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William Shakespeare's play Hamlet has contributed many phrases to common English, from the famous "To be, or not to be" to a few less known, but still in everyday English. Some also occur elsewhere (e.g. in the Bible) or are proverbial. All quotations are second quarto except as noted:
This category is for English phrases which were invented by Shakespeare, and older phrases which were notably used in his works. The main article for this category is William Shakespeare . Pages in category "Shakespearean phrases"
Salad days" is a Shakespearean idiom referring to a period of carefree innocence, idealism, and pleasure associated with youth. The modern use describes a heyday, when a person is/was at the peak of their abilities, while not necessarily a youth.
Although it is one of the most famous quotes from the work of Shakespeare, no printing in Shakespeare's lifetime presents the text in the form known to modern readers: it is a skillful amalgam assembled by Edmond Malone, an editor in the eighteenth century. Romeo and Juliet was published twice, in two very different versions.
The term was popularized from Shakespeare's Hamlet (1599-1601). [11]The earliest ancestor of "willy-nilly" is the Old English, "sam we willan sam we nyllan" ('whether we wish to or wish not to'), found in King Ælfred's translation of De Consolatione Philosophiæ in 888 AD. [12]
The first known occurrences of the phrase are said to be in two earlier Elizabethan plays: Henry VI, Part 3 by Shakespeare, and an even earlier play, Caesar Interfectus, by Richard Edes. [3] The phrase is often used apart from the plays to signify an unexpected betrayal by a friend. There is no evidence that the historical Caesar spoke these words.
Shakespeare also used groundlings widely in his plays. The use of groundlings "saved the drama from academic stiffness and preserved its essential bias towards entertainment in comedy". [24] Hamlet is an outstanding example of "groundlings" quickness and response. [24] Use of groundlings enhanced Shakespeare's work practically and artistically.
The Queen in "Hamlet" by Edwin Austin Abbey "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" is a line from the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare.It is spoken by Queen Gertrude in response to the insincere overacting of a character in the play within a play created by Prince Hamlet to elicit evidence of his uncle's guilt in the murder of his father, the King of Denmark.