YOU MAY BE SPEAKING SHAKESPEARE

The works of William Shakespeare exist in the public domain. That means a writer can use, or copy, anything The Bard (1564-1616) wrote in his 39 plays, 154 sonnets, 3 long narrative poems, and other verses. For writers, including me, that’s a very good thing.

Great Britain in 1710 adopted the Statute of Anne, the first official copyright statute in the modern world. The concept of copyright, although it has changed somewhat through the centuries, in most countries today protects authors from plagiarism for from 70 to 100 years after the author’s death, or for 95 years after publication. In the United States copyright does not apply to anything written before 1931.

Anything written before that concept was legalized is not subject to it, and that of course includes Shakespeare’s works. If copyright applied to him, and if the spoken word were included under the law as well as the written word, we would all be drastically verbally challenged. And we would have to deny ourselves many, many cliches.

For instance, consider a narrative like this one:

Aloysius arose early today to a brave new world. Yesterday was eventful: he had given up his addiction to alcohol, and his eyeballs already looked clearer. “Good riddance,” he thought. Most of his former friends had deserted him, and he was lonely, but he hoped his life style change would bedazzle his acquaintances and bring them back.

He knew his job, though, would continue to bug him. His manager in the majestic downtown office building where he worked was certainly not generous. The guy, who swaggered through the offices, regularly sent him on wild goose chases, leaving him in a pickle. Some of the manager’s written messages made no sense: “It’s Greek to me,” Aloysius mused. “And he’s a critic of everything I do.”

Aloysius frequently daydreamed about his co-worker Ellie Sue, whose desk sat next to his. She had many faults, but she exuded a radiance that constantly drew his stares. Aloysius fretted about how to break the ice. 

He would mumble a few words to her from time to time, and always waited with bated breath for her response, but the naked truth seemed to be that she had no interest in him. Instead, Ellie Sue coyly flirted with Bennie at the desk on the other side of hers. Aloysius didn’t know how to fight fire with fire against Bennie, and feared making himself a laughing stock; consequently the green-eyed monster ruled his thoughts at work.

But maybe, he thought, now that he was shaking his addiction, things could be different. That night, as he undressed for bed, he told himself, “To thine own self be true.”

As you have guessed, Shakespeare coined all the bold face words and phrases, variously in “The Taming of the Shrew,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “The Tempest,” “Othello,” “Henry VIII,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Troilus and Cressida,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” “As You Like It,” “Julius Caesar,” “King John,” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” There are many, many more examples.

This is not to say that the concepts of the words and phrases were unknown during Shakespeare’s lifetime. But he was the first writer known to spell them out in his works. 

So many words and phrases that seem stale today owe their existence to Shakespeare; that they seem trite is not his fault. Writers and orators have swiped them from him for centuries. He wrote his 39 plays over a period of 22 years, roughly from 1591 to 1613. That’s roughly two per year, and most of the dramas are classics today.

Legend has it that Shakespeare was born and died on the same day of the calendar: April 23. But that possible fact, like so many others about him, is shrouded in mystery (that cliche could be Shakespearean as well, come to think of it). 

Anyway, lazy writers for many, many years (I include myself in that company) have owed Shakespeare big time. Will, we hardly knew ye, but we’re eternally grateful. ♦