Webster\u2019s English can, at times, feel like a <\/p>\n
completely new language, even to the most proficient speakers of English. Here are several links to help you work through <\/p>\n
the more ambiguous passages in The Duchess of Malfi<\/em>.<\/p>\n First off, a general overview of English in the Early Modern period. This covers topics from the time span, to <\/p>\n vocabulary expansion, to the debate between \u201cInkhorn\u201d and Purism:<\/p>\n http:\/\/public.oed.com\/aspects-of-english\/english-in-time\/early-modern-english-an-overview\/<\/a><\/p>\n Next, a purely grammatical look at the English of the Early Modern period:<\/p>\n http:\/\/public.oed.com\/aspects-of-english\/english-in-time\/grammar-in-early-modern-english\/<\/a><\/p>\n On this site, you will find more links to related topics of Early Modern English, including pronunciation and <\/p>\n adjectival comparisons:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.lexilogos.com\/english\/english_modern_early.htm<\/a><\/p>\n Webster is not Shakespeare, but Shakespeare is a lot closer to Webster than we are now. This site could be a <\/p>\n good place to start before tackling a work like The Duchess of Malfi:<\/em><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.nosweatshakespeare.com\/resources\/shakespeare-early-modern-english\/<\/a><\/p>\n Lastly, we\u2019d like to cover the difference between verse and prose. Here are examples of both. Can you identify <\/p>\n which is which?<\/p>\n Some such flashes superficially hang on him for form; but observe his inward character: he is a melancholy <\/p>\n churchman; the spring in his face is nothing but the engendering of toads; where he is jealous of any man, he lays worse <\/p>\n plots for them than ever was imposed on Hercules . . .<\/p>\n (Antonio, Act 1, Scene 2)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n He never pays debts unless they be shrewd turns, (Antonio, Act 1, Scene 2)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n If you guessed that the first column is prose and the second is verse, you are correct. An easy way to <\/p>\n distinguish between the two is to look at their appearance on the page. Does the text look like a normal paragraph? It\u2019s <\/p>\n probably prose. Or does it look like it has strange breaks in the lines? That\u2019s likely verse. It\u2019s important to keep in <\/p>\n mind that verse does not necessarily need to rhyme, though sometimes, particularly at the end of an act, there will be <\/p>\n rhyming couplets, like this:<\/p>\n So to great men the moral may be stretched; (Duchess, Act 3, Scene 5)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Webster\u2019s English can, at times, feel like a completely new language, even to the most proficient speakers of English. Here are several links to help you work through the more ambiguous passages in The Duchess of Malfi. First off, a … Continue reading \n
\n \n \n
\nAnd those he will confess that he doth owe.
\nLast, for his brother there, the cardinal,
\nThey that do flatter him most say oracles
\nHang at his lips; and verily I believe them,
\nFor the devil speaks in them.<\/p>\n
\nMen oft are valu’d high, when they’re most wretched.\u2014
\nBut come, whither you please. I am arm’d ‘gainst misery;
\nBent to all sways of the oppressor’s will:
\nThere ‘s no deep valley but near some great hill.<\/p>\n