Learn English through Insults by Shakespeare
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Why do we cringe when we hear "Shakespeare?"
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If you ask me, it's usually because of his words.
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All those thines and thous and therefores
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and wherefore-art-thous can be more than a little annoying.
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But you have to wonder, why is he so popular?
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Why have his plays been made and remade more than any other playwright?
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It's because of his words.
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Back in the late 1500s and early 1600s,
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that was the best tool that a person had,
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and there was a lot to talk about.
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However, most of it was pretty depressing.
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You know, with the Black Plague and all.
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Shakespeare does use a lot of words.
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One of his most impressive accomplishments is his use of insults.
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They would unify the entire audience;
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and no matter where you sat, you could laugh at what was going on onstage.
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Words, specifically dialogue in a drama setting,
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are used for many different reasons:
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to set the mood of the scene,
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to give some more atmosphere to the setting,
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and to develop relationships between characters.
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Insults do this in a very short and sharp way.
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Let's first go to "Hamlet."
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Right before this dialogue,
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Polonius is the father of Ophelia, who is in love with Prince Hamlet.
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King Claudius is trying to figure out why Prince Hamlet is acting so crazy
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since the king married Prince Hamlet's mother.
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Polonius offers to use his daughter to get information from Prince Hamlet.
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Then we go into Act II Scene 2.
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Polonius: "Do you know me, my lord?"
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Hamlet: "Excellent well. You're a fishmonger."
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Polonius: "Not I, my lord."
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Hamlet: "Then I would you were so honest a man."
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Now, even if you did not know what "fishmonger" meant,
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you can use some contextual clues.
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One: Polonius reacted in a negative way, so it must be bad.
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Two: Fish smell bad, so it must be bad.
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And three: "monger" just doesn't sound like a good word.
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So from not even knowing the meaning,
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you're beginning to construct some characterization
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of the relationship between Hamlet and Polonius,
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which was not good.
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But if you dig some more, "fishmonger" means a broker of some type,
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and in this setting, would mean like a pimp,
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like Polonius is brokering out his daughter for money,
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which he is doing for the king's favor.
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This allows you to see that Hamlet is not as crazy as he's claiming to be,
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and intensifies the animosity between these two characters.
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Want another example?
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"Romeo and Juliet" has some of the best insults of any of Shakespeare's plays.
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It's a play about two gangs,
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and the star-crossed lovers that take their own lives.
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Well, with any fisticuffs
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you know that there is some serious smack talk going on.
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And you are not disappointed.
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In Act I Scene 1, right from the get-go
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we are shown the level of distrust and hatred
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the members of the two families, the Capulets and Montagues, meet.
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Gregory: "I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it as they list."
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Sampson: "Nay, as they dare, I will bite my thumb at them,
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which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it."
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Enter Abraham and Balthasar.
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Abraham: "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?"
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Sampson: "I do bite my thumb, sir."
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Abraham: "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?"
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Okay, so how does this development help us understand mood or character?
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Well, let's break it down to the insult.
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Biting your thumb today may not seem like a big deal,
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but Sampson says it is an insult to them.
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If they take it so, it must have been one.
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This begins to show us the level of animosity
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between even the men who work for the two Houses.
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And you normally would not do anything to someone
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unless you wanted to provoke them into a fight,
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which is exactly what's about to happen.
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Looking deeper, biting your thumb in the time in which the play was written
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is like giving someone the finger today.
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A pretty strong feeling comes with that,
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so we now are beginning to feel the tension in the scene.
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Later on in the scene, Tybalt, from the House of the Capulets,
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lays a good one on Benvolio from the House of the Montagues.
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Tybalt: "What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?
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Turn thee, Benvolio, and look upon thy death."
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Benvolio: "I do but keep the peace; put up thy sword,
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or manage it to part these men with me."
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Tybalt: "What, drawn and talk of peace!
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I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
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Have at thee, coward!"
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Okay, heartless hinds.
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We know that once again, it's not a good thing.
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Both families hate each other, and this is just adding fuel to the fire.
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But just how bad is this stinger?
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A heartless hind is a coward,
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and calling someone that in front of his own men, and the rival family,
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means there's going to be a fight.
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Tybalt basically calls out Benvolio,
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and in order to keep his honor, Benvolio has to fight.
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This dialogue gives us a good look
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at the characterization between these two characters.
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Tybalt thinks that the Montagues are nothing but cowardly dogs,
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and has no respect for them.
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Once again, adding dramatic tension to the scene.
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Okay, now here's a spoiler alert.
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Tybalt's hotheadedness and severe hatred of the Montagues
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is what we literature people call his hamartia,
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or what causes his downfall.
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Oh, yes.
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He goes down at the hands of Romeo.
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So when you're looking at Shakespeare, stop and look at the words,
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because they really are trying to tell you something.
