Assignment #3

Finding the Fun in the Pun
Below are some lines from some of William Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. You will find a pun in each set of lines in bold print. On the lines below each quote, briefly explain the pun as you think Shakespeare might have intended for his audience. Remember, a pun can be a humorous play on words that look or sound alike, but have different meanings. Look at the hints provided and just take a minute to "think about it!"


1. "No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door, but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man." Romeo and Juliet (Act iii, S.1) Hint:
Grave=serious, dead, sad.

- The injury is not too bad but enough for me too be dead.


2. I'll make a ghost of him that lets me!" Hamlet (Act i, S.4) Hint: In Shakespeare's day, "let"
meant "hinder," and today means the opposite, "allow."

-I'll kill him if you let me.

3. "If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I." Henry IV, Part On (Act ii, S.4) Hint: "Reason" was pronounced "raisin" in Shakespeare's day.

- If raisins were as good as blackberries, then there wouldn't be much of a problem.

4. "Give me a torch: I am not for this ambling; Being but heavy, I will bear the light." Romeo and Juliet (Act i, S.4) Hint: Heavy = in a bad mood; Light = not weighing much; a torch.

- Let me lead the way, I won't drag you behind.