Shakespeare is the penultimate subject of study among English majors around the world. As far as storytellers go, he was a brilliant one, being able to reference and integrate classic literature into his works with pizazz and subtlety.
Despite being a beacon of the English language, some of his works would fail today’s grammar classes. To say nothing of the fact that he used over 2,000 made up words in his works, here are a handful of his grammar gaffes.
- “To be, or not to be: that is the question” (Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1) is not actually a question, but a statement.
- “I never was nor never will be” (Richard III, Act 4, Scene 4) is a double negative.
- “Who wouldst thou serve?” (King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4) should be using whom instead of who.
- “All debts are cleared between you and I” (Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 2) should use me instead of I.
- “A more sounder instance” (As You Like It, Act 3, Scene 2) is a double comparative.
- “Most best, most dearest” (King Lear, Act 1 , Scene 1) is another double comparative.
- “I cannot go no further” (As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 4) is another double negative.
- “Our doubts are traitors, and makes us lose the good” (Measure For Measure, Act 1, Scene 4) has poor subject–verb agreement.
- “That every word doth almost tell my name, showing their birth and where they did proceed” (Sonnet 76) has poor pronoun–noun agreement.
- “My life and education both do learn me how to respect you” (Othello, Act 1 Scene 3) should use teach instead of learn.
This is by no means of an exhaustive list; there are countless (okay, maybe not literally without count) examples of grammar that would fail today’s standards.
We are left then to ask about the nature of grammar. If today’s grammatical rules seemingly didn’t exist in the 6th and 17th centuries, can we ignore them today?
