DECODING SHAKESPEARE
Act lll, Scene 2:
The Players’ Scene:
Full thirty times hath Phoebus’ cart gone round
Neptune’s salt wash and Tellus’ (orbed) ground,
And thirty dozen moons with borrowed
sheen
About the world have times twelve thirties been
Since love our hearts and Hymen did our hands
Unite commutual in most sacred bands.
******************************************************************************************************************************
First: What literary device is being used in the Player King's speech to the Player Queen?
What or who is Phoebus? (The sun god, and his cart is his chariot.)
How many times has the chariot “gone round”?
Why is the moon “with borrowed sheen”? Do you think they knew the moon shone not with its own light, but with the reflected (borrowed) light from the sun?
What has the cart “gone round” (circled)? Who was Neptune? (Hint: the Roman name for the Greek god, Poseidon, who ruled over the ocean). Who or what is Tellus? (Hint: Roman god of the earth) What is an orb? So how many times (and how many years does that translate into) has Phoebus’ chariot gone ‘round the earth and its seas?
Who was Hymen? (Hint: Roman god of marriage.)
Although there is no such word in contemporary usage (and believe it or not, Elizabethan English is considered modern, not Olde or even Middle English!) can you figure out what commutual might mean? What does the prefix “com” mean? What does the word mutual mean? Put the prefix (com) + the root word (mutual) together and what do you think Shakespeare meant?
So the questions is: How long have they, the Player King and the Player Queen been married?
And the answer to the first question is:
It is an _________________________.
Act lll, Scene 2:
The Players’ Scene:
Full thirty times hath Phoebus’ cart gone round
Neptune’s salt wash and Tellus’ (orbed) ground,
And thirty dozen moons with borrowed
sheen
About the world have times twelve thirties been
Since love our hearts and Hymen did our hands
Unite commutual in most sacred bands.
******************************************************************************************************************************
First: What literary device is being used in the Player King's speech to the Player Queen?
What or who is Phoebus? (The sun god, and his cart is his chariot.)
How many times has the chariot “gone round”?
Why is the moon “with borrowed sheen”? Do you think they knew the moon shone not with its own light, but with the reflected (borrowed) light from the sun?
What has the cart “gone round” (circled)? Who was Neptune? (Hint: the Roman name for the Greek god, Poseidon, who ruled over the ocean). Who or what is Tellus? (Hint: Roman god of the earth) What is an orb? So how many times (and how many years does that translate into) has Phoebus’ chariot gone ‘round the earth and its seas?
Who was Hymen? (Hint: Roman god of marriage.)
Although there is no such word in contemporary usage (and believe it or not, Elizabethan English is considered modern, not Olde or even Middle English!) can you figure out what commutual might mean? What does the prefix “com” mean? What does the word mutual mean? Put the prefix (com) + the root word (mutual) together and what do you think Shakespeare meant?
So the questions is: How long have they, the Player King and the Player Queen been married?
And the answer to the first question is:
It is an _________________________.
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