Shakespearean quotes:
Quote/play used in:
- Bated Breath (The Merchant of Venice) - Cruel to be kind (Hamlet) - Foregone conclusion (Othello) - He hath eaten me out of house and home. (Henry IV Part 2) - Wear my heart on my sleeve (Othello) - In my heart of hearts (Hamlet) - At one fell swoop (Macbeth) - Short Shrift (Richard the Third) - What the Dickens (The Merry Wives of Windsor) - Wild-Goose chase (Romeo & Juliet) |
Modern Translation:
- Worried or excited in anticipation. - To say or do something seeming unkind but intending to help. - A result that one can be certain about before it happens. - A guest who eats too much from one's home. - To make one's feelings obvious to others. - When you know something to be true, but fail to accept or admit it. - With one sudden action. - A firm and immediate refusal to do something. - Used for emphasising a question when suprised or angry. - A futile pursuit, a worthless hunt. |
Shakespearean use:
- (The Merchant of Venice) Shall I bend low and in bondman's key, With bated breath and whisp'ring humbleness? - (Hamlet) So again good night. I must be cruel only to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind. - (Othello) O monstrous, monstrous! Nay, this was but his dream. But this denoted a foregone conclusion. - (Henry IV Part 2) He hath eaten me out of house and home, He hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his! - (Othello) In complement extern, 'tis not long after But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve.' - (Hamlet) That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him, In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart. - (Macbeth- upon hearing of his family's death) What! All my pretty chickens, and their dam, At once fell swoop? - (Richard the third) Come, come, dispatch: the Duke would be at dinner, Make a short shrift, he longs to see your head. - (The Merry Wives of Windsor) I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had of him- What do you call your knight's name, sirrah? - (Romeo & Juliet) Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I hav in my whole five. |
Shakespearean language including phrases and sayings have become so much a part of our everyday speech what we do not even know we are quoting Shakespeare. Some other common Shakespearean phrases we use without thinking include:
- A sorry sight
- A tower of strength
- All’s well that ends well
- An eye-sore
- It was Greek to me
- A laughing-stock
- Love is blind
- Vanish into thin air
- The game is up
- What’s done is done
- There’s method in my madness
- This is the short and long of it
- We have seen better days
There are many more Shakespearean sayings and quotes that are used very commonly today, in fact Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in HISTROY after various writers of the Bible.
Most of Shakespeare’s quotes are those about love, and are taken from various plays such as Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, As You like It and
more… Some love quotes include:
- Whoever loved that loved not at first sight?
(As You Like It, 3.5.84)
- Love looks not with the eyes,
but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
(A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1.1.231-2)
- Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.
(Hamlet, 1.2.123-6)
- See how she leans her cheek upon her hand.
O that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek.
(Romeo and Juliet, 2.2.23-5)
By Tijana Chetcuti- 9B (2013) ©
- A sorry sight
- A tower of strength
- All’s well that ends well
- An eye-sore
- It was Greek to me
- A laughing-stock
- Love is blind
- Vanish into thin air
- The game is up
- What’s done is done
- There’s method in my madness
- This is the short and long of it
- We have seen better days
There are many more Shakespearean sayings and quotes that are used very commonly today, in fact Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in HISTROY after various writers of the Bible.
Most of Shakespeare’s quotes are those about love, and are taken from various plays such as Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, As You like It and
more… Some love quotes include:
- Whoever loved that loved not at first sight?
(As You Like It, 3.5.84)
- Love looks not with the eyes,
but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
(A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1.1.231-2)
- Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.
(Hamlet, 1.2.123-6)
- See how she leans her cheek upon her hand.
O that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek.
(Romeo and Juliet, 2.2.23-5)
By Tijana Chetcuti- 9B (2013) ©