How Shakespeare Changed Over Time

Introduction
The focus of my investigation is to explore how the semantics of words Shakespeare created and used have changed and to explore why a wide selection of them are still used 500 years later. Many students who study Shakespeare find it difficult to understand and find the lexis he used to be irrelevant to modern use of English language. However I am aware that a lot of everyday are neologisms created by Shakespeare and though some of Shakespeare’s terms are now marked as archaic, many more are still used in modern language.
I have chosen to look at Shakespeare’s use of language, because as a Theatre Studies and History student, I believe we cannot just write off complex language from years ago as unimportant. It is the playwrights, like Shakespeare who give us an insight to the type of words used in previous centuries, which shapes the language we use today.
I predict that I will find the meaning of some of the terms has changed. This is to be expected as in 400 years not only social conditions, but also technological advances influence language use. I also expect to find that many of the terms have become archaic, as they refer to objects or practices no longer found in modern society. As commented on by David Crystal in The Language of Shakespeare ‘Reading a text
The origin of the word is old English selig meaning happy, however this meaning became obsolete before Shakespeare was even born. The word has undergone another semantic shift and both original meanings are now obsolete. The adjective developed, as attitudes changed and people came to consider a person who deserved pity, as a person who showed little thought or judgement, which is the modern meaning of the