Related: Was Shakespeare a Fraud?
While streamlined and set in a modern, war-torn European country (it was shot in Belgrade, Serbia), the movie sticks to the original play's language. But, don't be daunted--you may be more familiar with Shakespeare than you think. Many common expressions we use today were actually penned by the Bard. Here are ten favorites:
1. A forgone conclusion. Othello: "But this denoted a foregone conclusion: 'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream." Othello, 1604
2. Fair play. Miranda: "Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle, and I would call it, fair play." The Tempest, 1610
3. Hot-blooded. Falstaff: "The Windsor bell hath struck twelve; the minute draws on. Now, the hot-blooded-Gods assist me!" Merry Wives of Windsor, 1600
4. I have not slept one wink. Pisiano: "O gracious lady, since I received command to do this business I have not slept one wink." Cymbeline, 1611
5. Love is blind. Jessica: "But love is blind and lovers cannot see the pretty follies that themselves commit…" The Merchant Of Venice, 1596
6. Make your hair stand on end. Hamlet: "I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, thy knotted and combined locks to part and each particular hair to stand on end, like quills upon the fretful porpentine." Hamlet, 1602
7. Rhyme nor reason. Dromio of Syracuse: "Was there ever any man thus beaten out of season, when in the why and the wherefore is neither rhyme nor reason?" Comedy of Errors, 1590
8. Too much of a good thing. Rosalind: "Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?" As You Like It, 1600
9. We have seen better days. Flavius: "We have seen better days. Let each take some; Nay, put out all your hands. Not one word more: Thus part we rich in sorrow, parting poor." Timon of Athens, 1607
10. Wild goose chase. Mercutio: "Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, I have done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five." Romeo and Juliet, 1592
Have you seen the play or movie Coriolanus? Did it make your "hair to stand on end, like quills upon the fretful porpentine?" Or do you have another favorite expression from Shakespeare? Let us know in the comments below.
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