Marshalin Redwood
ENGL207
16th December 2014
Final Essay: Revising & Relating to the World Literature

Shakespearean Lingua As the world flourishes, the use of words changes. The English language originated from Anglo- Frisian dialect that was brought to Britain by Germanic marauders. Dialects are an opportunistic approach of understanding about the backdrop of the English language. Shakespeare gained the comprehensive knowledge and passion for the literature. Shakespeare was known to develop the Early Modern English language. He is the insightful genius of coined everyday phrases that is used in this generation. Shakespeare’s literary works used the world around him to disseminate the concepts of social class and human behavior. These concepts are demonstrated in The Tempest and Une Tempête. Une Tempête is a play by Aimé Césaire who shadowed Shakespeare’s, The Tempest. The problem is not Aimé Césaire’s version of Shakespeare’s play but it is the comprehension of Early Modern English. When students study the Early Modern English language, there is a debate of whether the use of SparkNotes embodies the understanding of what Shakespeare is exploiting. The use of SparkNotes only translates the plays in simplistic form; it does not give definitive historical facts about the words that Shakespeare uses. Shakespeare distinctively incorporated rhythmic patterns, play on words that exposed a character’s purpose in the play and his ideologies about society. Each play Shakespeare produced emphasized a specific theme that the audience or reader had to search for. The theme The Tempest is political romance about two individuals that are of a certain social hierarchy. Aimé Césaire’s Une Tempête is about social domination and the role of colonization. Students in high school would not be able to figure that out the basis of Shakespeare’s language with the use of SparkNotes, because there is no explanation of Shakespeare’s use of grammatical functions or the different types of rhythmic patterns. Highschool students will only understand Early Modern English that Shakespeare uses is to study the originality of the language. Shakespeare incorporates different societal issues in his plays. In The Tempest the theme of domination through an arranged political romance is the foundation for gaining social hierarchy by exploiting women. Miranda is exclusively the main female in The Tempest on an island that is male dominated. The concept of exploitation of woman for men to gain social hierarchy is evident when Shakespeare indicates that Miranda’s sole purpose is to wed Ferdinand for political restoration of Prospero and Alonso. Miranda was not aware that her father, Prospero, was exploiting her for his own political appeasement- even if she were to know, she would have no matter on the subject. Shakespeare uses a theme of political statues as a way to exemplify the function of high society during the Elizabethan epoch. Women had no contribution to whom they were to wed. By making the political entwinement of Miranda and Ferdinand the focal point, Shakespeare expresses through the use of his words to ruminate on how women are the epitome to formulate alliances. Men used woman as political leverage for their own personal domination of other kingdoms. SparkNotes’ phrasing does not allow students to examine Shakespeare’s abstruse moral intention; young girls can learn that they are not inferior to men but should be seen as equal. SparkNotes’ translation of The Tempest does not go into grave detail about the linguistics that Shakespeare uses to connect to the audience. There are certain terminologies that Shakespeare used to describe the societal rankings between characters. From personal experience, there was an ignorant bliss about the repetitive use of words such as thou, thee, thous, these, ye and you. Modern English translations of Shakespeare do not breakdown the significance of each individual word. It is the audience to determine the intention of these words. The purpose of Shakespeare using thou, thee, ye and you is to state a transition between characters. In Early Modern English, thou was used as a singular form, ye was used in a plural context and you was used by people of a lower status. An example of the use of these words are in Act I, Scene II of The Tempest, where Caliban shows his anger towards Prospero about not accepting the new language he was taught.
You taught me language, and my profit on’t
Is, I know how to curse.
(The Tempest, Act I, Scene II)
As Caliban speaks to Prospero, Caliban acknowledges the fact that Prospero is superior, when he uses you because in Early Modern English, people who are inferior used the word you. Shakespeare’s used these words to convey hierarchical status. In order to high school students to understand Shakespeare’s use of Early Modern linguistics would be to replace you with a word that Caliban can use to insult Prospero’s social ranking. If Caliban used the word, thou, Caliban exemplify hierarchical equality of Prospero and himself. Amending words of Early Modern English plays, meant that the connotation of the phrase is altered. By changing you to thou, it would be strenuous to identify the transition between characters. SparkNotes does not convey exercises to make students think about certain linguistics can be used to interpret the ideologies Shakespeare has incorporated. The words thou and ye were used as a subject of a clause, while in Modern English, you is used as both singular and plural. As Early Modern English popularized, the distinction between subject ye and object you disappeared, you became the more grammatical criterion The linguistics in The Tempest that Shakespeare uses is challenging because there are unfamiliar word sequences, puns and elimination of words. Shakespeare experimented with rearranging subjects and verbs. There are inverted words that Shakespeare uses to create a particular speech rhythm and he places certain emphasis on words. In The Tempest, onomatopoeia is when the use of words sound like their definition. For example in Act III, Scene II, gives the description of the twangling of musical instruments. Shakespeare removes words in order to create dramatic effects, for example In Act I, Scene II, when Ferdinand expresses his emotions of grief about the death of his father and his new societal status as King.
…And that he does I weep. Myself am Naples
(The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2)
Shakespeare utilizes word play between characters. Word play can be seen between Antonio and Sebastian when they ridicule other characters in the play. If students do not understand the original context of the play then how will they be able to interpret the definite meaning of Early Modern English? Words are used to express hierarchy and this is not elaborated in Modern English translation. Shakespeare’s rearranges words to describe the nature and features of his characters. Shakespeare rearranges the word “Canibal” which describes Caliban- Caliban is not considered human, described to have beastly features. The word “Oppresor” is arranged to spell out Prospero. Prospero is seen as the oppressor in The Tempest and Une Tempête because has unjustly, depressive and tyrannical attributes.
In SparkNotes, theatrical language is not explained during or between scenes- does not go into depth about Shakespeare’s locution. It does not differentiate the standing between characters even though words such as thee, thou, thy and you are seen through the play. SparkNotes does not explain the general features of the play, such as the actions of the characters, use of puns or the rhythm of language throughout the play that can help establish the understanding of what Shakespeare is conveying. By simply translating Early Modern English into Modern English, it does not allow the student to curiously analyze Shakespeare’s choice of locution.
Une Tempête cannot easily be translated because of the different literary devices Shakespeare used. Aimé Césaire took Shakespeare’s play and incorporated his own ideologies. Aimé Césaire conceptualized colonization. In The Tempest, Miranda, these words mean to respect the rules created and the treat people express the phrase “fair play” with equality. SparkNotes does not inform student’s about ideologies that are used in other plays inspired by Shakespeare. In Une Tempête, the principle of justice and fairness is shown between Prospero and Caliban. Prospero is the colonizer that improperly took Caliban’s land- unjust. Propsero enslaves Caliban and teaches him his native language so that Caliban can understand the orders directed to him.
The translation between Then Tempst and Une Tempête is not verbatim but the conceptual ideologies are expressed through the plays. SparkNotes does not break down the use of words in Shakespearean plays. Students find it bother to try and interpret a language that is bewildering. By eliminating SparkNotes, students will be forced to acquire the understanding of Shakespeare language and to ask questions to better understand the complexity of Early Modern English.

Work Cited

1. Miller, Ricahrd. Cesaire, Aime. A Tempest, trans. Ubu Repertory Theater Publications, 1992. 2. Kaiser, Scott. Shakespeare’s Wordcraft . Limelight Editions, 2007. 3. University of Cambridge. Glossary of Literary Terms-A handy, clearly written all-in-one page glossary 4. W. Brown, Jerry. http://jerrywbrown.com/teacherfiles/PreAP%20APSI%20UT%202014.pdf 5. Kermode, Frank. Shakespeare’s Language. Penguine Books, 2001. 6. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest 1611 7. Muñoz, Valdivieso, Sofia. Double Erasure in The Tempest: Miranda in postmodern Critical Discourse. 1998

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Gives a character analysis of Miranda and her role in The Tempest. Cultural relevance of women, criticizes how characters are used as victims as a way to gain political power. file:///Users/marshalinredwood/Downloads/Dialnet-DoubleErasureInTheTempest-1984428.pdf
[ 2 ]. The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Written 1611.
[ 3 ]. Shakespeare’s Language by Frank Kermode, Penguine Books, 2001.
[ 4 ]. Frank Kermode studies the language that Shakespeare uses in his plays, the relevance of certain vernaculars and studies the classic rhetoric of Shakespeare’s plays; The Tempest. Shakespeare’s Language by Frank Kermode, Penguine Books, 2001.
[ 5 ]. Breaks down the use of word play in the Shakespearean plays. It explains how the modern English language has forgotten the art of effective writing techniques. Shakespeare’s Wordcraft by Scott Kaiser, Limelight Editions, 2007.
[ 6 ]. Glossary of Literary Terms-Univerosty of Cambridge. A handy, clearly written all-in-one page glossary: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/vclass/terms.htm
[ 7 ]. Glossary of Literary Terms-Univerosty of Cambridge. A handy, clearly written all-in-one page glossary: http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/vclass/terms.htm
[ 8 ]. http://jerrywbrown.com/teacherfiles/Pre-AP%20APSI%20UT%202014.pdf
[ 9 ]. http://jerrywbrown.com/teacherfiles/Pre-AP%20APSI%20UT%202014.pdf***Prospero uses these oppressive attributes to enslave Caliban.
[ 10 ]. Cesaire, Aime. A Tempest, trans. Richard Miller. Ubu Repertory Theater Publications, 1992.