Sounds just like the part of the shirt that is always messed up in the back: collar. When your collar is wrong, you may get full of choler and soon change your color in front of a caller.

choler (n.) IPA Pronunciation:
anger, rage, wrath

HAMLET
Your wisdom should show itself more richer to signify this to his doctor; for, for me to put him to his purgation would perhaps plunge him into far more choler.
- Hamlet (III.ii)

When your collar is wrong, you may get full of choler and soon change your color in front of a caller.

This word shows up all over the place so it’s a very important word to know when working with Shakespeare. That’s probably because there are a lot of angry people in the plays.

Just my guess.

In the recent post, “Now is NOT the Winter of Our Discontent,” I mentioned that people are misreading and misunderstanding verse because they are reading to the end of the line. That’s not right!

The end of the page limits the space of a line in a book, website, news article, etc. In Shakespeare’s verse, there is a syllable limit instead. Imagine, if you will, that the page is much thinner when reading Shakespeare. A line of iambic pentameter is only a rhythm pattern with a syllable limit. The thought does not stop on the line, it ends with the punctuation mark.

The following passage of verse I have taken out of the line form, and punctuated as if you should stop at the end of every line. Read it aloud and see what happens.

Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy. And will not let belief take hold of him. Touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us. Therefore I have entreated him along. With us to watch the minutes of this night. That if again this apparition come. He may approve our eyes and speak to it.

Does this make any sense to you? Didn’t think so. It is, unfortunately, a common practice for actors of all ages and experience. Don’t be like them. Let’s try some normal punctuation but still without confining the text to seperate lines. Read this one out loud too. Use the punctuation and your smarts to make sense of the words as you read it.

Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy and will not let belief take hold of him, touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us; therefore I have entreated him along with us to watch the minutes of this night, that if again this apparition come, he may approve our eyes and speak to it.

It’s all one sentence! So there’s no reason to pause or lose energy at the end of the line. You have to continue the thought when speaking and reading until you reach the end-stop punctuation mark. Here’s the text as it appears normally. Read this out loud too and notice that you’re now able to make sense of the text better than before.

MARCELLUS
Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy,
And will not let belief take hold of him
Touching this dreaded sight twice seen of us;
Therefore I have entreated him along
With us to watch the minutes of this night,
That if again this apparition come,
He may approve our eyes and speak to it.
- Hamlet (I.i)

If you’re having trouble breaking the habit of stopping at the ends of lines you can try editing your lines to look like prose instead for easier reading. Always remember that you’re not saying words; you’re telling a story.

“Speak to be understood”
- Love’s Labour’s Lost (V.ii)

Be careful with this word… just ‘cuz.

caveto (int.) IPA Pronunciation:
beware, take care, careful

PISTOL
Therefore, Caveto be thy counsellor.
- Henry V (II.iii)

This word means caution, related to a term you may be already familiar with: caveat. Good ol’ Pistol, always a careful one. NOT!

One of the many Shakespeare related peeves I have is cutting off the end of a line as if it’s a full idea, creating an incorrect meaning. On of the big ones are the famous opening words of Richard III.

What many don’t know is that Richard is not telling the audience that the winter of their discontent is now. Take a look at the full SENTENCE, not just the first line.

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York;
And all the clouds that low’r'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

Richard is telling us that the worst times (”winter of our discontent”) have been made into good times (”glorious summer”) by King Edward (”this son of York”). Or to put it more simply, “Times sucked, but now they’re good. Thanks bro.” Followed by “the gloom that hung over us is now buried in the deep ocean.”

I’ve seen a T-Shirt that said “When is the Winter of my discontent?” That just makes no sense. Why would you want to know anyway? That’s just like putting “When am I going to have the worst day ever?” on a shirt.

The problem doesn’t lie with the quotation, but with people’s lack of understanding that one line does not always equal one thought. It’s a silly misconception but it exists for some reason. When someone reads a book or an article and they get to the end of the column they automatically know to go to the next line and that the thought stops at the period or question mark. But as soon as someone picks up verse, many will pause at the end of the line instead of reading to the punctuation mark.

There shouldn’t be any sort of difference in the way that verse or prose is read in this way. Whether the line is restricted by physical space or amounts of syllables, the thought doesn’t stop until you reach the appropriate punctuation mark.

No, it’s not an elided part of a Nike commercial.

doit (n.) IPA Pronunciation:
small sum, worthless amount, trifle

TRINCULO
Where they will will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar…
- The Tempest (II.ii)

A doit was a small Dutch coin that was worth half an English farthing, which wasn’t much. So half of that (and perhaps the fact that it was Dutch) made it a worthless amount.

At first glance, some might see no real relation between performing Shakespeare and a musical. But look again. I’m not talking about songs that Shakespeare wrote in to many of his plays, but the style of writing and acting. First a little disclaimer: lots of people don’t like musical theatre because it is hokey and unrealistic and lame. It is if you see bad musical theatre! Any good theatre production will let you suspend your disbelief and become engrossed in the stories and character. The community and high school musical theatre productions can’t really count. The instruction is often “smile,” and that’s about it. Super cheesy mediocre theatre is not what I’m talking about.

My best example of the similarities between Shakespeare and Musicals is the average Shakespearean soliloquy and a traditional solo song. Both pieces are delivered to the audience as a glimpse into the character’s thoughts and feeling at that very moment in time. The soliloquy (most often) and the song are in verse, have rhythm, meter. Both are definitely not true to real life; they are heightened language at an heightened emotional part in the characters journey and needs to be shared.

I’ve often heard said in musical theatre classes, “when the emotion is too great to speak: sing.” The same is often true in Shakespeare, except that the character will rattle off a monologue instead of a song. But the verse structure is very similar to that of a song. There is meter and rhythm, but the pitches and tempos are up to you.

The training for performing in either can be similar too. Being able to speak the words with distinction and give them meaning is essential. If you sing a song and have a pretty voice put put no emotion in it, no one will care. A great actor with a not so great voice will usually get away with it, but a horrible actor with a not so horrible voice gets boring real fast. The words need to have meaning because theatre is an auditory experience primarily. The author has created the story with words (and maybe music) and need to be given meaning. If an actor in Shakespeare can put “emotion” into their voice but not connect with the words, their performance will fall flat too.

Unfortunately today a lot of musical theatre, even at a professional level, does not put a lot of emphasis on acting the songs. As long as you’re a great dancer and have a decent voice – you’re in. But the BEST musical theatre performers are actors first who know how to use the words. What good is a play when the story that is written is not being told well?

For your cursing pleasure: a Shakespeare diss. It’s a word often asking about because if its use in one of Shakespeare’s most well known speeches.

drab (n.) IPA Pronunciation: /dræb/
harlot, slut, whore

HAMLET
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder’d,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
- Hamlet (II.ii)

This is a portion of Hamlet’s “O, What what a rogue and peasant slave am I” speech, and as I mentioned before, it is one of Shakespeare’s most famous.
Drab has a certain sound to it that is worse than whore. Shakespeare’s lines build in intensity, and this excerpt is no exception. You’ll notice that Hamlet first says, “like a whore” and continues later with, “like a very drab,” and the audience should get the idea that “whore” is a nice word in comparison to “drab.” With this building intensity and the words getting worse as Hamlet continues, we can imagine that a “scullion” is the muck at the bottom of the lake, but that’s a word of the day for another day.

When the First Folio of Shakespeare’s works was compiled by John Heminges and Henry Condell in 1623, the plays were divided into three categories: comedies, tragedies, and histories. Now there are 10 histories total (some say 11 with Edward III, but that’s discussion for another day) and not too many of them are given much exposure.

People are more familiar with the Comedies and Tragedies. Some of them at least. But when was the last time you saw a production of King John? Richard II? Henry VI part 1, 2, or 3? Schools will talk about Hamlet a billion times before thinking of mentioning Henry IV. The only one of these plays that seems to get more exposure is Richard III, and I can see why.

The histories aren’t seen as much – especially outside of the UK – because, well… they take extra effort. The US isn’t familiar with these kings, it’s taught to most students. Some people seem to think that the Histories are more boring than the other plays. I was one of these ignorant people a long time ago, before I read any of the histories — except Richard III. Hm.

I understand the reluctance that people have to touching this category of Shakespeare’s works, but I think we’re missing a huge opportunity for some great language and great action. When I first picked up Richard II I was astounded with how amazing some of the verse was. The characters had plenty I really could sink my teeth into. Shakespeare wasn’t writing a history lesson for his viewers. It was real drama.

I found myself a little lost when I picked up the Histories to read. I didn’t know much about who these kings were, and I had some problems keeping track of everyone and their relations. I didn’t let this stop me and it shouldn’t stop you. A little research on the characters then finding a family tree of English Royalty will be a lifesaver for you and lead to your enjoyment. Once you know who these people are and a couple things about what they did, the language and drama is much more accessible and enjoyable.

If When you read these plays, try to read em in chronoligical order. Be careful. A lot of books and editions will list histories in order of when they were written which is NOT the same as the order in which the historical events occurred. Just to help you along, here are the kings with plays named after them in Historical order starting with the earliest:

• John
• *Edward III
• Richard II
• Henry IV
• Henry V
• Henry VI
• Richard III
• Henry VIII

*Edward III isn’t in most Complete Works, not everyone believes Shakespeare wrote it.

If I count Edward III then it comes out to 11 History plays. But wait! There are only 8 names up there! That’s because of the lovely storytelling device I like to call THE SEQUEL! Some of these stories are big. So big that they take up multiple plays. Henry IV has a part 1 and 2. Lucky for him. But even luckier was Henry the VI. His story gets 3 parts! There’s another reason not to produce that story… it’s long.

Do yourself a favor, read the histories if you haven’t already. Do the little bit of research required and enjoy. You’ll be glad you did. It also might come up on Jeopardy one day, so be prepared!