Everyday Canvas

Five Phrases from Shakespeare

Half an hour ago I put in a phrase from Shakespeare in my "Tap the Muse" . Then, I thought a few phrases coined by the bard would make an interesting Sunday entry. So here they are:

A dish fit for the gods: An offering of high quality

This is from Julius Caesar, with Brutus talking. What he says is rather horrific. He says they should kill Caesar and make him bleed, but they should not dismember him, but leave him as a dish fit for the gods.

And in the spirit of men there is no blood.
Oh, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle friends,
Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully.
Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.


A foregone conclusion: A conclusion arrived at and a decision made before any real proof is presented
From Othello.

Othello:
But this denoted a foregone conclusion:
'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream.

Here, Iago makes Othello believe that Cassio's alleged dreams (of Desdemona, which Iago knows) be the "foregone conclusion" of adultery. In Othello's mind, Cassio’s hypothetical dreaming becomes proof that Desdemona has betrayed him.


A sea change: a striking transformation or alteration, as in appearance, often for the better

From The Tempest, Ariel sang the following in a song to Ferdinand, describing the physical transformation what the sea had done to his father who had drowned.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange


Even at the turning of the tide: a change from the earlier, steady flow of events

From Henry IV, describing Falstaff’s death in a metaphoric fashion.
Hostess:
Nay, sure, he's not in hell: he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made a finer end and went away an it had been any christom child; a' parted even just between twelve and one, even at the turning o' the tide…

christom chrisom = the face-cloth, or piece of linen laid over a child's head when he or she was baptised or christened

Pound of Flesh: something that one is strictly or legally entitled to, but that it is ruthless or inhuman to demand.This phrase figuratively refers to any lawful but unreasonable payback.

From The Merchant of Venice.

Shylock:
The pound of flesh which I demand of him Is deerely bought, 'tis mine, and I will haue it.

haue = have

Here, Shylock insists on the payment of Antonio's flesh, although he'd rather have money as he is a money-lender. This becomes the central problem of the play, involving the conflict between justice and forgiveness.