Reading Verse and Prose in Shakespeare’s Plays

The fun of reading Shakespeare is less in the plot (most of which he borrowed from other sources) than in his characters and their language.  In Shakespeare, characters speak a mixture of poetry and prose, though at different times and for different reasons.  Conventional wisdom says that the upper classes speak verse and the lower classes speak prose.  However, this crude distinction would make for a very boring kind of drama, especially since the Shakespearean stage was bare by modern standards: the language ‘clothed’ the actors and helped us see who they were (classes, personalities, ideas) as well as characters’ relationships to one another.  Characters often switch from prose to verse and back again depending on whom they’re speaking to or who they are in a given situation.  The language is another actor on stage.  

PROSE: You can tell if a character is speaking in prose since the sentences look normal: that is, they go from one side of the page to the other.  Also there is no strict meter or rhythm (though prose can be very poetic!).  Prose is often used by the lower classes, though just as often between intimates (Beatrice and Benedick), among people being serious or honest, or when people are alone with their thoughts.  It’s often used as a way to create a comedic atmosphere, since prose is closer to the earth, whereas verse exalts common speech to a more poetic realm. 

VERSE: Verse is used for various reasons in Shakespeare: to invoke a more ‘epic’ character, to speak of love, or for formality.  Often, this puts us in a more tragic frame of mind, which can happen even in the comedies.  Characters typically speak verse to their superiors or in a courtly/public setting; however, some characters never switch into prose (perhaps due to insecurity?) and even think in verse.  You can tell if a character is speaking verse by the way the sentences are presented on the page.  For example, in Much Ado About Nothing, we find:

PEDRO:          Dost thou affect her, Claudio?

CLAUDIO:                                                     O my lord,

                        When you went onward on this ended action,

                        I looked upon her with a soldier’s eye,

                        That liked, but had a rougher task at hand

                        Than to drive liking to the name of love (I.1.280-294). 

These lines are in iambic pentameter.  An “iamb” means an unstressed + a stressed syllable.  “Pentameter” means a meter of five iambs.  So each line should have roughly 10 syllables, starting with an unstressed one followed by a stressed, etc.  For example, Pedro speaks 8 syllables: “dost THOU ah-FECKT her CLAU-dee-OH?”  Claudio then finishes the line with “o MY lord,” which makes it 11 syllables, which is okay (possibly Shakespeare’s actors pronounced Claudio with 2 syllables, though sometimes he uses an 11-syllable line).  This is interesting since characters are part of one large poem, their sounds and thoughts often echoing one another. 

Sometimes, Shakespeare will depart from iambic pentameter for songs or other significant moments.  But generally, he uses iambic pentameter to give his plays their unique rhythm and poetry.  As you read, note how he shifts from poetry to prose, who speaks what, and when, and why.  Often how one speaks is just as important as what one says.