Shakespeare.
As someone who likes words, you may not be surprised to discover that I quite like Shakespeare. Whilst most people I know who were forced to study his plays at school got sick of him, I was lucky to have a few teachers who managed to make things interesting. My college tutor decided to set us the most bloodthirsty play of all, Titus Andronicus, deciding that teenagers would be far more likely to pay attention if people kept getting beheaded *laughs*
One of the things I most like about the Bard, though, is how much our language was influenced by his work, whether we realise it or not. A lot of people know that he invented new words (approximately 1700 of them, including "advertising", "undress", "blanket" and "swagger"), but he also put existing words together in ways we still use today, for example "seen better days" or "come full circle". He described jealousy as the "green eyed monster", referred to family as "your own flesh and blood" and coined the now overused phrase "the long and short of it" *smiles*
Considering how much language has changed since his time, I find it amazing that his influence is still evident today, in popular culture as well as more academic pursuits. I've always liked the number of times lines from his plays crop up as titles of other things:
What Dreams May Come - film/book - line from the famous "To be or not to be" speech from Hamlet
Darling Buds of May - long running very English TV show - line from one of the more famous sonnets
The Dogs of War - Pink Floyd song - line from Julius Caesar
Band of Brothers - book and TV series - line from Henry V
Brave New World - book - line from the Tempest
Then there's the influence of the stories themselves - Disney's "The Lion King" seems based on Hamlet, while teen flick "10 Things I Hate About You" was clearly influenced by The Taming of the Shrew. And of course everyone recognises Romeo and Juliet in "West Side Story".
So, apologies to those who weren't expecting a lecture this morning *smiles* but I hope it was at least slightly interesting. I was inspired to write about something a bit different this morning ;)
I LOVE this post, it is so very YOU!
ReplyDeleteI love Shakespeare, he is awesomesauce! I must admit I haven't read any in years though, I really should do. Then maybe I wouldn't use words like 'awesomesauce', Shakey would turn in his grave :-D
ReplyDeleteI am definitely a fan of Shakespeare and think your post was great :)
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, I really appreciate everything you put into that post!! Good one!
ReplyDeleteI was one of those nerdy students who couldn't wait to dive into Shakespeare, Chaucer and the like. This post was a welcome site to my day ~ thank you!
ReplyDeleteI was force-fed Shakespeare in school. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd had a better professor.
ReplyDeleteI love Shakespeare. I feel like I discovered him in highschool. Also, you left off Robert Dinero in Stardust. He may not have quoted any lines but he did make a wonderful Captain Shakespeare.
ReplyDeleteLove Shakespeare!! I have a very old, fragile copy of his works that we picked up at an auction. The cover is very thin and I am almost scared to handle it, but you have inspired me to get it out and peruse it. My favorite is the exchange between King Henry V and Kate when he is asking her to take him in marriage.
ReplyDeleteOhh Billy Shakes. Not exactly my favorite (I prefer Chaucer and Spenser) but he can be enjoyable when performed. I am quite sick of Romeo and Juliet, though. I had to read it in the 6th, 7th, 8th AND 9th grades. By the time I finished high school, I was possibly able to quote R+J backwards and forwards. Which is partly why I skipped the Shakespeare class in college.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. I had no idea he coined so many of the phrases we still use today!!
ReplyDeleteawesome! as an English major, I think I've seen way too much Shakespeare to particularly like him anymore (that's on a third or fourth reading - I liked everything the first time around!) - but the thing I've always been fascinated by is what you talked about, his influence on language. it's amazing that a lot of English-speaking authors of the time basically decided for themselves how words should be spelled and made up words and entire archetypes for stories (which definitely existed long before them, but are made famous and reusable, I think, through their work). also - as a related aside many of the medieval/renaissance period literature I've read (though not Shakespeare I don't think) references spinning/drop spindling, so that's AWESOME. =)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, Shakespeare - haven't really read any for years. I think I might get a book of sonnets out and take a look. Thanks for making me think of it.
ReplyDeleteMy younger sister is obsessed with Shakespeare at the moment, but despite doing a big at school (we had to Macbeth for Drama and English for the entire 3 years!) I don't really know that much. Thank you for all the interesting facts!
ReplyDeleteI never realised he created the word 'swagger'. Cher Lloyd has a lot to be thankful for, lol.