Shakespeare was not nearly as prim and proper as we think. In fact, much was written in what would today be called blue-collar accents. Click on the link below to listen to the 14-minute interview. (Check out the Studio 360 article for the full interview.)
Interview (click to open sound file):
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 (©Library of the University of California, Los Angeles)
(Edited this to add a YouTube video for those of you wedded to sight and not sound.)
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Absolutely fascinating! Thanks for sharing this.
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I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by.
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I spent a lot of time interpreting Shakespeare with emergent actors, and always we concluded that he was a dirty old bugger.. that is why we adored working with his words. It was all about Bums on Seats. I walked past the Globe dozens of times but never went in.. terrible.. thanks my friend.. c
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Never too late to go in.
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I hope to be over there next year sometime, by myself of course!! (laugh).. c
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Listening to that was great. David Crystal is brilliant, I have a couple of his books. Kinda reminds me why I love learning about language and linguistics. Shame I won’t be continuing with the degree in a way.
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I could easily see you at a university, teaching linguistics. I found the discussion fascinating, although I wish they’d change examples sometimes.
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I guess Romeo and Juliet, also Hamlet are always the classic go-to plays.
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