WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.000 (Music) 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.876 Why do we cringe when we hear "Shakespeare?" 00:00:16.876 --> 00:00:19.938 If you ask me, it's usually because of his words. 00:00:19.938 --> 00:00:23.030 All those thines and thous and therefores 00:00:23.030 --> 00:00:26.000 and wherefore-art-thous can be more than a little annoying. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.322 But you have to wonder, why is he so popular? 00:00:30.322 --> 00:00:34.907 Why have his plays been made and remade more than any other playwright? 00:00:34.907 --> 00:00:37.000 It's because of his words. 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.769 Back in the late 1500s and early 1600s, 00:00:40.769 --> 00:00:43.000 that was the best tool that a person had, 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:45.553 and there was a lot to talk about. 00:00:45.553 --> 00:00:48.584 However, most of it was pretty depressing. 00:00:48.584 --> 00:00:50.507 You know, with the Black Plague and all. 00:00:50.507 --> 00:00:54.646 Shakespeare does use a lot of words. 00:00:54.646 --> 00:00:58.892 One of his most impressive accomplishments is his use of insults. 00:00:58.892 --> 00:01:01.000 They would unify the entire audience; 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:05.676 and no matter where you sat, you could laugh at what was going on onstage. 00:01:05.676 --> 00:01:09.000 Words, specifically dialogue in a drama setting, 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:12.000 are used for many different reasons: 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.000 to set the mood of the scene, 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:17.000 to give some more atmosphere to the setting, 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.000 and to develop relationships between characters. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:25.015 Insults do this in a very short and sharp way. 00:01:25.015 --> 00:01:27.800 Let's first go to "Hamlet." 00:01:27.800 --> 00:01:29.492 Right before this dialogue, 00:01:29.492 --> 00:01:34.169 Polonius is the father of Ophelia, who is in love with Prince Hamlet. 00:01:34.169 --> 00:01:39.000 King Claudius is trying to figure out why Prince Hamlet is acting so crazy 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:42.061 since the king married Prince Hamlet's mother. 00:01:42.061 --> 00:01:45.000 Polonius offers to use his daughter 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.000 to get information from Prince Hamlet. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:50.753 Then we go into Act II Scene 2. 00:01:50.753 --> 00:01:54.046 Polonius: "Do you know me, my lord?" 00:01:54.046 --> 00:01:58.200 Hamlet: "Excellent well. You're a fishmonger." 00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:01.046 Polonius: "Not I, my lord." 00:02:01.046 --> 00:02:04.861 Hamlet: "Then I would you were so honest a man." 00:02:04.861 --> 00:02:08.061 Now, even if you did not know what "fishmonger" meant, 00:02:08.061 --> 00:02:11.046 you can use some contextual clues. 00:02:11.046 --> 00:02:15.600 One: Polonius reacted in a negative way, so it must be bad. 00:02:15.600 --> 00:02:19.492 Two: Fish smell bad, so it must be bad. 00:02:19.492 --> 00:02:23.938 And three: "Monger" just doesn't sound like a good word. 00:02:23.938 --> 00:02:26.184 So from not even knowing the meaning, 00:02:26.184 --> 00:02:29.000 you're beginning to construct some characterization 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.000 of the relationship between Hamlet and Polonius, 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.000 which was not good. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.523 But if you dig some more, "fishmonger" means a broker of some type, 00:02:38.523 --> 00:02:42.000 and in this setting, would mean like a pimp, 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.784 like Polonius is brokering out his daughter for money, 00:02:45.784 --> 00:02:48.000 which he is doing for the king's favor. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:52.584 This allows you to see that Hamlet is not as crazy as he's claiming to be, 00:02:52.584 --> 00:02:56.846 and intensifies the animosity between these two characters. 00:02:56.846 --> 00:02:58.769 Want another example? 00:02:58.769 --> 00:03:03.692 "Romeo and Juliet" has some of the best insults of any of Shakespeare's plays. 00:03:03.692 --> 00:03:06.000 It's a play about two gangs, 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:08.830 and the star-crossed lovers that take their own lives. 00:03:08.830 --> 00:03:13.800 Well, with any fisticuffs you know that there is some serious smack talk going on. 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:15.600 And you are not disappointed. 00:03:15.600 --> 00:03:18.000 In Act I Scene 1, right from the get-go 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:20.646 we are shown the level of distrust and hatred 00:03:20.646 --> 00:03:24.830 the members of the two families, the Capulets and Montagues, meet. 00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:28.000 Gregory: "I will frown as I pass by, 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.000 and let them take it as they list." 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:35.000 Sampson: "Nay, as they dare, I will bite my thumb at them, 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.000 which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it." 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.000 Enter Abraham and Balthazar. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.000 Abraham: "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?" 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:47.000 Sampson: "I do bite my thumb, sir." 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:50.953 Abraham: "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?" 00:03:50.953 --> 00:03:55.000 Okay, so how does this development help us understand mood or character? 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:58.000 Well, let's break it down to the insult. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.569 Biting your thumb today may not seem like a big deal, 00:04:01.569 --> 00:04:04.000 but Sampson says it is an insult to them. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:07.000 If they take it so, it must have been one. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:10.000 This begins to show us the level of animosity 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.000 between even the men who work for the two Houses. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:18.723 And you normally would not do anything to someone unless you wanted to provoke them into a fight, 00:04:18.723 --> 00:04:21.000 which is exactly what's about to happen. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:25.876 Looking deeper, biting your thumb in the time in which the play was written 00:04:25.876 --> 00:04:28.169 is like giving someone the finger today. 00:04:28.169 --> 00:04:30.784 A pretty strong feeling comes with that, 00:04:30.784 --> 00:04:34.000 so we now are beginning to feel the tension in the scene. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.415 Later on in the scene, Tybalt, from the House of the Capulets, 00:04:37.415 --> 00:04:41.000 lays a good one on Benvolio from the House of the Montagues. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.815 Tybalt: "What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? 00:04:45.815 --> 00:04:49.000 Turn thee, Benvolio, and look upon thy death." 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.000 Benvolio: "I do but keep the peace; put up thy sword, 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.000 or manage it to part these men with me." 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:00.123 Tybalt: "What, drawn and talk of peace! 00:05:00.123 --> 00:05:04.615 I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. 00:05:04.615 --> 00:05:07.000 Have at thee, coward!" 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:10.000 Okay, heartless hinds. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:13.000 We know that once again, it's not a good thing. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:17.907 Both families hate each other, and this is just adding fuel to the fire. 00:05:17.907 --> 00:05:20.738 But just how bad is this stinger? 00:05:20.738 --> 00:05:22.000 A heartless hind is a coward, 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:26.000 and calling someone that in front of his own men, and the rival family, 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.000 means there's going to be a fight. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Tybalt basically calls out Benvolio, 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.000 and in order to keep his honor, Benvolio has to fight. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.923 This dialogue gives us a good look at the characterization between these two characters. 00:05:39.923 --> 00:05:43.000 Tybalt thinks that the Montagues are nothing but cowardly dogs, 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.000 and has no respect for them. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.000 Once again, adding dramatic tension to the scene. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.000 Okay, now here's a spoiler alert. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.000 Tybalt's hotheadedness and severe hatred of the Montagues 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.675 is what we literature people call his hamartia, 00:05:57.675 --> 00:05:59.000 or what causes his downfall. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:04.000 Oh, yes. He goes down at the hands of Romeo. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.000 So when you're looking at Shakespeare, 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.000 stop and look at the words, 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:12.246 because they really are trying to tell you something.