One of the first things to look at when reading one of Shakespeare’s works is how the writing is structured. Once you’ve figured that out, things will start falling into place. In this post, I’ll give you a brief overview of verse and prose, how to differentiate them, and what each one signals to the reader.
Verse: What It Is
This is what you probably typically think of when you think of Shakespeare’s writing. It’s poetic, rhythmic, and often (but not always) rhyming. This is also where you might see specific meters such as iambic pentameter. When Romeo gives his famous soliloquy at Juliet’s balcony, that’s a great example of verse.
You can often figure out if something is verse by using these four questions to check:
- Does each line start with a capital letter?
- Is almost every line individually punctuated and/or interrupted?
- Is the writing mostly on the left side of the page?
- Is the language more elevated?
If you answered “yes” to these, you’re probably looking at verse and not prose.
Verse: Who Uses It
Verse and prose are used by different types of people in Shakespeare’s plays. A good rule of thumb for verse is that it is generally used by upper-class characters. It reflects their education, upbringing, social status, and inclination toward formality.
An Example
To illustrate verse, we will look at the first scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Theseus, the duke of Athens, is talking to his wife-to-be, Hippolyta, about their upcoming wedding:
Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace; four happy days bring in
Another moon; but, O, methinks, how slow
This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires,
Like to a step-dame or a dowager,
Long withering out a young man’s revenue.
(Act I, Scene I, Lines 1-5)
Let’s look at a few things here. First, each line begins with a capital letter, and most lines have a feeling of being “interrupted” on the page. When read aloud, however, they sound more poetic because of their structured rhythm. If you look at the words themselves, there is an elegance and a certain imagery that makes us understand that we are dealing with upper-class characters.
Here is the link to a performance of Act 1, Scene 1, which has thoughtfully added subtitles in modern English. Listen to how the verse sounds when spoken aloud, and compare it with the prose below.
Prose: What It Is
Prose is essentially “normal writing.” If you look at a character’s lines and see that they run on, forming a sort of paragraph instead of being heavily on the left side of the page and individually punctuated, that signals that it’s probably prose. A quick way to check is to follow these four questions:
- Does each line begin with a capital letter?
- Does each line continue into the next without being interrupted?
- Does the writing go across the page?
- Is the language simpler?
If you answer “yes” to these, there’s a good chance that you’re looking at prose instead of verse.
Prose: Who Uses It and Why
As mentioned before, verse and prose are used for different types of characters. Prose is generally used by characters of the lower classes. If there’s a fool, a drunk, an actor, or another character who’s there for comic relief, there’s a good chance that they will speak in prose.
Shakespeare wrote his plays for a varied audience. There were upper-class people in the crowd, but there were also many lower-class people as well. That’s why you see a more comic subplot so often–think of Feste the Fool in Twelfth Night or Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Their goal is to entertain the less educated class, and to do so, they need to be understood. Sometimes, this might even mean having an upper-class character switch from speaking in verse to speaking to a lower-class character in prose, that way the humor is clear.
Think of it in modern comedy terms. If you’re watching a sitcom, there will be some puns, references, wordplays, and jokes that you need to have a bit of background knowledge to understand. If you’re not familiar with the culture, haven’t read a certain book, or don’t understand a concept mentioned, you probably won’t get it. On the other hand, slapstick comedy is funny regardless of your background. While these examples might not incorporate language to the same degree, the basic concept is the same: you need to cater to different people in your audience. This is exactly what Shakespeare was doing, and why it’s so important to understand verse and prose.
An Example
Continuing with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we can look to the character of Bottom to illustrate prose for us. Bottom is an actor who, along with several other men, is organizing a comically bad play for the royal wedding. In this excerpt, he is discussing some of his ambitions for the play:
Let me play the lion too. I will roar that I will do any
man’s heart good to hear me; I will roar that I will
make the Duke say, ‘Let him roar again, let him roar
again.’
(Act I, Scene II, Lines 66-69)
His companions then respond likewise, using prose. Notice that the first letter of each line is not capitalized, that one line continues into the next, and that the language is simpler when compared to verse.
Here is an example of this scene from the same performance. These specific lines are around the 3:16 timestamp. Notice the differences between the prose and verse, as well as the humor.
Hint!
There is another situation where a character might switch from verse to prose: when emotions are running high. Again, this is a way to signal to the audience that the character’s education and/or proper manners have temporarily left them, and they are overcome with what they are feeling.
Conclusion
Shakespeare’s works can be complicated, but once you get a basic handle on things–i.e., differentiating verse and prose–it gets a lot easier. If you want more literature-related resources, check out these posts:
