Chapter 1 of Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter I
Chapter 1 of Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE. THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY. WILL SHAKESPEARE. MRS. HATHAWAY.
Chapter 1 of Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts is here in full — 429 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading “THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.”
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading “THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.”
any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force
From this reading “‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.”
plural of “end” — either extremity of something that has length
From this reading “‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.”
wife of William Shakespeare (1556-1623)
From this reading “THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.”
participate in games or sport
From this reading “THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.”
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading “‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.”
plural of “shape” — any spatial attributes (especially as defined by outline)
From this reading “‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
plural of “end” — either extremity of something that has length
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
wife of William Shakespeare (1556-1623)
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading MRS.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
belonging to the speaker and others
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
participate in games or sport
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
hew roughly, without finishing the surface
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
plural of “shape” — any spatial attributes (especially as defined by outline)
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading THE PEOPLE OF THE PLAY _As they appear._ ANNE HATHAWAY.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading ‘_There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will._’ SHAKESPEARE.
Chapter 1 of Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts by Clemence Dane holds 429 sentences, grouped into 86 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 429 sentences of Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts by Clemence Dane exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 429 sentences, grouped into 86 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts by Clemence Dane on this page, its source edition and its audio.
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How to work through Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Will Shakespeare: An Invention in Four Acts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
