Comparison

There are several interesting differences between the modern system of expressing comparison and the one available to Shakespeare. To express a higher degree, present-day Standard English allows either an inflected form (bigger, biggest) or a form consisting of more than one word (a periphrastic form), such as more / most interesting. Lower degree is always expressed periphrastically (less / least happy). The choice with higher degree depends largely on the length of the adjective, with words of one syllable taking an inflection (bigger, longest), words of three syllables or more appearing periphrastically (more / most interesting),

and words of two syllables sometimes going one way (happier rather than more happy) and sometimes the other (most proper rather than properest). There are also some special cases: adjectives derived from verb participles, for example, never take an inflectional ending, even if they are only one syllable long (a most pained expression, never a paindest expression). Adverbs also allow the expression of comparison: sooner / soonest, more carefully / most carefully.

Many examples in Shakespearean English work in the same way; but there are several differences. The most noticeable feature is the use of double comparison, where an inflected and a periphrastic form appear together, producing a more emphatic expression:

Double comparatives	Examples	Double superlatives	Examples
more better	MND III.i.18	most boldest	JC III.i.121
more bigger-looked	TNK I.i.215	most bravest	Cym IV.ii.319
more braver	Tem I.ii.440	most coldest	Cym II.iii.2
more corrupter	KL II.ii.100	most despiteful’st	TC IV.i.33
more fairer	E3 II.i.25	most heaviest	TG IV.ii.136
more headier	KL II.iv.105	most poorest	KL II.iii.7
more hotter	AW IV.v.38	most stillest	2H4 III.i.28
more kinder	Tim IV.i.36	most unkindest	JC III.ii.184
more mightier	MM V.i.235	most worst	WT III.ii.177
more nearer	Ham II.i.11
more nimbler	E3 II.ii.178
more proudlier	Cor IV.vii.8
more rawer	Ham V.ii.122
more richer	Ham III.ii.313
more safer	Oth I.iii.223
more softer	TC II.ii.11
more sounder	AYL III.ii.58
more strong	Cor I.i.69
more wider	Oth I.iii.107
more worse	KL II.ii.146
more worthier	AYL III.iii.54
less happier	R2 II.i.49

There are also several cases where an inflectional ending is used where today we would use the periphrastic form.

Modern comparative	Shakespearian comparative	Example
more honest	honester	Cor IV.v.50
more horrid	horrider	Cym IV.ii.331
more loath	loather	H62 III.ii.355
more often	oftener	MM IV.ii.48
more quickly	quicklier	AW I.i.122
more perfect	perfecter	Cor II.i.76
more wayward	waywarder	AYL IV.i.150

Modern superlative	Shakespearian superlative	Example
most ancient	ancient’st	WT IV.i.10
most certain	certain’st	TNK V.iv.21
most civil	civilest	H62 IV.vii.56
most condemned	contemned’st	KL II.ii.141
most covert	covert’st	R3 III.v.33
most daring	daring’st	H8 II.iv.215
most deformed	deformed’st	Sonn 113.10
most easily	easil’est	Cym IV.ii.206
most exact	exactest	Tim II.ii.161
most extreme	extremest	KL V.iii.134
most faithful	faithfull’st	TN V.i.112
most foul-mouthed	foul mouthed'st	H42 II.iv.70
most honest	honestest	AW III.v.73
most loathsome	loathsomest	TC II.i.28
most lying	lyingest	H62 II.i.124
most maidenly	maidenliest	KL I.ii.131
most pained	pained’st	Per IV.vi.161
most perfect	perfectest	Mac I.v.2
most ragged	ragged'st	H42 I.i.151
most rascally	rascalliest	H41 I.ii.80
most sovereign	sovereignest	H41 I.iii.56
most unhopeful	unhopefullest	MA II.i.349
most welcome	welcomest	H61 II.ii.56
most wholesome	wholesom'st	MM IV.ii.70

There are rather fewer cases where a periphrastic form is used where today we would use an inflectional ending.

Modern comparative	Shakespearian comparative	Example
greater	more great	H41 IV.i.77
longer	more long	Cor V.ii.63
nearer	more near	AW I.iii.102

And there are a number of cases where modern Standard English would not use a form of comparison at all, but Shakespearian English allows it. They include some words expressing absolute notions (such as chief), which today are generally not compared. Several of these forms can still heard in regional dialects, of course, and some (such as littlest, worser) are now considered immature or uneducated.

Modern word	Shakespearian comparison	Example
chief	chiefest	H61 I.i.177
due	duer	H42 III.ii.296
just	justest	AC II.i.2
less	lesser	R2 II.i.95
like	liker	KJ II.i.126
little	littlest [cf. smallest]	Ham III.ii.181
rather	ratherest	LLL IV.ii.18
very	veriest	H41 II.ii.23
worse	worser [cf. less bad]	Ham III.iv.158

Occasionally, both modern English and Shakespearian English have inflected forms, but they are different. This is the case with farrer (TS IV.ii.73), where we would today say farther or further. Older is sometimes used where we would today say elder, as in Sonn 22.8, ‘How can I then be elder than thou art?’

Lastly, it is important to note that, when an inflected and a periphrastic form co-exist, the choice can be exploited poetically, to suit the demands of the metre. A case in point is AY III.v.51--5 [Rosalind to Silvius]:

You are a thousand times a properer man

Than she a woman ...

And out of you she sees herself more proper

Than any of her lineaments can show her.

This is probably why we find more sweet (AY II.i.2) alongside sweeter (MV V.i.100), more grave (TN I.iv.28) alongside graver (Cor III.i.106), and so on.