The Tempest - Utah Shakespearean Festival

10
Shakespeare’s Language
Many students—and adults for that matter—find Shakespeare difficult to read and hard
to understand. They accuse him of not speaking English and refuse to believe that ordinary
people spoke the way his characters do. However, if you understand more about his language,
it is easier to understand. One idea that may help to remember that his plays are written in
two forms: prose and verse. In The Tempest prose and verse are both used extensively.
Prose
Prose is the form of speech used by common people in Shakespearean drama. There is
no rhythm or meter in the line. It is everyday language. Shakespeare’s audience would
recognize the speech as their language. These are characters such as murderers, servants,
and porters. However, many important characters can speak in prose. The majority of The
Merry Wives of Windsor is written in prose because it deals with middle-class. Caliban speaks
prose when he is conspiring with Stefano and Trinculo, but when Caliban speaks of the
beauty of the island he speaks in verse.
For example, these lines are in prose:
Caliban Thou dost me yet but little hurt; thou wilt anon, I know it by thy
trembling. Now Prosper works upon thee.
Stephano Come on your ways. Open your mouth; here is that which will give
language to you, cat. Open your mouth; this will shake your shaking,
I can tell you, and that soundly. You cannot tell who’s your friend.
Open your chaps again (2.2.79-86).
And these lines are in verse:
Caliban Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices,
That if I then had wak’d after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again (3.2.135–140).
In the first passage, Stephano is feeding Caliban wine in order to calm his fits. Caliban
is explaining Prospero’s powers to Stephano and Trinculo. Because there is no rhyme or
rhythm, and the text flows without concern of where the line ends on the page, we recognize
the passage as prose. Consequently, we can tell that Caliban and the Stephano are commoners
who speak the language of an Elizabethan audience member. In the second passage,
Caliban speaks of the beauty of the island in verse.
Verse
The majority of Shakespeare’s plays are written in verse. A character who speaks in verse
is a noble or a member of the upper class. Most of Shakespeare’s plays focused on these
characters. The verse form he uses is blank verse. It contains no rhyme, but each line has an
internal rhythm with a regular rhythmic pattern. The pattern most favored by Shakespeare
is iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is defined as a ten-syllable line with the accent on
every other syllable, beginning with the second one. The second line of this speech is the
only line that follows strict iambic pentameter.
For example:
Prospero “You do look, my son, in a mov’d sort,
As if you were dismay’d; be cheerful, sir.
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