A.Z. Foreman | "Now is the winter of our discontent" opening from Richard III in Early Modern English @a.z.foreman74 | Uploaded 1 year ago | Updated 1 hour ago
I've performed this speech many times, sometimes playing up the "stock villain" angle (doing the laugh at the beginning as an absolute "evil villain laugh"), and at others doing something more subdued. Knowing how fast my opinion of literary texts changes, I'll probably hate this one in three days, but that's how it be.
I sort of hate that this speech is known mostly by its first line without context, since that line is so commonly quoted so as to imply the exact opposite of what it means in this speech, so I took care to link it closely to the next line in this reading.
Anyway, this is yet another passage by Shakespeare in the so-called "original pronunciation" i.e. a reconstruction of how London English (or rather a couple varieties thereof) was pronounced in the early 1600s, from your friendly neighborhood historical linguist and poetry nerd.
Note the slight wordplay that is made possible by pronouncing the word "instead" with the MEET vowel, echoing "steed". ("Instead" could take the MEET vowel, the MEAT vowel or the DRESS vowel in this period. All three variants existed.)
If you like this video and want to help me make more things like it, wherein I read texts in dead accents, consider making a pledge at my patreon.
http://patreon.com/azforeman
There you can get access to all kinds of subscriber-only stuff like my weekly readings of Shakespeare's sonnets and the King James Bible in various 17th century accents, and you'll get advance access to my public recordings as well. (This video in particular, for example, was released 7 days early to subscribers.)
Got questions? (Like "Why does this not sound like Crystal's OP!?") Check my FAQ
patreon.com/posts/faq-64053058
I've performed this speech many times, sometimes playing up the "stock villain" angle (doing the laugh at the beginning as an absolute "evil villain laugh"), and at others doing something more subdued. Knowing how fast my opinion of literary texts changes, I'll probably hate this one in three days, but that's how it be.
I sort of hate that this speech is known mostly by its first line without context, since that line is so commonly quoted so as to imply the exact opposite of what it means in this speech, so I took care to link it closely to the next line in this reading.
Anyway, this is yet another passage by Shakespeare in the so-called "original pronunciation" i.e. a reconstruction of how London English (or rather a couple varieties thereof) was pronounced in the early 1600s, from your friendly neighborhood historical linguist and poetry nerd.
Note the slight wordplay that is made possible by pronouncing the word "instead" with the MEET vowel, echoing "steed". ("Instead" could take the MEET vowel, the MEAT vowel or the DRESS vowel in this period. All three variants existed.)
If you like this video and want to help me make more things like it, wherein I read texts in dead accents, consider making a pledge at my patreon.
http://patreon.com/azforeman
There you can get access to all kinds of subscriber-only stuff like my weekly readings of Shakespeare's sonnets and the King James Bible in various 17th century accents, and you'll get advance access to my public recordings as well. (This video in particular, for example, was released 7 days early to subscribers.)
Got questions? (Like "Why does this not sound like Crystal's OP!?") Check my FAQ
patreon.com/posts/faq-64053058
