Shakespeare: The Ultimate Innovator

By Rachel Abbott, ABC School’s Academic Coordinator Many students of English are fascinated by William Shakespeare and his impressive legacy but many are also daunted or intimidated by the prospect of reading one of his classics like ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Macbeth’ and ‘The Tempest.’ Despite this, everyone will have heard of a character or a line from one of his plays at some point in their life and Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in the history of the English speaking World. Today, many everyday English phrases and expressions were in fact coined or invented by Shakespeare himself. Before Shakespeare’s time, the English language was, in general, not standardized. His works had a major influence on the English language and contributed to the standardization of grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. In fact, he invented over 1700 of our common words by changing nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, connecting words never used together before, adding prefixes and suffixes, and devising completely new words. The following words and phrases all originated from or were popularised by Shakespeare. Green Eyed Monster The idiom, green eyed-monster, meaning jealousy, appeared in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ a play that is most associated with the risks of jealousy, when the character Iago said: “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock.” Shakespeare also used a similar term in his play ‘The Merchant of Venice’ a play largely about love, money and relationships: “And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy!” It is said that the term originated from the idea that when someone is sick, their skin becomes a sickly shade of yellow or green. Jealousy is seen as a negative emotion and a form of sickness. After all, it can lead even the nicest people to do and say awful things. Fair play This common phrase is used in the context of sports and games. It refers to giving all participants an equal chance in fair conditions but can also refer to fairness and justice in other contexts and can be used in situations where people either get along or oppose each other, such as in politics. Shakespeare used this phrase in several of his plays, such as ‘The Tempest’ in 1610: “Yes, for a score of Kingdoms you should wrangle, and I would call it fair play.” In this particular scene, Miranda is playing a game of chess with the man she loves, Ferdinand, and accuses him of cheating. He tells her that he would not cheat for the whole world but even though she doesn’t believe him she tells him that she would still lie and say that he was playing by the rules. The things we do for love! Addiction Shakespeare was the first recorded writer to use this abstract noun in several of his plays, such as ‘Othello’: “...every man put himself into triumph; some to dance, some to make bonfires, each man to what sport and revels his addiction leads him.” Shakespeare also used the word in the first scene of ‘Henry V’ in 1599 when it was utilized as a relatively neutral word, meaning to have a strong urge to act or feel a particular way. Drug Shakespeare was the first person to use this word as a verb in Macbeth, when Macbeth’s wife agreed to kill the king and later devised a plan to drug the wine of the King’s guards in order to send them to sleep. Some believe that Shakespeare was a drug user himself due to the discovery of a 400 year old clay pipe found in his garden in Stratford- Upon- Avon last year. He referred to drugs and poisons a great deal in his works. To conclude, there are so many words and phrases either coined by or popularised by William Shakespeare, far too many to mention in one article. Although commonly suggested that Shakespeare might not have invented certain words and phrases seen in his plays, his plays are the first time the words were actually written down. It is clear that Shakespeare was a master of the English language and a truly great innovator.