Comments on: A Shakespearean Accent

By: Terina Frullate

Terina Frullate — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:03:19 +0000

A Great blog post, I will be sure to bookmark this in my Mixx account. Have a good evening.

By: Lyman Boyum

Lyman Boyum — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 05:18:53 +0000

Great wordpress post, I will be sure to bookmark this in my Furl account. Have a great evening.

By: Gedaly

Gedaly — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:24:59 +0000

Thanks Thane.
Is British not generally accepted for someone/thing, regardless of time, from that region? I know the named ‘Britain’ goes back further than the Kingdom of Great Britain’s foundation.

To Clarify, in my original post when I refer to an English accent, I’m speaking of what is commonly known as “Recieved Pronunciation” or “BBC English” which is the dialect that Americans are most commonly exposed to.

As for the dialect/accent distinction, we could have a great semantic debate, but I believe it is possible that the words be used interchangeably when referring specifically to pronunciation. Dialect includes accent (pronunciation), vocabulary, syntax, and other features of regional speech.

By: thane

thane — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:43:29 +0000

Three points:
- Shakespeare was not ‘British’. The kingdom of Great Britain was not created until 1707. He was English.’English’ and ‘British’ are not, in any event, synonymous.
- there is no single ‘British’ accent: there are hundreds of them.
- the author and some contributors wrongly use the term ‘dialect’ when they really mean ‘accent’.

By: Iago as a nice guy

Iago as a nice guy — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:36:32 +0000

The mutiple accents in one production thing can actually be really cool, if the audience is likely to be used to that in their daily lives. In Miami, where there are Jamaicans, Barbadians, Cubans, New Yorkers, Mid Westerners, etc., the actors reflect that diveristy of dialects. So, I saw a Jamaican Othello and Cuban accented Iago that was really cool. A recent Scottish Play had a standard American Mr. M, but Mrs. M was Brazilian, and it was awesome (aside from how cool it was that a non native English speaker could actually rock Shakespeare).

By: Gedaly

Gedaly — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:38:19 +0000

The dialects you may speaking of are commonly known as Standard American, or possibly Trans-Atlantic. There isn’t, in fact, a standard way of pronouncing the Bard’s work in America. Directors and vocal coaches across the country have varied opinions on which dialect – if any – is “correct.” You would have an easier time to convince someone to change religious beliefs. But Standard American and Trans-Atlantic are two major contenders in the fight for pronouncing Shakespeare in the US.

By: m1ngle

m1ngle — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:47:42 +0000

I know this is old news, but I just saw your blog entry. I’m an actor doing some research to get ready to perform “Hamlet”. The author of this post and the commentators may be unaware that there exists a dialect called “American Shakespeare” which is used by American actors, and is taught in the drama programs at almost all American acting universities. It is considered the standard way of pronouncing the Bard’s work. If you were to audition at a Shakespeare festival with a flat American accent you would never be cast. It is not technically a British accent, although it does sound a little like one. I just thought you might like to know.

By: Gedaly

Gedaly — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:58:00 +0000

The clown thing is a big problem Craig! And it’s not just in Shakespeare. Similar problems exist for such shows as Les Miserables where the most famous recordings are of a British cast.

You’re right David, that many say that Standard American is closer to the English spoken in London 1600, but that doesn’t make it more accurate to use. The actor should speak in a dialect appropriate to the setting of the play. If the show is set in Texas, I expect the characters native to that setting to speak with the corresponding accent. If set in Britain, let’s hear a British accent. Some production of plays are a little hazy on their exact location; some characters’ hometown is sometimes irrelevant. What does make a little more of a difference is the character’s place in society. It’s not uncommon for the kings and royals in the plays to have somewhat affected pronunciation.

In all other cases it’s fine if the actor uses their own accent or something close to the standard speech of where they are.

By: David

David — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:19:19 +0000

According to linguists, it may be more historically correct to use Standard American or even Southern American than it is to use modern British Received Pronunciation.
According to http://www.geocities.com/yvain.geo/dialects.html:
“American English has retained more elements of the Elizabethan English spoken in the time of Shakespeare than modern British English has” (not the most authoritative source, but the one that says it the simplest).
Consider the Thames river: you must know that it is only pronounced /tems/ because King George I (a German) couldn’t pronounce it properly, and everyone else modified their speech to avoid insulting him. British english has changed considerably since Shakespeare’s time.
That is not to say that American hasn’t changed! Of course it has… it just happens to be closer to Elizabethan at this point.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:47:13 +0000

Of course there’s the cultural inferiority complex at work, and the fact that so many of the great performances are done by English actors–look at the greatest Shakespeare films, for instance. It’s regrettable, because American accents are perfectly capable of doing great Shakespeare–may even expose qualities in the language which the Received Pronunciation in the UK now tends to cover up. But the fact is that even I catch myself doing it–a hard habit to break.

The one thing I really hate is when the clown actors try to do English yokel accents by way of Monty Python!