Introduction
William Shakespeare’s works are the most popular in English literature and are enjoyed across the world.
His writing style varies with the genre of the works.
Shakespeare’s writing style in tragic plays
In all his tragic plays, his style of writing seems to be pursuing vengeance and expressing the victimization of the protagonist. The audiences feel pity for the protagonist and look for justice for him. Shakespeare enriches his writing by employing different themes that explore guilt, fate, ambition, and the psychological effects of unintended actions. He unveils the nature of the characters through their obsessions, inner conflicts, and the characters’ behavior.
In Hamlet’s play, Shakespeare’s writing style is dramatic and suspenseful to project Prince Hamlet’s madness. Hamlet pretends to madness to know the intentions of the king, Claudius. Shakespeare has masterfully used vivid imagery, similes, and metaphors to evoke the emotions of the readers. In Macbeth, he blends poetic language with deep psychological exploration, creating a dark and compelling tragedy. Most of his plays are written in unrhymed iambic pentameter that brings a rhythmic quality to the dialogue of the dramas.
Complex Characters and Themes
Shakespeare creates unparalleled emotions through complex characters and themes. In the beginning, the characters seem to be simple with ordinary life, but as the readers further read, they become aware of the motives of the characters. Hamlet, in the beginning, is the prince, and his behavior seems to be that of an ordinary man, but when his father is murdered, Hamlet’s motives become clear to the readers, and they can interpret what is going to happen next.
The complex characters also imply such characters who are connected to other characters; therefore, they become an integral part of the drama. So, readers hardly predict the characters’ nature.
Conventional style
Shakespeare used the conventional writing styles of his time when he wrote his early plays. Most of the passages of his plays expand and broaden in thought and metaphor. However, in the play Titus Andronicus, critics felt that the grand speech delayed the action. Similarly, in the play The Two Men of Verona, the verses are depicted as false.
Soliloquies
Shakespeare uses soliloquies as psychological tools to give the readers insight into the characters’ emotions. It was the contemporary and traditional writing style. The people of Shakespeare’s time were inclined to self-development and self-realization rather than being rationalists.
The soliloquies used in Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet reflect his geniuses in portraying the characters and revealing their true nature to the audience’s eye. For example, the soliloquies in Macbeth reveal moral dilemmas from their ambitions and race for power.
Likewise, the soliloquies used in Othello, Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet reveal love and desire, identity and self-reflection, mortality and existence, madness and sanity, conflict and resolution, and Social and Moral Order. The writing style Shakespeare does not seem to be reflecting on aspects of life, but it is his style that incorporates all the aspects of life. His plays are based on revenge, love, desire for power, moral lessons, and satiric comedies.
Imagery and Metaphor
William Shakespeare uses complex metaphors and vivid imagery that helps to stimulate emotions and paint clear pictures in the audience’s mind. Shakespeare is considered a master of the literary style of language because using puns and wordplay adds depth and humor to to his plays.
Iambic Pentameter
Shakespeare has used iambic pentameter in writing his plays. Rhythmic pattern with ten syllables, alternating unstressed and stressed, which gives his plays a natural flow and makes the writing style convenient for the readers. Besides using iambic pentameter, Shakespeare has used a blank verse writing style to allow characters to dialogue in an ordinary conversational tone while maintaining the poetic excellence of the works.
Conclusion
Shakespearean writing style incorporates a variety of techniques that collectively make his works remarkable. His plays are different from his sonnets. Therefore, Shakespeare’s works and writings have been enjoyed and read across the world.