Romeo
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Olivia
Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit
Do give thee fivefold blazon. Not too fast! Soft, soft!
Unless the master were the man. How now?
Even so quickly may one catch the plague?
Gloucester
And thus I clothe my naked villainy,
With odd old ends stol'n forth of holy writ,
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.
But soft, here come my executioners.
How now, my hardy, stout, resolved mates,
Are you now going to dispatch this thing?
The word "soft" is already in your vocabulary as the antonym of "hard", and the opposite of "loud". But when you run across this word in Shakespeare's text used as you see in the examples above, it doesn't really seem to mean "cushy" or "quiet". Sometimes, words that used to have several definitions have only maintained a few of them as time passed and language has evolved, so we need to dig a little deeper to understand the true meaning of a seemingly familiar word in its 400-year-old context.
This is an instance where Alexander Schmidt's Lexicon doesn't offer a lot of help:
However, a father and son pair of Shakespeare scholars, David Crystal and Ben Crystal, explore the possible meanings a bit further in their glossary, Shakespeare's Words. (Their website is a phenomenal resource, and can be found here.) Check out the fourth "soft" down:
In the above instances (and many more), the word "soft" is spoken as a sort of interjection. It interrupts the action, and shows a shift in the direction that the scene is about to go.
In Act II, Scene 2 of Romeo & Juliet, Romeo is hiding from his friends, Benvolio and Mercutio, who were loudly searching for him and mocking him. The appearance of Juliet surprises him. Whether he anticipated her arrival or he just lucked out, this is an exciting change of events, so Romeo's "But soft" is basically another way to say "hold up", or "hang on"!
Olivia is having an exciting moment for her "Soft, soft!" in Twelfth Night's Act I, Scene 5. Although she has sworn off courtship to mourn her father and brother, when she meets the Viola (in disguise as "Cesario"), she is smitten. Alone onstage, she recalls portions of their previous conversation and then lists several of Cesario's best attributes before saying "Not too fast! Soft, soft!" She may be sprung, but she's practically saying "slow your roll!" She hardly knows the guy, but she can't deny her feelings, which propels a lot of action in this play .
Finally, in Richard III, Act I, Scene 3, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is bragging about how well he is fooling everyone into thinking that he's a good guy in one of his several soliloquies. Then, the two murderers he has hired to kill his brother arrive, and he shifts back into the scene with "But soft, here come my executioners." He might as well say, "wait a moment" as he turns the focus to these new characters.
When you see "soft" used in this way, especially in a soliloquy or aside, be on the lookout for a change in the energy and direction of the scene. Think of it as "hold up", "wait", "just a sec", or even "slow your roll, girlfriend", and you'll help the audience follow your character's journey!
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