Shakespeare Survival Tips

Contrary to popular belief, Shakespeare is not the most difficult writer in history to understand. As you read in Kade's Introduction to Shakespeare tutorial, William Shakespeare created thousands of the words and phrases we use today.

Read pp. 5-7 in your Macbeth textbook for important information about the language of Shakespeare.

With some background and practice, you will find yourself more and more comfortable with reading Shakespeare's plays. You can review Tehya's first impressions while she read I, i of Macbeth . ( Remember: I, i means Act One, Scene One.)

Rule #1: Read it. Live it. Love it.	Plays are meant to be heard and experienced. Read the play out loud, listen to an audio recording, or watch a performance. You will be glad you did. There is a link to a great performance on the following page: 6.1 Your turn! A Guided Study of Macbeth .
Rule #2: Iambic Pentameter	Rhythm dictates where stress (emphasis) falls on words. Iambic pentameter is the rhythm of Shakespeare's language. Don't freak out, but you have an intimate awareness of this rhythm, because it resembles your own heart beat. Put your finger on your wrist and find your pulse. Iamb rhythm resembles your heartbeat, because the first beat is softer than the second (ba-BUM). Pentameter simply means that there are five units of rhythm in a line of text. Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter, meaning there are five iambs in each line. This explains why his sentences do not start and stop on the same physical line in the text.
Rule #3: Read to major punctuation points	Sentences in Shakespeare's time started with capital letters, as they do today. Keep reading until you reach a major punctuation point (for example: . ! ? instead of stopping at the end of the physical line. If something does not make sense, chances are it is because you stopped reading at the end of the line instead of at the end of the sentence.
Rule #4: Use the resources available to you	There are helpful summaries accompanying each scene in the play. Read them. If there are words or phrases you do not understand, read the notes provided for you in the text. If all else fails, look at how the words are used in the sentence and make a best guess. You are not going to fail Shakespeare because you do not understand every word when you read it the first time. Read to understand the big picture; focus on the plot, character, and theme development. The more you practise, the more your skill will improve.

iamb: a unit of rhythm in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable

pentameter: five repeated units of rhythm in a line