How do I analyse Shakespeare’s language?

When analysing Shakespeare, don’t panic if you don’t understand every word; focus instead on the overall meaning of the text. Ask yourself: What is Shakespeare trying to achieve here? Has he written this passage to create a vivid image of the scene, or perhaps to influence how the audience see a particular character? You could start, for example, by looking at the overall structure of the passage. Can you see enjambment (the absence of punctuation at the end of a line), suggesting a rapid, flowing speech, or is the passage more rhythmic, punctuated by iambic pentameter (ten syllables in each line, with alternate metrical stresses, such as ‘If music be the food of love, play on’, Twelfth Night). Read the text aloud to hear the rhythm and the sounds of the text. Is there any repetition, such as alliteration (repeated consonant sounds) or assonance (repeated vowel sounds)?

For example, Lady Macbeth’s speech in Act 1 Scene 5 of Macbeth paints a strong image of this murderous, tragic heroine. Regular alliteration of powerful consonant sounds, such as ‘murd’ring ministers’ and ‘toe topful’, convey Lady Macbeth’s power to command others. Furthermore, both the irregular rhythm and the images of croaking ‘raven’, blood and ‘keen knife’ suggest the supernatural; Shakespeare depicts Lady Macbeth as a witch cursing, not unlike the terrible witches the audience witnessed in the first scene of the play.