Is Shakespeare's writing incomprehensible?

No

2 of 37

by Ray Cook

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Clearly, for many people, Shakespeare's writing is not incomprehensible. If you are a student of English Literature and have studied the plays, many words and phrases which are difficult at first become clearer.

Shakespeare, although a dramatist, wrote much of his drama in verse form. Part of the difficulty for a modern audience is to accept any degree of realism when Othello, Hamlet or Richard III speaks in strict iambic pentameter, or rhyming couplets. But these are merely the conventions of the time; they do not render the work incomprehensible.

In the mouth of an experienced Shakespearean actor, what at first may be difficult to understand, becomes clear.

It has to be admitted, however, that there are passages which take some understanding and are somewhat opaque to a modern audience, especially those who have not studied Shakespeare or his language.

Let's take the opening of Measure For Measure, a play with some of the greatest poetry that Shakespeare ever wrote:

The Duke addresses Escalus:

Of government the properties to unfold,
Would seem in me to affect speech and discourse;
Since I am put to know that your own science
Exceeds, in that, the lists of all advice
My strength can give you:

The syntax, or word order, here is unfamiliar to the modern ear, and one or two words have changed in meaning, or their meaning no longer pertains. But it doesn't take too long to work out that these opening remarks can be "translated" as follows:

For me to explain to you the workings of government would be a complete waste of time since you know a lot more about it than I do.

Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it.

The difficult words here are "affect", "science" and "lists".

"..to affect speech and discourse", means to give the impression of speech or conversation.
"Scienc e" means knowledge and is more closely related to Italian "scienza" than the modern meaning of Science as Physics or Chemistry.
"lists" means "bounds" or "limits".

But now look what happens:
then no more remains,
But that to your sufficiency as your Worth is able,
And let them work.

This does not make sense, even in Shakespeare's day; it appears some text or a whole line is missing. The original meaning must have been "carry out your duties with a competence matching your authority."

This is an additional problem with Shakespeare in that the plays, as we have them, are full of variants because there was no definitive version in Shakespeare's lifetime. It is believed that the plays were redacted from the memory of the actors, and scribes who may have misheard.

It must be remembered, however, that these plays were performed in theatres in front of a very mixed audience; some educated, many not. It is highly likely that a lot of the precise meaning of the text was poorly understood, even in Shakespeare's time. But they were plays. The drama itself would be sufficient to make the play comprehensible. What marks out Shakespeare as a dramatic genius is that his works can be taken at many levels according to your intellectual understanding. His genius with words and his contribution to modern English are incalculable. Very few dramatists have the text of their plays pored over by successive generations because they stand up not just a drama, but as great poetry.

In the same play, when Claudio is confronted with the prospect of his own death, we have some of the greatest poetry in the English language:

Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
To be imprison'd in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world;

Just read it out loud. You can understand it even if you do not know the meaning of every word.
Claudio speaks of the fear of death and damnation, yet several words are difficult for the modern reader:
"obstruction" , " sensible", "motion", "delighted", "thrilling" and "pendent".
All the words are familiar to us, but all but "pendent" mean what we would expect them to today. In addition, Shakespeare coins a new word "viewless" (invisible).
"cold obstruction" refers to the post mortem state of a body; "obstruction" literally means that the functions of life are "obstructed".
"sensib le" means having the ability to feel, as in modern "sensibility".
"motio n" something capable of movement.
"delighted" having the ability to feel delight.
"thrilling" , piercing.
"pendent", suspended.

Great poetry, when performed, leaves no doubt as to its meaning.

Given that, over time, Shakespeare and his language recede into a distant past increasingly removed from us linguistically and culturally, there will come a time when Shakespeare is as incomprehensible as Chaucer. That will be a sad day which is still some way off.

In the classroom Shakespeare can be viewed as a joke and boring by our modern students; they may mock the arcane language which is easy to parody. But, incomprehensible? No. Taken in its entirety, Shakespeare is still accessible to those that care to listen or read. Shakespeare has never been easy to full appreciate, but his message across the centuries, remains as strong, as strident and, ultimately, as knowable as it has ever been.

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