hallowed come thy kingdom be done thy will on earth as in heavensour daily bread give us today and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us and not lead thou us into temptation but deliver us from evil truly.

Elizabethan Language

Dost thou bite thy thumb at me?