The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 11.1777  Thursday, 21 September 2000.

From:           Terence Hawkes <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Wednesday, 20 Sep 2000 13:27:03 -0400
Subject: Re: Use of Dialect
Comment:        SHK 11.1761 Re: Use of Dialect

Bob Haas writes:

'Glendower's English could be dead-on, schoolhouse, standard English,
without a trace of accent that would differentiate him from the other
characters, especially Hotspur'.

I agree that when Glendower spoke English he could have sounded like an
English person. This does not mean that he spoke English without an
accent.  There was and is no 'accentless' English. So-called 'standard
English' is merely the language spoken with a particular accent. Since
Hotspur's way of speaking English is said to be fairly distinctive, I'd
have thought Glendower could hardly be expected to sound like him. Sean
'Tookasiq' Lawrence's references to Nova Scotia remain as always
mysterious, but his recent astonishing revelations concerning his Eskimo
background hint at a glum profundity. Is this a case of what we cultural
materialists call Agenbite of Inuit? In any case, it's well known that
Shakespeare spoke with a Brummie accent. Like me.

T. Hawkes

Subscribe to Our Feeds

Search

Make a Gift to SHAKSPER

Consider making a gift to support SHAKSPER.