"Cliff Notes - Midsummer Night's Dream, A" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk roses, and with eglantine."
(II, ii, 249-52)

This famous passage is really just a list of flowers, but Shakespeare is able to infuse the naming with poetic magic, highlighting the rhythmic and sensual qualities of the language.

^^^^^^^^^^A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM: ELIZABETHAN ENGLISH

All languages change. Differences in pronunciation and word choice are apparent even between parents and their children. If language differences can appear in one generation, it is only to be expected that the English used by Shakespeare four hundred years ago will differ markedly from the English used today. The following information on Shakespeare's language will help a modern reader to a fuller understanding of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

^^^^^^^^^^A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM: MOBILITY OF WORD CLASSES

Adjectives, nouns, and verbs were less rigidly confined to particular classes in Shakespeare's day. Adjectives could be used as adverbs:

And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New bent in heaven
(I, i, 9-10)

"New" is used for "newly." Adjectives could also be used as nouns:

Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair!
(I, i, 182)

Here, "fair" is the equivalent of "fairness" or "beauty." Adjectives could also be used as verbs. "Coy" means "to caress" in

While I thy amiable cheeks do coy,
(IV, i, 2)

Nouns could be used as verbs. "Square" means "to fight, quarrel" in

But they do square,
(II, i, 30)

Nouns could also be used as verbals, like "flews" (dog's jowls) and "sand" (the color of sand) in

My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind;
So flewed, so sanded;
(IV, i, 118-19)

^^^^^^^^^^A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM: CHANGES IN WORD MEANING

The meanings of words undergo changes, a process that can be illustrated by the fact that "silly" used to mean "holy" and "quick" meant "alive." Most of the words in Shakespeare's plays still exist today but some meanings have changed. The change may be small, as in the case of "pert," which meant "quick to act," as in

Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth
(I, i, 13)

or more fundamental, so that "gossip" (II, i, 47) meant "old woman" (possibly a relative), "saddest" (II, i, 51) meant "most serious," "waxen" (II, i, 56) meant "increase," "weed" (II, i, 256) meant "garment, clothes," and "favours" (IV, i, 48) meant "flowers given as a token of love."

^^^^^^^^^^A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM: VOCABULARY LOSS