... seem to have been part of the very idiom of language. To this day, expressions such as 'too much of a good thing' (As You Like It), 'in my mind's eye' (Hamlet), 'it was Greek to me' (Julius Caesar), 'break the ice' (The Taming of the Shrew) and 'bated breath' (The Merchant of Venice) are used in everyday speech and writing. Shakespearean ... quotes such as "To be, or not to be: that is the question " (Hamlet - Act III, Scene I) and "This above all: to thine own self be true " (Hamlet - Act I, Scene III) have passed into standard usage. His plays were written keeping in mind the tastes a...

• Word Count: 1032
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . Brevity in speech and in writing is a quality that was recognized by a supremely talented wordsmith and the preeminent practitioner of English writing, William Shakespeare. In Act II, Scene II of Hamlet, while delivering a report to the king and queen, Polonius delivers the following: "This business is well ended. My liege, and madam, to expostulate What majesty should be, what duty is ... ...

• Word Count: 5359
• Approx Pages: 21
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... a lot of talk, but authors have long written in a way as to make the reader take an introspective and self-conscience look at their work. Don Quixote, and even Shakespeare's Hamlet, have been labeled as containing elements of metafiction; and in this regard some critics claim that the definitions for metafiction, and their application, are too broad to be used with ... ...

• Word Count: 1165
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate