History JustForFun / TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples

* SweetPollyOliver: The Bard had ''four'' plays that made use of this plot - ''Theatre/AsYouLikeIt'', ''Theatre/TwoGentlemenOfVerona'', ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'', ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'', ''Theatre/{{Cymbeline}}'' - long before the TropeNamer was written.

He may not have been the TropeMaker or even the UrExample, but you can bet your bottom dollar that he did it before ''you!'' Whatever great invention, character or plot device you come up with, Shakespeare is always the guy who has already done it and done it better than you could ever hope to. Note that he wasn't the ''first'' to use a lot of these conventions, however he's ''the'' earliest writer most people know who used ''so many'' of them.

* IBangedYourMom / YourMom [[note]]Yes, Shakespeare [[DoubleEntendre did your mom first.]][[/note]]:

-->""If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as improbable fiction."" (''Theatre/TwelfthNight'')

[. . .] Give me your hands, if we be friends\\
and Robin shall restore amend"''' (''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'')

* VillainProtagonist / ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}.'' Or, ''Theatre/RichardIII'' if you like them blacker than black from the start.

--> Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
--> He thinks too much; such men are dangerous[...]
--> Such men as he be never at heart's ease
--> Whiles they behold a greater than themselves.

-->"He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man;" (''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'')

-->''...graves at my command''\\
''Have waked their sleepers, oped and let 'em forth''\\
''By my so potent art.''
* EyeScream: "Out, vile jelly! Where is thy lustre now?"(''Theatre/KingLear'')

-->"So, oft it chances in particular men,\\

As infinite as man may undergo ?\\

From that particular fault." (''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'')

-->"But this denoted a foregone conclusion: 'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be [[AllJustADream but a dream]]." (''Theatre/{{Othello}}'')

-->'''Richard:''' ''Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time\\

And descant on mine own deformity.'' (''Theatre/RichardIII'')
* [[MilkingTheGiantCow Hamming It Up]]\\
"Nor do not saw the air too much with your hands, but suit the action to the word, the word to the action." (''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'')

-->'''Demetrius:''' ''Villain, what hast thou done?''\\
'''Aaron:''' ''That which thou canst not undo.''\\
'''Chiron:''' ''Thou hast undone our mother.''\\
'''Aaron:''' ''Villain, I have ''done'' thy mother.'' (''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'')\\

'''Painter:''' ''Y'are a dog.''\\
'''Apemantus:''' ''Thy mother's of my generation. What's she, if I be a dog?'' (''Theatre/TimonOfAthens'')

** "If this were acted upon the stage I would condemn it as an improbable fiction."(''Theatre/TwelfthNight'')
** "How many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over in states unborn and accents yet unknown!" (''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'')

-->"Do not infest your mind with beating on\\
The strangeness of this business\\
(''Theatre/TheTempest'')

-->"Out, damned spot! out, I say!" (''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'')

-->'''Macduff''': "Turn, hell-hound, turn!" (''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'')

-->"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as improbable fiction." (''Theatre/TwelfthNight'')

-->'''Puck:''' ''If we shadows have offended\\

and Robin shall restore amends''' (''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'')

--> I wasted time, and now doth time waste me. (''Theatre/RichardII'')

-->"Peace, I will stop your mouth." (''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'')

* TeenDrama: ''RomeoAndJuliet''.
* TheSecretOfLongPorkPies: One RoaringRampageOfRevenge that comes with a free sample-platter is ''TitusAndronicus''. Eat your heart out, SweeneyTodd.
* VillainProtagonist / ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}.'' Or, ''RichardIII'' if you like them blacker than black from the start.
* WallBangHer: Discussed in this exchange at the beginning of ''RomeoAndJuliet'':
--> '''Sampson''': A dog of that house shall move me to stand: I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's.
--> '''Gregory''': That shows thee a weak slave, for the weakest goes to the wall.
--> '''Sampson''': 'Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montague's men from the wall, and ''thrust his maids to the wall''.

* TheSecretofLongPorkPies: One RoaringRampageOfRevenge that comes with a free sample-platter is ''TitusAndronicus''. Eat your heart out, SweeneyTodd.

** "If this were acted upon the stage I would condemn it as an improbable fiction."(''Theatre/TwelfthNight'')\\

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall\\
"If this were acted upon the stage I would condemn it as an improbable fiction."\\ (''Theatre/TwelfthNight'')\\
"How many ages hence shall this our lofty scene be acted over in states unborn and accents yet unknown!" (''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'')

"If this were acted upon the stage I would condemn it as an improbable fiction." (''Theatre/TwelfthNight'')

* VillainProtagonist / ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}.'' Or, ''RichardIII'' if you like them backer than black from the start.

For virtually all other professions, an appropriate substitution would be 'Da Vinci did it first'. Seriously, look the guy up. He did just about everything you can do except being an accomplished author or famous rock star, and that was just because getting a decent scribe to take down his lengthy fictional masterpieces for him would have been quite expensive in 15th-Century Italy.

--> I wasted time, and now time doth waste me. (''Theatre/RichardII'')

* WallBangHer: This exchange at the beginning of ''RomeoAndJuliet'':

* ForegoneConclusion: Shakespeare coined the phrase, although he used it to mean the [[InvertedTrope inverse]] and it got {{trope decay}}ed ("foregone" means "averted" [[YouKeepUsingThatWord even today]]).

* VillainProtagonist / ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}.''

* YourMom [[note]]Yes, Shakespeare [[DoubleEntendre did your mom first.]][[/note]]:
-->'''Demetrius:''' ''Villain, what hast thou done?''\\
'''Aaron:''' ''That which thou canst not undo.''\\
'''Chiron:''' ''Thou hast undone our mother.''\\
'''Aaron:''' ''Villain, I have ''done'' thy mother.'' (''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'')\\
\\
'''Painter:''' ''Y'are a dog.''\\
'''Apemantus:''' ''Thy mother's of my generation. What's she, if I be a dog?'' (''Theatre/TimonOfAthens'')

* ShowWithinAShow: Many times, most notably in ''Theatre/Hamlet'' and ''Theatre/MidsummerNightsDream''.

* ShowWithinAShow: Many times.

* SeenItAMillionTimes:
-->"How many times shall this our lofty scene be acted o'er? In states unborn and accents yet unknown". (''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'')

* LampshadeHanging\\

Dedicated in memory of TV Tropes founder William Shakespeare, who started every page on this site.

* VillainProtagonist/ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: {{Macbeth}}.