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Example from King Lear (3)

 

[ This topic is developed in more detail here. ]

 
"King Lear and the Fool in the Storm" by William Dyce (1806–1864)

When Lear finds his Fool beside him in the storm his thoughts suddenly turn from his own plight to that of the poor (his famous “Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er you are” speech):

 

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

O, I have ta'en

Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;

Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,

That thou mayst shake the superflux to them,

And show the heavens more just.    

 
  • There is a touch of Latinity in the words "physic", "pomp" and "expose"

 
  • But the central word of the passage is "superflux"

 
  • Shakespeare coined it himself from Latin components instead of using the Anglo-Saxon equivalent "overflow"

 
  • Especially striking is the combination of "shake" and "superflux", as well as "take" and "physic" or "feel" and "expose"

 
  • In this powerful passage Shakespeare makes the most of the contrast between the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin elements within the English language

 

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SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLISH

  Shakespeare’s Command of English

  Shakespeare's Language of Humour

  Shakespeare's Language of Pathos

  Example from King Lear (1)

  Example from King Lear (2)

  Example from King Lear (3)

MODERN ENGLISH

  The "Ink-horn" Controversy 

  Humour & Pathos in Shakespeare

  Biblical Phrases Test

  British vs. American English

  More

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