Shakespearean language
Wherefore art thou
Shakespearean language refers to the English used by William Shakespeare and his contemporaries in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
It features archaic pronouns (thou, thee, thy), verb endings (-eth, -est), and vocabulary now obsolete or shifted in meaning.
The term often applies loosely to any old-fashioned or poetic speech: Stop talking in Shakespearean language and just say what you mean.
- thineYours, archaically
- thouArchaic second-person pronoun
- dostArchaic second-person "do"
- whereforeFor what purpose
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
forsooth · anon · soliloquy · hath · iambic pentameter · dramatic irony · rhyming couplets · whence · mayhap · antithesis · shalt · twas · monologue · comedy · comic relief · nay · allegory · metaphor
Shakespearean languageplain speech
Unembellished verbal expression
colloquial language · everyday language · casual speech · vernacular · street language