Shakespeare`s Language - Stanhope Public School

Shakespeare`s Language - Stanhope Public School

Shakespeare’s
Language
It’s Not As Difficult
As It Seems
Shakespeare Wrote In

Poetry
Concentrated
language
 Also called
verse


Prose

Ordinary,
everyday
language
Poetry Used by Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s poetry used metrical
writing

Meter – regular rhythmic pattern in
language
“A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a
horse!”
 This is written in blank verse or
unrhymed iambic pentameter

Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter


Unrhymed – the words at the end of the
line do not rhyme
Iamb – a unit of speech that contains one
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable
Iamb = unstressed, stressed
 Stressed = emphasized
 Unstressed = not emphasized

Example



Iamb: unstressed, stressed
“A horse, a horse! My kingdom for
a horse!”
Pay attention to syllables, not words
Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter
Iambic = contains iambs
 Pentameter = 5 metrical feet or iambs


Unstressed, stressed; unstressed,
stressed; unstressed, stressed;
unstressed, stressed; unstressed,
stressed
Different Language for Different
Characters



Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter or Blank Verse
was used for most of the characters in
Shakespeare’s plays.
Rhyming Couplets were used by mythical or
magical creatures.
Prose was used by less important characters or
those who were considered not very intelligent.
The Mechanicals speak in prose in MSND.