Includes bibliographical references and index.

"This book argues that something extraordinary happened to Shakespeare's language in midcareer, somewhere around 1600." "An initial discussion of some of the language of the earlier plays looks for signs as to what was afoot, and this leads to a treatment of the central turning point. The rest of the book provides close studies of what came after that, in the great works between Hamlet and The Tempest. Special attention is paid to many passages which are now so obscure that after all the work done by scholars they remain difficult. How could this be so, when Shakespeare was always a popular dramatist? How did this language develop, and how did it happen that in spite of everything Shakespeare had an audience capable of understanding Hamlet at the beginning of the decade and Coriolanus near the end of it?"--Jacket.

Warren-Brooks Award, 2000.

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