Shakespeare's Insults: Educating Your Wit [Paperback]

Wayne F. Hill (Author), Cynthia J. Ottchen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 1995

The sharpest stings ever to snap from the tip of an English-speaking tongue are here at hand, ready to be directed at the knaves, villains, and coxcombs of the reader's choice. Culled from 38 plays, here are the best 5,000 examples of Shakespeare's glorious invective, arranged by play, in order of appearance, with helpful act and line numbers for easy reference, along with an index of topical scorn appropriate to particular characters and occasions. Line art.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The sharpest stings ever to snap from the tip of an English-speaking tongue are here at hand, ready to be directed at the knaves, villains, and coxcombs of the reader's choice. Culled from 38 plays, here are the best 5,000 examples of Shakespeare's glorious invective, arranged by play, in order of appearance, with helpful act and line numbers for easy reference, along with an index of topical scorn appropriate to particular characters and occasions. Line art.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (October 3, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517885395
• ISBN-13: 978-0517885390
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why use your own insults when Shakepeare's are so colorful?, January 6, 2001

By 

"boy_howdy" (Northfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shakespeare's Insults: Educating Your Wit (Paperback)

Based on the premise that "people NEED insults," Hill and Ottchen here offer a catalogue of every insult the immortal bard ever published. It must have been a tedious collection process, but the work was well worth it; as anyone even the slightest bit familiar with Shakespeare would expect, here in this isolated form his insults reveal themselves as powerful, picturesque, and scathing. The language and the diversity of emotion and expression will not fail to impress you.

My one quibble with the collection is that is seems rudderless in its organization. If we are intended to use the language as our own, why does most of the book consist of a list of insults organized by PLAY (which is hard to use, and a bit tedious to read unless you are treating the book as a concordance for the play itself) rather than by type of insult or applicability? (The final section offers this, but it is VERY short). In terms of content and concept, though, this book makes for a great addition to a classroom, resource collection, letter-writing desktop, or to the Shakeseare-lover's coffee table -- a good gift for the scholar or bibliophile.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous! Tickle your brain and upgrade conversation, May 6, 1999

By 

Virginia J. Sykes (Pinole, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shakespeare's Insults: Educating Your Wit (Paperback)

Not a book to be read from cover to cover, but used as a reference. Categories (lawyers, doctors, fools, etc.) of phrases and lines from the "Compleat Works" which are mildly to outrageously insulting. The editor stretches the word insult a bit, since at least some of the epithets included might be affectionately used. Without good actors to say them amusingly, these lines might not seem as hilarious or insulting as they are, but for those trying to educate about Shakespeare or wishing to show off a bit, this book is wonderful.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Deceptive Title, February 16, 2006

By 

Teacher - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shakespeare's Insults: Educating Your Wit (Paperback)

I thought this was going to have definitions of the various terms used by Shakespeare, but it only has lists and lists of insults. I admit many of the terms are somewhat straightforward, but I really was trying to find something that would "educate" me about how the insults came about and perhaps their meaning at that time. If you are looking for lists of insults, however, this is the book for you.