Quotations

After Shakespeare

Publication of John Gross's anthology After Shakespeare is a timely reminder in Shakespeare's birthday month (April) of his substantial contribution to our language. Whether we are commenting on a "brave new world" (The Tempest) as revealed by the latest online system, or explaining away problems in our filing system by saying that there is "method in our madness" (Hamlet), we often find that Shakespeare has the right word for it. It may not be a long word, since "brevity is the soul of wit" (Hamlet again), but it may place us at the "coign of vantage" (Macbeth).

Someone still in their "salad days" (Antony and Cleopatra) may be fond of "cakes and ale" (Twelfth Night), or unwisely tempted by the "primrose path" (Hamlet). We talk of a jealous person as someone suffering from "the green-eyed monster" (Othello), and the person who insists on reparation of everything due to them as wanting their "pound of flesh" (The Merchant of Venice). A critical or dismissive remark may be characterized as "the unkindest cut of all" (Julius Caesar), perhaps coming from someone who notably lacks the "milk of human kindness" (Macbeth). An assignment or award which is likely to cause more problems than pleasure to the recipient is a "poisoned chalice" (Macbeth), even if it is apparently accepted as "to the manner born" (Hamlet). A wholesale action may be described as having been carried out "at one fell swoop" (Macbeth), even if we have forgotten the original picture of a bird of prey swooping on its quarry.

The exact moment at which something is to happen is "the witching hour" (Hamlet); in recent use this has been extended to the "triple-witching hour", which in the US is the informal name for the unpredictable final hour of trading on the Stock Exchange before the simultaneous expiry of three different kinds of options. Not even Shakespeare's coinages necessarily remain unchanged: perhaps at this point we should remember Mae West's comment: "Let Shakespeare do it his way, I'll do it mine. We'll see who comes out better."

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After Shakespeare: An Anthology is a unique demonstration of the impact Shakespeare has had on our cultural life.