Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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"
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 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 phrase is attributed to William Shakespeare, who made the first known use of it in his 1606 play Antony and Cleopatra. [1] In the speech at the end of Act One in which Cleopatra is regretting her youthful dalliances with Julius Caesar she says, "...My salad days, / When I was green in judgment, cold in blood/To say as I said then!"
"Even a worm will turn" is an English language expression used to convey the message that even the meekest or most docile of creatures will retaliate or seek revenge if pushed too far. [1] The phrase was first recorded in a 1546 collection of proverbs by John Heywood , in the form "Treade a worme on the tayle, and it must turne agayne."
"To be, or not to be" is a speech given by Prince Hamlet in the so-called "nunnery scene" of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 1). The speech is named for the opening phrase, itself among the most widely known and quoted lines in modern English literature, and has been referenced in many works of theatre, literature and music.