Some of Shakespeare’s darkest lines never left us

A huge number of his famous phrases come from fear, jealousy, war, and death. Think jaws of death, green-eyed monster, and something wicked this way comes.

Shakespeare’s Darkest Idioms

Macbeth Consulting the Vision of the Armed Head. By Henry Fuseli, 1793–1794.

He made emotion feel physical

Instead of abstract language, Shakespeare used images you can almost see. Jealousy becomes a monster, danger has jaws, and love is “a smoke made with the fume of sighs.”

Shakespeare’s Darkest Idioms