INSIDE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Weekly column by teachers Renata Andrade and Simone Gonzalez

Love is blind. And that’s because of Shakespeare!

Dear Student, how’ve you been?

Here’s another “Inside the English Language”, our weekly column. This time we
are going to write a little bit about WS. Yes! William Shakespeare.

It’s needless to say how phenomenal William Shakespeare is. He is globally

known as a genius and his works are universal and timeless masterpieces. Born
in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1564, he produced tirelessly until his death, in 1616, in
the same city he was born.

He is a renowned English poet, playwright and actor and greatly contributed to

the English Literature and Language.

Such an important and outstanding artist certainly had a life surrounded by

interesting deeds and curiosities.

For instance, did you know that Shakespeare is credited for inventing hundreds
of words and expressions in his plays and poems?

Yes, that’s true!

William Shakespeare invented words and expressions to use them in his plays
and poems. He also used to combine words, change nouns into verbs, add
prefixes or suffixes and so on. Some of these have been used since then.

As the list is huge and our column is brief, we will present you only three
expressions attributed to Shakespeare’s creation. And then we invite you to look
up for more. Mind your steps when you start your own research. There are many
fake news haunting Shakespeare’s life and works. We got the information below
with the help of Merriam Webster dictionary and shakespeare.org.uk. Be sure
you stick to safe sources.

There go the expressions:

Green-eyed monster: it means jealousy and it first appeared in Othello (Act 3,
Scene 3). As an example, we can say: “The green-eyed monster is responsible
for many couple breakups”. It is also said that the colour green relates to
immaturity.

Salad day: it means heyday (= peak, apogee, climax). In Antony and Cleopatra,
Cleopatra recalls her relationship with Julius Caesar that occurred during, "My
salad days, / When I was green in judgment...." (Act 1, Scene 5).

Love is blind: this is easy for us to understand, isn’t it? It appears in Henry V,
The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Merchant of Venice, where Jessica says:
"But love is blind and lovers cannot see / The pretty follies that themselves commit
..." (Act 2, Scene 6). Oh, Jessica, you are absolutely right.

There are so many more words and expressions we could mention, but now it’s
your turn, dear student. What else did Shakespeare invent?

See you soon.

Teacher Simone.