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ELIT 17 Class 3

+AGENDA Lecture

Shakespeare’s Language The Comedy of Errors

Discussion Questions QHQs

Introduction Twelfth Night

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsyLQaewQks&index=1&list=PL1EA226F17885C8B1

Rhyme in The Comedy of Errors

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Rhyme in The Comedy of Errors

Couplets: Two lines that rhyme and have the same meter

Slant rhyme: sounds of the final of words of the line are similar but not identical

Internal rhyme: rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines. 

+Shakespeare’s Language

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“cheap,” “fashionable,” “go-between,” “embrace,” “lustrous,” “vulnerable,” “auspicious,” and “well-bred.”

+Words and Phrases The English language owes a great debt to

Shakespeare. Endlessly imaginative and not overly concerned with grammatical convention, his scripts contain thousands of never-before-seen words—a diverse collection of loan-words from foreign languages, compound words from existing English terms, nouns turned into verbs, and creatively applied prefixes—many of which have entered into everyday language

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/wordsinvented.htmlhttp://mentalfloss.com/article/48657/20-words-we-owe-william-shakespeare

+He created 17,000 + new words.

accommodationaerialamazementapostropheassassinationauspiciousbaselessbloodybumpcastigatechangefulclangor

control (noun)countlesscourtshipcriticcriticaldexterouslydisheartendislocatedwindleeventfulexposurefitfulfrugal

multitudinousobscenepalmyperusalpiouspremeditatedradiancerelianceroadsanctimoniousseamysportivesubmergesuspicious

generousGloomygnarledhurryimpartialinauspiciousindistinguishableinvulnerableLapselaughablelonelymajesticmisplacedmonumental

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A Comedy of Errors High time

Twelfth Night An improbable fiction. Hob nob Laugh oneself into

stitches

Phrases

The Tempest Strange

bedfellows. Such stuff as

dreams are made on.

In a Pickle

Othello A foregone

conclusion. Green-eyed monster. I will wear my heart

upon my sleeve. Neither here nor

there. Vanish into thin air. Pomp and

circumstance.

Richard III A tower of strength. A horse, a horse! My

kingdom for a horse! Short shrift. The winter of our

discontent

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.'tis = it isope = openo'er = overgi' = givene'er = never

Shakespeare’s Contractions

Here are a few of the most common contractions found in Shakespeare

i' = ine'er = everoft = oftena' = hee'en = eve

+Sentences: SyntaxThe most common simple sentence in modern English follows a familiar pattern: Subject (S), Verb (V), Object (O).

"John caught the ball."

This is as perfectly an understood sentence in modern English as it was in Shakespeare's day. However, Shakespeare was much more at liberty to switch these three basic components—and did, quite frequently. Shakespeare used a great deal of SOV inversion, which renders the sentence as this:

"John the ball caught.”

From Shakespeare Resource Center: “Shakespeare's Grammar”

+Sentences: Transitory DeviceShakespeare also throws in many examples of OSV construction:

"The ball John caught.”

Shakespeare seems to use this colloquially in many places as a transitory device, bridging two sentences, to provide continuity. Shakespeare (and many other writers) may also have used this as a device to shift end emphasis to the verb of a clause. Also, another prevalent usage of inversion was the VS order shift:

"caught John" instead of "John caught”

This order seems to be primarily a stylistic choiceFrom Shakespeare Resource Center: “Shakespeare's Grammar”

+Sentences: RhymingAnother reason for Shakespeare's utilization of this order may be more practical. The romance languages of Italian and French introduced rhymed verse; Anglo-Saxon poetry was based on rhythm, metrical stresses, and alliteration within lines rather than rhymed couplets. With the introduction of rhymed poetic forms into English literature (and, since the Norman invasion, an injection of French to boot), there was a subsequent shift in English poetry.

Verbs in English are easy to rhyme because so many English verbs are monosyllabic. From Shakespeare Resource Center: “Shakespeare's

Grammar”

+Sentences: Blank VerseOf course, Shakespeare wrote a great deal of work in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter: lines of five feet, each foot being iambic, meaning two syllables long—one unstressed followed by a stressed syllable). Frankly, Elizabethans allowed for a lot more leeway in word order, and Shakespeare not only realized that, he took advantage of it. By utilizing inverted word orders, Shakespeare could effectively place the metrical stress wherever he needed it most—and English is heavily dependent on vocal inflection, which is not so easily translated into writing, to suggest emphasis and meaning. In his usage of order inversion, however, Shakespeare could compensate for this literary shortcoming.From Shakespeare Resource Center: “Shakespeare's Grammar”

+Blank VerseThe Comedy of Errors, Act 1, scene 1

+SimileThis trope compares two things that have some things in common. Examples:

Blind as a batPretty like a flowerHard as a rock

MetaphorThe metaphor compares two things that have very little in common but do share a trait or characteristic. It says something is something else to show what they have in common. Examples:

He is an ogre.You are my sunshine.This school is a zoo.

PunA pun repeats a word or phrase but means it in a different way. A good example is from Groucho Marx:

"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.”

Wordplay

PersonificationThis trope gives human attributes to things that are not human. Examples:

The flowers nodded their heads.The pizza disagreed with me.The old car wheezed and complained.

HyperboleThis trope uses exaggeration to get its point across. Examples:

He’s been here hundreds of times.I’ll die from embarrassment.She has tons of money.

LitotesThis trope understates to emphasize a point and is opposite to a hyperbole. Examples:

That’s not the worst idea.She’s not the most attractive person.I am not a happy camper.

+The wordplay in this section is driven by a rhetorical device called anadiplosis: words at the end of one line are picked up at the beginning of the next. This is Dromio of Ephesus speaking to Antipholus of Syracuse

Returned so soon? Rather approached too late.The capon burns, the pig falls from the spit.The clock hath strucken twelve upon the bell;My mistress made it one upon my cheek.She is so hot because the meat is cold.The meat is cold because you come not home.You come not home because you have no stomach.You have no stomach, having broke your fast.But we that know what 'tis to fast and prayAre penitent for your default today.(1.2.43-52)

+Reading Exercise

People in your group will alternate reading lines. Sit or stand in a circle and read the lines in order. Do it a second time, faster.

Next, choose one word from your line(s) that you feel is most important. Now recite in order the important words. Then, do it again faster.

We will have a couple of groups perform aloud.

+ Act 4, Scene 3, 83-98

+Scene Evaluation

The concept of word choice is central to evaluating writing. Which words did you identify as the

most important in this scene? Why?

How might you summarize this scene? Do the important words you chose help

you understand it better? How many different words for “crazy”

does the Courtesan know? Does her vocabulary affect the scene?

Let me ask you!

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The PlayA Summary?The Ending?

+The Royal Shakespeare CompanyAct 5 Scene 1 Line 137 (5:1:137) to line 164 1:01

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Judi Dench summarizes the situation for the duke!

+Big Business: The Reunion

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2:24

+In Groups

Discuss your answers to the homework questions and your QHQs.

+Question Shakespeare’ s choice to make

misidentification unintentional complicates the issue of both identity and trickery. Misidentification causes a rapid switching between social positions. For instance, Adriana is both an alluring temptress who tries to trick a traveler and a loyal wife who mistakenly invites an impostor into her house. Find a scene of intentional or unintentional deception. Who is the trickster? What are the results of the miscommunication or misidentification?

Adriana the Temptress?

Adriana the wife?

+Question Discuss the theme of Identity as it is presented in the play. Is

there a difference between public/social identities and private identities?

+Question

Are the Dromios servants or slaves? Are their beatings meant to be farcical? Are farce and social custom interconnected? Can you think of a contemporary example?

+Questions Discuss Pinch and his role in the story

What is thought to be the longest insult in all of the plays of Shakespeare is found in The Comedy of Errors, 5:1

+The Royal Shakespeare Company: Satan Come Forth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd-1M2VQnzQ

Act 4 Scene 4 line 51 to line 136 10:46

This is the scene starring Pinch

+QHQsQ: What is the significance of Shakespeare’s references to magic and sorcery? Is sorcery/magic meant to be seen as harmless, or does it have a more sinister meaning?

Q: Why does Shakespeare end the play with a scene of the two Dromios reuniting at last?

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+Twelfth Night—an allusion to the night of festivity preceding the Christian celebration of the Epiphany—combines love, confusion, mistaken identities, and joyful discovery.

After the twins Sebastian and Viola survive a shipwreck, neither knows that the other is alive. Viola goes into service with Count Orsino of Illyria, disguised as a young man, “Cesario.”

*Synopsis from the Folger Version of Twelfth Night

1:53

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R39jE4SUEF4

Here is a trailer from a contemporary version to get you started.

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Read: Twelfth Night: Acts 1 and 2Post #3: Choose one1. Compare and contrast the misidentification in Twelfth Night with

that from A Comedy of Errors.2. Consider common practices of traditional wooing. In what way

would they be different from Cesario’s endeavors to woo Olivia for Duke?

3. How does the clown prove that Olivia is a fool? Is he correct or incorrect in his assessment? (Act 1 Scene 5) Explain your answer with evidence from the text.

4. Analyze Maria’s speeches in Act 2 scene 3. Explain carefully her motive to entrap Malvolio. Do you believe that she is justified in doing it?

5. QHQ