![]() Here is an example of the same passage in Middle English: With just a glance at the text, it’s obvious how different this English is from the Modern English spoken today and in Shakespeare’s time. These are the first lines of The Lord’s Prayer in Old English. Here is an example of Old English (of which there were four distinct dialects):įæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum Si þin nama gehalgod to becume þin rice gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. With the growing influence of Anglo-Norman, the language evolved into what is known today as Middle English. The Old English period ended after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The first recorded Old English writing comes from the middle of the 7th century. It first came to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century. It was spoken throughout England as well as in parts of Scotland in the early Middle Ages. Old English is the earliest recorded form of the English language. Old English, Middle English, Modern Englishīefore exploring the wonderful depths of Shakespeare’s English, it is important to understand what exactly Old, Middle, and Modern English are and when they were/are spoken. Shakespeare’s language was actually Early Modern English, also known as Elizabethan English – much of which is still in use today. Each Shakespeare’s play name links to a range of resources about each play: Character summaries, plot outlines, example essays and famous quotes, soliloquies and monologues: All’s Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry VIII Henry VI Part 1 Henry VI Part 2 Henry VI Part 3 Henry V Julius Caesar King John King Lear Loves Labour’s Lost Macbeth Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night’s Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo & Juliet The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Winter’s TaleĬontrary to popular belief, Shakespeare did not write in Old or Early English. This list of Shakespeare plays brings together all 38 plays in alphabetical order.
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