Why do some editions of Shakespeare differ from one another?

Many of Shakespeare's plays were published several times during and after his lifetime, by various publishers. Copyright laws didn't exist yet, so anyone with a version of the play could take it to a printer and have it published. As far as scholars know, Shakespeare did not oversee the publication of any of his plays, so the texts that we have don't come directly from Shakespeare's pen, but were compiled by a variety of his colleagues or even by enterprising competitors. Plays would also change over time, to incorporate contemporary references, or to suit changing tastes and performance venues. Published versions of the play might include material that was cut from performance. Most of the differences are fairly minor, but they can still be striking-- in the First Quarto, for example, Hamlet's famous speech begins "To be or not to be, ay that's the point." 

What do we mean by ‘verse’ and ‘prose’?

Shakespeare’s plays alternate between two forms of writing: verse writing is formal poetry which fits a particular rhythm (mostly iambic pentameter, which we’ll get to in a second), while prose writing is less formally structured, more free-flowing, what we might think of as “normal writing.” The previous sentence was prose; “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” is verse. Both can be poetic, and both can express a full range of ideas; the difference is in the structure. In verse, there is a rhythm (almost like a drumbeat) which is the same in each line, while in prose, each line can have its own rhythm, with no overall pattern.

The easiest way to distinguish the two is visually. A group of verse lines looks like this:

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? 
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief, 
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.


While a group of prose lines looks like this:

Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every part about me quivers.
Scurvy knave! Pray you, sir, a word: and as I told you, my young
lady bade me inquire you out; what she bade me say, I will keep to
myself; but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool's paradise,
as they say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say. 

Iambic pentameter is the verse form which Shakespeare most often uses; it’s the most common verse form in English poetry, from about two hundred years before Shakespeare (Chaucer used it in the 1300s), right up until today. Iambic pentameter uses lines of five iambs, and each iamb is a two-syllable form, with the emphasis on the second syllable. “Transform,” “define,” “exam,” “repair,” and “undo” are all examples of iambs in everyday English words. Iambic pentameter just means putting five of those in a row:

“Transform, define, exam, repair, undo” is iambic pentameter, though not a great line of poetry.

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” is the exact same pattern, the same drumbeat: da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM. It’s also a much more memorable line.

You’ll often hear Shakespeare’s writing called “blank verse,” which just means unrhymed iambic pentameter. Technically, Romeo and Juliet uses a lot of blank verse, but it also has substantial amounts of rhymed iambic pentameter.

The use of verse and prose accomplishes a few things: 

  • It helps the actors to memorize their lines; just like song lyrics, words stay in your head better if there’s a pattern and a beat to them.

  • It creates a rhythm for the play; iambs have a constant, driving rhythm, like a light gallop, which gives the speeches a sense of forward motion and excitement.

  • It helps give a sense of characters’ thoughts and emotions; if a character’s sentences match the verse lines, ending or pausing at the end of each line (like Friar Laurence in 2.3), we get the sense of someone steady and in control. If a character’s sentences continue past the ends of lines, or end in mid-line, we get the sense of someone off-balance or struggling (like the beginning of the Prince’s speech in 1.1). For those of you looking for technical terms, that first pattern is called “end-stopping,” the run-on line is called “enjambment,” and a mid-line pause or break is called a “caesura.”

  • Breaking the rhythm can give a particular line or word more significance. In 3.5, Capulet’s line “Day, night, hour, tide, time, work, play” doesn’t fit the rhythm. The lines before and the lines after are all iambic pentameter, but by breaking the pattern, this line underscores the importance of his point, that every moment of his past fourteen years has been spent in finding Juliet a perfect husband.

  • Switching from verse to prose changes the mood or tone of the play. The Act 1 Prologue creates a very formal tone, with its rhymed iambic verse; the opening of 1.1 shifts abruptly into very informal, casual prose, setting up the conflict between tragic and comic elements that defines the first half of the play. 

The verse pattern also accounts for some of the odd things you see in the text of the play. Sometimes, for example, words are cut down in order to fit the rhythm (or “metre,” as it’s more technically known), so that “never” is contracted to “ne’er” or “over” to “o’er.” This is known in poetry as “elision.” Other times, words get elongated in order to fit, so that “banished” is pronounced as “banish-ed.” We indicate this by putting an accent over the final e: “banishèd.” The technical name for this is “epenthesis.” 

Both of these effects are used with our young lovers’ names, by the way. Romeo is sometimes “Ro-mee-o” (as in “Henceforth I never will be Romeo” in 2.2.54), and sometimes “Rome-yo” (as in “Art thou not Romeo and a Montague?” in 2.2.64). Similarly, Juliet is sometimes “Ju-lee-eht” (as in Paris’ “Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet” in 5.3.74), and sometimes “Jule-yet” (as in “It is the East and Juliet is the sun” in 2.2.3).

This can all seem overwhelming, but we’ve all encountered this same phenomenon all the time when listening to music lyrics. Words will get shortened or stretched out in order to make them fit the rhythm of the song. Iambic pentameter works the same way, and we’ve tried to give visual cues in the text to help indicate that. 

Why do some lines look like they’ve been tabbed in multiple times?

We talked about the structure of verse above, and sometimes that structure is used for dramatic effect by breaking a a single line of verse between two-or-more characters, as seen in the example below from 2.2 of Macbeth:

LADY MACBETH
I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry.
Did not you speak?

MACBETH
When?

LADY MACBETH
Now.

MACBETH
  As I descended?

LADY MACBETH
Ay.

This accomplishes two things: the first is it can create pace to an exchange because two characters are now responsible for maintaining the metre, so the back-and-forth above would be delivered quite quickly as dialogue. That illustrates the frenetic mindset of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the immediate aftermath of killing King Duncan. The second thing it accomplishes is a uniting of characters, which can serve many dramatic purposes depending on the scene, as in this case it unites the two conspirators both in their crime and in the paranoia it causes. Used in other scenarios it can create a connection between two lovers or heighten one-upmanship in a comedic exchange.

Why is the punctuation different from text to text?

Shakespeare's plays have been in print for almost 400 years. In that time, dozens if not hundreds of editors have compiled versions, and tried to adapt punctuation for more modern usage, as well as to correct mistakes (or perceived mistakes) in the original printing. Editors will often adapt the spelling in order to aid readers in understanding the text, and to aid actors in memorizing and speaking the text. Changes in punctuation make slight but significant changes in the rhythm and meaning of a line, and actors (and readers) may choose to follow the punctuation or to work against it.

Why are some actors playing multiple roles?

“Doubling” is a common practice in theatre wherein an actor will play several roles, usually smaller roles like messengers, servants or secondary characters. This not only helps keep cast sizes manageable (it would be impractical to pack 40+ actors backstage in most theatres) but it also affords members of a company or troupe an opportunity to demonstrate a wide range of characterizations and styles. This practice was in use during Shakespeare’s time, as his company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later the King's Men), had only 12 original members. Shakespeare’s company, like every company in the period, often toured the plays as well, and having a small group of actors playing a large number of roles is very useful when you have to take a show on the road.

Why does our edition include locations for each scene?

Shakespeare’s original play-script does not specify the location of scenes. Readers, like audiences, were expected to understand where a scene takes place from clues in the dialogue and action. While this is still possible, many readers find it helpful to have a clear indication of the setting at the beginning of each scene.

What are stage directions?

Stage directions are short lines of text that describe the action happening on stage. In our ebook, stage directions are presented in italics, like this: 

Enter SAMPSON and GREGORY, of the house of Capulet, armed with swords and
bucklers

Modern play-scripts, like modern movie scripts, have lots of directions, to indicate characters’ actions and movements. In Shakespeare’s time, stage directions were less common, and those indications often happen within the dialogue; that’s why characters often describe where they are, what time it is, and what they’re doing (in 3.5, for example, Juliet’s line “Good father, I beseech you on my knees,” tells us that she’s kneeling before Lord Capulet to ask for mercy).

Modern editors often add stage directions, in order to help readers get a sense of the action. Stage directions that have been added by later editors, or which are of questionable or controversial origin, are presented between square brackets, like this:

[Enter several of both houses, who join the fray; then enter Citizens, with clubs]

Stage directions in Shakespeare are rarely adhered to rigidly in productions, and generally serve as a guide for the reader to help him or her picture the onstage action.

Why do performances help with understanding Shakespeare?

Shakespeare’s text is written in an unfamiliar language for modern readers. It is full of nuance, deceit, and double-meanings that aren’t always apparent on the page but can be very clear in performance. The way that actors choose to deliver their lines brings tremendous clarity to the text.

One key way this manifests is what we mean when we talk about ‘comprehension’ and Shakespeare. A student may assume comprehension means literally understanding every word and phrase, but this is an arduous ask and rarely results in relevant comprehension of a text.

For example, in Romeo & Juliet, Act 2 Scene 4, Romeo and Mercutio go back-and-forth about ‘pumps’ and ‘soles’ and make several shoe-related puns at each other. A student can break down the exchange literally, uncovering what each word means, and then maybe even work out that it is a series of puns about shoes, but what is actually important here is that this is two saucy men trying to one-up each other with a series of one-liners. Comprehending the literal exchange has far less value than comprehending the spirit of the exchange as a means of developing character and relationship. This is immediately clear in performance, but is much harder to grasp simply reading it on the page.

Why are your inline notes so different from footnotes found in most published editions of Shakespeare?

Our approach to notes is less about academic controversy or citation and more about understanding how to read a script that offers no insight in how a character might deliver this dialogue. Our notes will focus on things like choices one production might make versus another in staging, or how a character delivers a line changes the way it will be received by another character.

We did this for two reasons: The first is that we find this approach resonates more with students, giving them explanations about why a moment is noteworthy or interesting when it might not be immediately obvious on the page. The second reason is they serve as useful prompts for in-class discussion, especially the notes that centre on a choice that a character (or production) has to make. It allows students to think about how they think a character would deliver a line, how they would react, or even to disagree with how our productions chose to handle a moment we pointed out. The goal is always deeper engagement, and this is the best format we’ve found for that within the context of the script itself.