Thursday, April 12, 2012

Wolfram/Alpha on Shakespeare

The Wolfram Alpha 'computational knowledge engine' has just taken on the complete works of Shakespeare, and here are some results from queries on the four great tragedies:

Hamlet
  • 32 characters
  • most words spoken: Hamlet (11,631 words, 39.1%), Claudius (4097, 13.8%), Polonius (2668, 9%)
  • 20 scenes
  • 29,700 words
  • 15.32 words - average sentence length
  • longest words: transformation, unproportion'd
  • most frequent two-word phrase: my Lord

Macbeth:
  • 29 characters
  • most words spoken: Macbeth (5494 words, 31.8%), Lady Macbeth (1942, 11.3%), Malcolm (1530, 8.9%)
  • 27 scenes
  • 17,260 words
  • 13.1 words - average sentence length
  • longest word:voluptuousness
  • most frequent two-word phrase: I have

Othello:
  • 25 characters
  • most words spoken: Iago (8445 words, 32.4%),  Othello (6256, 24%), Desdemona (2757, 10.6%)
  • 15 scenes
  • 26,078 words
  • 13.18 words - average sentence length
  • longest words: notwithstanding, disproportion'd, circumscription
  • most frequent two-word phrase: I am

King Lear:
  • 26 characters
  • most words spoken:  King Lear (5625 words, 21.9%), Edgar (2875, 11.2%), Kent (2611, 10.2%) [the first woman to appear is Regan at 8th].
  • 20 scenes
  • 29,700 words
  • 12.55 words - average sentence length
  • longest word: superserviceable
  • most frequent two-word phrase: my lord.

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