‘Native woodnotes wild’: Shakespeare, his contemporaries, and the syntax of negation

Abstract

This paper builds on findings on variation in Elizabethan grammar, analysing the syntax of negation in a large number of Shakespearean stage dramas and those of his contemporaries. It shows that Shakespeare differed substantially from them grammatically and stylistically. His contemporaries most often adhered to the emerging standard pattern of avoiding Subject-Verb syntax and multiple negation, whereas Shakespeare made much greater use of it, especially in coordinate contexts. In other contexts, use of multiple negation by other authors was usually for characterological purposes, whereas in Shakespeare it is employed as a stylistic resource regardless of the character’s social standing. These findings are interpreted against the background of sociolinguistic research on diachronic English syntax, showing that higher-status individuals led the change away from multiple negation. The differing outcomes are related to Shakespeare’s provincial background and non-participation in a university milieu, distinguishing him from the ‘golden triangle’ background of his contemporary dramatists.