In Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius sends Laertes off for school in France with a very significant message and advice. In my opinion, I actually kinda agree with Polonius on most of these. He tells him to have integrity, to be practical, to keep his thoughts to himself, to be familiar and comfortable but not vulgar, not to make rash decisions, to listen more than talk, to hold onto old friends and be cautious with new ones, to be true to himself, to be slow to a quarrel but fight boldly, to dress rich but not gaudily, and finally to refrain from borrowing or lending money. That last one coined a phrase that people currently use even today, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”. We've seen that a lot so far: Shakespeare creating phrases in his works that the whole world still uses so often in modern times. It's kind of crazy that good ole Shakey's words were that significant and impactful. It got me wondering about what other catchphrases we unknowingly quote Shakespeare during on a day to day basis.
Here's a list of some phrases that I did know, and ones I didn't:
“Dead as a doornail” — (Henry VI Part II)
“For goodness’ sake” — (Henry VIII)
“Laughing stock” — (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
“One fell swoop” — (Macbeth)
"In a pickle" (The Tempest)"Pomp and circumstance" (Othello)
"As good luck would have it” — (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
“Break the ice” — (The Taming of the Shrew)
“Wear my heart upon my sleeve” — (Othello)
“Wild-goose chase” — (Romeo and Juliet)
Enjoy! :)
1 comment:
Shakespeare is honestly such a cool dude! I wonder if he had any idea that he'd end up affecting the lives of so many.
It's also interesting how some of the expressions he coined are just fun little phrases we mindlessly slip into our conversations, while others possess universal truths (e.g. "All that [glitters] is not gold" and "conscience does make cowards of us all").
Here's some more stuff I bet you didn't know about Shakespeare:
1. In his will, he wrote, “I [give] unto my wife my second best bed with the [linens]”. Wow, she gets the second best bed in the house. What'd she do?
2. His mother's cousin was executed for (supposedly) plotting against Queen Elizabeth I. There was no hard evidence, however.
3. Suicide isn't unique to Romeo, Juliet, and Hamlet. Suicide occurs 13 times throughout Shakespeare's works.
4. Some of Uranus' moons are named after Shakespeare characters. "Those named after characters from Shakespeare include Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Ariel (The Tempest), Miranda (The Tempest) and Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)."
5. His parents, wife, and children were probably illiterate, which ironic considering his verbal prowess. I've read that he wasn't a great speller, though.
6. He never actually wrote down the name, "Shakespeare." His name was spelled differently on many things, so we don't really know the correct spelling.
Even though none of these facts give us specific insight into his life, I bet you didn't know them! He's not as straightforward and "basic" as you might've originally thought. Maybe these facts will give his words more meaning to you, and maybe they won't. Who cares? They're still cool. :)
Do y'all have anything to share?
Sources: http://greatbritishmag.co.uk/uk-culture/10-strange-facts-about-shakespeare/,
https://space-facts.com/uranus-moons-shakespeare/, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/shakespeare-400-10-of-the-most-interesting-facts-about-the-bard-a6996621.html
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