Global Shakespeare Vocabulary

"Words, words, words" - Hamlet

Kevin Hwang 

1. Setting 
1. Interestedly, we think of setting as a place where an event takes place. However, back then, it wasn’t necessarily used in this definition
2. The action of the verb in various transitive senses; putting, placing, planting, etc. Also, the fact of being set.
1. “And tender me, forsooth, affection But by your setting on, by your consent?” (Shakespeare 99)
1. Shakespeare uses the definition of putting or placing
2. In Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are 3 main settings: the woods, the Athenian court and the resting place of fairies. Although the fairy land isn’t really discussed and they are both in the woods and the courts, they cannot be seen by humans which seem to place them into an alternate dimension or plane. 
2. Trippy 
1. Of, pertaining to, or resembling a hallucinatory experience induced by a drug.
1. Interestingly, this is the only definition of the word trippy in the OED
2. “And this ditty after me, Sing and dance it trippingly.” (Shakespeare 170)
3. Perhaps the faeries could be an allusion to drugs
3. Darkness
1. Kim Hall and Ania Loomba both thought that the darkness was a critical part of Shakespeare so I thought it would be a good idea to look it up
2. Absence of the ‘light’ of life; death.
1. Shakespeare uses this definition in Measure for Measure
2. If I must die, I will encounter darknesse as a bride, And hugge it in mine armes.
1. This corresponds with Annia Loomba how the darkness had a bad connotation of death and mourning which integrated itself into a racial vocabulary
4. Chiaroscuro
1. The style of pictorial art in which only the light and shade, and not the various colours, are represented; black-and-white, or dark brown and white.
1. Kim Hall illustrates Chiaroscuro when she describes Boime’s painting. The artist uses the overwhelming blackness to highlight the whiteness of the painting
2. In Midsummer Night’s Dream however, it feels like Shakespeare highlights the blackness with the dominant “fair colored” Athenians. It was very obvious that Lysander calling Hermia an ethiop was important because the blackness stands out from all the whiteness around her.
5. Race
1. There were a variety of definitions including horse races, horse livers, skin color etc 
2. For this word I wanted to focus on the usage over time
1. It spiked by almost quadruple in the 1500’s, went back to minimal in the 1600’s and gradually increased all the way until the 1700’s
2. I thought this was interesting because this could be when the traditional view of the color black mixed in with the view of darker skin color
3. Race is also obviously a big concept in Midsummer Night’s Dream as there is a lot of contrast between light and dark
1. We can see the superiority of the white man with Theseus and how he controls the inferior darker skinned woman, Hippolyta 
6. Trade
1. To have dealings; to communicate, converse, have intercourse; to treat, negotiate (with a person)
2. And sat with me on Neptune’s yellow sands,
   Marking th’ embarkèd traders on the flood,
   When we have laughed to see the sails conceive
   And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind; (act 2 sc 1)
3. I’m not sure what this part means with the sexual connotation of trade. Is Shakespeare for interracial marriage? Or does he view England the husband and India the wife?

Tyler Marchionne

Invetio – Garber 19

“Authorship Controversy” – Garber 22

“Most of Shakespeare’s plays have sources, although what he borrowed, he transformed” – Gaber 19

Why it is important: If I’m discussing the works or tales that influenced Shakespeare’s writings regarding foreign lands, trade and colonialism, then this term could be used to argue how the language and descriptions of non-whites influenced the racially charged terms within Shakespeare’s work.

Chiaroscuro – Hall 6

“Used of poetic or literary treatment, criticism, mental complexion, etc., in various obvious senses, as mingled ‘clearness and obscurity’, ‘cheerfulness and gloom’, ‘praise and blame” – (OED)

Why it is important: It explains why Hermia’s “fairness” is constantly being contrasted with the non-fair Helena. Hermia’s is made more ‘appealing’ or attractive because the darker Helena highlights Hermia’s whiteness. It is through such techniques and comparisons that language was able to create a hierarchy of race and status.

Colonialism 

Indian Changeling and Hippoylta in A Midsummer’s Night Dream are good examples of views regarding colonialism.

Why it is important: The British Empire started in the late 16^th Century and went on to become the worlds largest Empire in history, owning around a 1/5 of the worlds population. In Shakespeare’s time, the idea of colonialism was just being started, and contact with non-whites was becoming more frequent, leading to growing fears over what it means to be British.

Gender

Why it is important: Related to Hall’s argument over how British males used language to re-enforce their status in society. A Midsummer Night’s Dream has many female characters who are oppressed by their male counterparts, such as Egeus with Hermia, Oberon with Titania and Theseus with Hippolyta. Loomba describes how Christianity was associated with masculinity while Islam was associated with femininity, again re-enforcing power/status and identity. 

Revenue/income/profit/dowager/expense

Often used in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

1.1. 5 “dowager” 1.1.6 – “revenue” 1.1.160 – “income” 1.1.255 –“expense” 1.1.159 – “dowager” 2.1.139 - “rich with merchandise” 

Why it is important: Relates again to Hall’s argument of language creating hierarchies, as well as relating to the ideas of colonialism and ownership. These terms are often associated with either non-whites or females in his plays, suggesting that the male characters ‘own’ them. 

Travel

Midsummer Night’s Dream – Juxtaposition and dichotomy of Athenian royal court in 1.1 and the Athenian woods of 2.1. 

Why it is important: Loss of order, societal structures turned upside down. An example in A Midsummer Night’s Dream would be that Helena, who has been described as an “Ethiop”, becomes the object of desire from two white men of high social class when in the woods. Laws of the civilized Athenian court no longer hold as much relevance in the woods. 

Neel Patel

Race (n.)   A group of people, animals, connected by common descent or origin.

II. group of people belonging to the same family and descended from a common ancestor; a house, family, kindred.

“Shakespeare uses the word ‘race’ barely eighteen times…his usage often suggests meanings not usually associated with the term ‘race’ today” (Loomba 22). 

“The easy association with modern science ignores the fact that language itself creates differences within social organization and that race was then (as it is now) a social construct that is fundamentally more about power and culture than about biological significance” (Hall 6).

Race is a very important theme throughout our readings, in that by studying it we are able to see how it originated and evolved in the English language.  Loomba and Hall, in particular, show how it did not mean then exactly what it means today, suggesting that we have created it ourselves rather than it always existing genetically. Thus we can define it, rather than the OED, as simply a word used as a means of marking ‘otherness’, or difference.

Wanton (v.) I. intr. To sport amorously, to play lasciviously or lewdly.

II. To play sportively, heedlessly, or idly, to frolic unrestrainedly, to gambol. (Said esp. of a child or young animal.)

“And grow big bellied with the wanton wind” (II.i.132)²

 Used during Titania’s description of interacting with the Indian boy’s mother.  The word wanton implies a wild, exotic landscape, perhaps to distance the audience from the place where the boy is from.

Rich (adj.) containing

“Her womb then rich with my young squire” (II.i.135)²

“As from a voyage, rich with merchandise”  (II.i.139)²

Curiously, this word is used twice only four lines apart.   Perhaps, this could be to connect young squire, or the little Indian boy, with merchandise, referring to trade with India and somewhat dehumanizing the boy for the audience.

Suzanne Rivera

Gender-  each of the classes (typically masculine, feminine, neuter, common) of nouns and pronouns distinguished by the different inflections which they have and which they require in words syntactically associated with them; similarly applied to adjectives (and in some languages) verbs, to denote the appropriate form for accompanying a noun of such a class. Also: the fact, condition, or property of belonging to such a class; the classification of language in this way. I was surprised that most OED definitions for gender didn’t mention the expected definition of biological sex, male or female. I had not realized how heavily related to language gender was. I previously, in respect to Shakespeare, thought of gender as sex related and a way to create castes within society, showing women as subject to man yet gender affected England’s changing speech as much as it affected England’s changing language.

Setting- The action of the verb set v.1   in various transitive senses; putting, placing, planting, etc. Also, the fact of being set. I found no OED reference to location, time etc. in a play or literary work which surprised me. Setting seems to play such a large role in Shakespeare’s works, especially Midsummer, in which the settings are almost a metaphor for something else entirely. The Athenian court and woods are more than just locations. They represent travel and expansion, exploration and colonialism, structured civilization and an uneasiness of the unknown.

Intertextuality- The need for one text to be read in the light of its allusions to and differences from the content or structure of other texts; the (allusive) relationship between esp. literary texts. Pyramus and Thisbe are the inside out Romeo and Juliet, which I believe also falls under meta-theatre. However unlike Romeo and Juliet, in the case of Pyramus and Thisbe or of Hermia, only the father’s objections to the marriage are shown. The mothers are never even referenced, the audience does not even know if they’re alive. In my mind this solidifies even further the differences and stature between men and women of the time. I find myself wondering how many other of Shakespeare’s plays reference each other? Nearly all of Shakespeare’s plays reference other plays, since very few of his are actually from his own original idea.

Meta-theatre- Theatre which draws attention to its unreality, esp. by the use of a play within a play; (also) those particular parts of a drama which exemplify this device. Pyramus and Thisbe is the play within Midsummer, primarily 5.1.114-364, ignoring the commentary of the men. Pyramus and Thisbe also qualifies as exhibiting intertextuality. Again I reference the similarities between Romeo and Juliet, pointing out only that that play was a tragedy. Midsummer is a comedy merely containing a tragedy, but in all likelihood could have easily become a tragedy itself.

Dog- A domesticated carnivorous mammal, Canis familiaris (or C. lupus familiaris), which typically has a long snout, an acute sense of smell, non-retractile claws, and a barking, howling, or whining voice, widely kept as a pet or for hunting, herding livestock, guarding, or other utilitarian purposes. In phrases with of-complement (now freq. after the dogs of war at Phrases 14), denoting a person or personified thing likened to a dog, esp. in being vicious, watchful, subservient, or ravening. Midsummer 2.1.212 etc. It makes sense now that dog is often used as an insult in Shakespeare, because of its subservient qualities, the above mentioned example more so than others since that line is in the middle of Helena’s S and M rant. Earlier I have already mentioned women as little more than prized animals, rather than human beings of intelligence. Dog is man’s best friend, women are referred to as dogs in the play, therefore placing them obediently at the foot of man.

Genre- A particular style or category of works of art; esp. a type of literary work characterized by a particular form, style, or purpose. Shakespeare works generally fall into the categories of tragedy, comedy, history but often really overlap creating subgenres. Shakespeare wrote in a time before the English language was unified and therefore had the luck to be able to change words to fit his needs, in spelling and in meaning, at times creating entirely new words and greatly influencing culture even today, swag. 

Noah Kaufmann

Binarism: Kim Hall states: "the binarism of black and white might be called the originary language of racial difference in English cluture" (Hall, 2). In this quote, binarism of race suggests that black and white are seen as complete opposites, and therefore one cannot be defined without implicating the other (not white = black, not black = white).

Selina Cho

"Childing": fruitful— The term used for explaining the seasons: "the childing autumn, angry winter" — A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 2 Sc1 Line 115

"Bully": Worthy, admirable — The term used when Quince refers to Bottom as "bully Bottom" — A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 3 Sc 1 Line 8

Claire Ross

Folio

1. “The printed sheet was folded only once, with 2 pages of the book on each side of the printing sheet, thus having 4 pages pr sheet or “gathering”. David Bevington page 14

Jack Karras

Performance:  Performance is threefold – it describes the performance of actors on the stage, the performance of the King and Queen of England in a governing position, and the performance of the general population going about and performing their daily lives.  In 16^th/17^th century England as well as today, performance encapsulates all aspects of life (rather than the common definition of performance only regarding entertainment) as if all the world’s a stage.

Translated:  Translation has multiple meanings, both general and specific.  First, in a Shakespearean sense, there are many times that his plays must be translated, or at least carefully read, in order to gather the their meanings.  This relates to the idea that English is always shifting, and that sometimes even familiar words can take on new meanings and be in need of translation.  More specifically, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Bottom was “translated,” which is a double meaning because not only did he physically change, but the definition of who he is as a person changed as well. 

Adna Jaganjac 

Will - The frequent use of this word could be seen as a play on Shakespeare’s name William, but it also relates back to the idea of intent and control. The youths needed the will to make their own decisions and run to the forest, or they might not have received their happy ending. 

Moon – The moon even today is considered a mysterious and mystical part of nature. In the play, the moon is associated with the night, and it is linked to the magical fairies. In this way, it represents freedom, chaos, and magic while the day is associated with the logic, laws, and social order of the city. 

Priscilla Chan

Trade:

-the notion f property exchange

e.g. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Hermia as a property of her father / the Indian boy is a property which Oberon and Titania fight over

Kevin Badkhshan

1.  Setting (n): The action of the verb in various transitive senses; putting, placing, planting, etc. Also, the fact of being set.
1. Concerns Shakespeare through the locations where his plays take place. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream we see as setting can differentiate between the Athenian court and woods.
2. Authorship (n): Occupation or career as a writer of books.
1. Relates to Shakespeare himself as he was an adamant playwright, composer, and author of various plays, sonnets and literary masterpieces.
3. Eye (v): To direct the eyes to, fix the eyes upon, look at or upon, behold, observe. Often with a word or phrase indicative of some feeling (e.g. anger, suspicion, wonder, etc.).
1. Appears in Shakespeare’s AMSND 71 times as repeated and used by various Characters. The verb seems to be related with the idea of love due to the repetition and the variable nature of the imagination in relation to love.