Passage III

Shaking Up the Language

It's usually hard to determine who first uttered out loud a given word and almost as hard to know who first wrote it down originally. It is known, however, that William Shakespeare's plays immortalized many of the words and expressions popular in his day. Have you ever said you were tongue-tied? Do you suspect foul play, bid good riddance, or felt like a laughingstock? If so, you were using words and phrases that Shakespeare's plays have made enduringly popular.

Shakespeare's Hamlet, one of his most widely read and performed plays, contains many expressions that are frequently used today, though often in new ways. Hamlet's regard for humanity is evident in his line "What a piece of work is a man!" Nonetheless, we still use the expression piece of work, though now it's used to describe someone who is hard to understand or deal with. (36)

Iago, the villain of the tragedy, Othello strives to undo Othello, a respected general. Iago falsely hints that Desdemona, the wife of Othello, is in love with one of Othellos' officers. To further confuse Othello, Iago warns him against being consumed by doubts about his wife, calling jealousy a "green-eyed monster," a now-common term for that emotion.

The Globe audience heard hundreds of other expressions that are now household words. In Henry V, Shakespeare used this very term to describe how the names of King Henry's war heroes became as well known to English people as simple words used in any household. A recent film version of Henry V was quite popular. Still other terms that his plays have preserved are including birthplace, downstairs, eyeball, and love letter.

We also find illusions of Shakespeare's words in film. For instance, one of the Star Trek movies are subtitled "The Undiscovered Country," a phrase from one of Hamlet's speeches. Given Shakespeare's strong presence, in speech and popular culture it seems likely that, even in the future, he will continue to be a popular author.