Today’s Totally Random
Lines
So would not I, for your own sake; for I
have many ill qualities.
Margaret
Much Ado About Nothing Act II Scene i, Line 96
Margaret is talking with Balthazar; he is telling her that he likes her, and she is telling him not to bother.
Well, I
would you did like me,
is Balthazar’s line that Margaret is replying to.
I believe that it’s often syntax, the order of the words in a sentence, that makes Shakespeare hard to understand. And this is why it’s easier to understand when listened to, because if the speaker is someone who knows what the lines mean, they can accent the words in such a way so that it makes the odd order of the words more comprehensible.
I can think of three reasons for Will using odd syntax: By playing with the syntax he can gain emphasis on different things where he wants it. By playing with syntax he can make the lines properly metrical. Finally, in some cases the syntax he is using was probably the order of the words that was more usual back in 1690.
Syntax.
Let’s take today’s
lines. I guess the other issue today is the use of the word would. Wish is a word
that might make this clearer.
Well, I would
you did like me.
Well, I wish
you liked me. I changed did like to liked.
So would not I.
I wouldn’t (wish that). I put I at the beginning of the sentence.
If you think of
this stuff as Yoda speak, maybe that would make it easier. It occurs to me that
no one seems to object to Yoda’s syntax, and it’s not that different from Will’s.
Again, Syntax.
Again, welcome
aboard.
And here's what Mojo thinks about syntax.
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