Studying Shakespeare

Reading Shakespeare with confidence

Studying a Shakespeare play can feel daunting, mostly because of the language, but the skills are the same ones you use for any literature, applied to a text written about 400 years ago. A Shakespeare play is written to be performed, and the dramatist uses techniques you can learn to spot: a soliloquy where a character alone on stage shares their thoughts, an aside to the audience, and dramatic irony where the audience knows more than a character. Much of the play is in verse, which has a regular rhythm, and some is in prose. The plays explore big themes such as love, power and ambition, and they grew out of the beliefs of their time. This module covers how to approach the language, the main dramatic techniques, themes and context, and how to write a clear response about a Shakespeare play.

Shakespeare words

Learn these terms before the techniques are matched up. They name how a Shakespeare play is built.

Match each dramatic technique to its meaning

Verse against prose

Shakespeare switches between two ways of writing lines, and noticing the switch is a quick way into analysis.

What is a soliloquy?

In a Shakespeare play, what is a soliloquy?

• A speech where a character alone on stage shares their thoughts with the audience
• A staged sword fight
• A song sung by the whole cast
• A stage direction

Do not fear the old language

The most common worry about Shakespeare is the language, but it is not a foreign tongue: it is English from about 400 years ago, and most of it can be worked out. Read for the overall sense first, do not stop dead at every unfamiliar word, and let the punctuation and the situation guide you. Notice when a character speaks in verse rather than prose, because the change often signals status or a heightened moment. Look for images and ideas that repeat, because they point to the themes. And remember that the play was written to be watched, not only read, so picture it on a stage as you go. With these habits the language stops being a barrier and becomes the very thing you analyse and enjoy.

Pick the dramatic techniques

Select everything that is a dramatic technique used in a Shakespeare play.

• A soliloquy
• An aside
• Dramatic irony
• The page number
• The size of the book

Order how to build a Shakespeare point

Put the steps of building an analytical point about a Shakespeare play in order.

• Make a clear point about a character or theme
• Support it with a short, well-chosen quotation
• Name the technique the dramatist uses
• Explain the effect on the audience
• Link the point to a theme or the context

Complete the Shakespeare facts

A speech by a character alone on stage is a _____. A remark to the audience that others do not hear is an _____. When the audience knows something a character does not, that is dramatic _____. Lines with a regular rhythm are written in _____.

Tap the two features of a tragedy

Tap the TWO features that are typical of a Shakespearean tragedy.

• the main character has a serious flaw
• it usually ends in downfall or death
• it always ends in a happy wedding
• it is set to music from start to finish

A song in a language you half-know

Think of a catchy song in a language you only half understand. At first the words rush past, but if you relax and listen for the feeling, the tune and the few words you do catch, you follow the mood and the story surprisingly well. Reading Shakespeare is much the same. You do not need every word on the first pass. Catch the overall feeling, the situation the characters are in, and the images that keep returning, and the meaning starts to arrive. Then you can go back slowly and work out the harder lines one at a time. Fear makes the language look like a wall; a little patience turns it into a door you can walk through.

The Shakespeare run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Study each moment in the play

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• A character alone on stage tells the audience their secret plan. What technique is this?
• The audience knows a letter is a forgery, but the character believes it is real. What is this?
• You are asked to write about a theme in the play. What is the best approach?

Build a Shakespeare-analysis sentence

Choose the word for each gap to complete one point about a Shakespeare play.

Explain how to study a Shakespeare play

A friend is nervous about studying Shakespeare and thinks the language is impossible. Using what you have learned, explain how to study a Shakespeare play.

• Explain how to approach the older language
• Explain the difference between verse and prose
• Explain two dramatic techniques, such as soliloquy and dramatic irony
• Explain why context and themes matter
• Explain how to build a point with a quotation and an effect