‘Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive,’ is a very ‘Shakespearean’ phrase, however, it is not from Shakespeare. It comes from an early nineteenth century Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott, best selling writer of novels, plays, and poems.
Like so very many of Shakespeare’s lasting observations it’s a beautifully expressed aphorism that uses just a few words to describe one life experience so perfectly, and is so true, that it enters into the English language and becomes one of its most powerful idioms – one that will last forever.
‘Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive’ means that when you lie or act dishonestly you are initiating problems and a domino structure of complications which eventually run out of control.
The quote is from Scott’s epic poem, Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field. It’s an historical romance in verse, published in 1808. It tells the tale of how one of Henry VIII’s courtiers, Lord Marmion, pursues his lust for a rich woman, Clara Clare. He and his mistress, a delinquent nun, Constance De Beverley, devise a scheme to implicate Clara’s fiancé in treason. It becomes chaotic and although Marmion appears to have won, by defeating Clara’s fiancé in a duel, Clara retires to a convent rather than endure his attentions.
The tangled web quote from this poem has made it into the realms of immortality, but while doing so, has left most of Scott’s very accomplished writing behind. To put it delicately, no-one reads Scott anymore. Some of his lines should have made it into the everyday language but haven’t: such lines as ‘look back and smile on perils past,’ ‘the will to do, the soul to dare,’ and ‘and come he slow, or come he fast, it is but death who comes at last,’ should have made it, but haven’t.
The truth is that Scott is difficult to read – his work, wonderful as one would find it if one were determined to take it on, is old fashioned, both in its ideas and situations and, more particularly, in its ‘educated,’ alienating eighteenth century language. That is unlike Shakespeare who is still, after four hundred years, the most read English author, whose texts are amazingly fresh and highly readable.
‘Oh what a tangled web we weave’ has journeyed to its status of immortal truism simply because, apart from its beautiful expression, it is so true. Like the hundreds of Shakespearean idioms it expresses that truth in a form of words that cannot be better expressed and in our normal discourse, using it to express that idea immediately expresses that idea without any further explanation. Just as we find in Shakespeare with such idioms as ‘The better part of valour is discretion,’ a saying that, when used, says it all. In Scott’s case the quote says everything about the perils of lying.
Oh what a tangled web we weave…
Reply to Karen: How very sexist! Deception is an equal opportunity vice.
Lovely explanation
Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. In short “Life”.
Hold that thought. Life is not a deception; it is brutality honest, straight forward, complex, and gross in it’s scope. Unfortunately sometimes the things we want to know do not come easy, that’s because the shouldn’t- want and desire are never substituted for need.
….,gross in it’s scope….
If you wish to be an English literature aficionado, it is important to write within the dictates of our language. What one word is glaringly wrong in the sentence that you wrote, and that I copied in part?
Dear Antony: In reference to your myopic comment that mankind generally follows short term lust and want instead of need….that all depends upon your scope of vision and accurate memory of past events and their outcomes, and upon the “drummer” you follow (and I assure you the list is short comprising of but 2) Following the “right drummer” can and does bring vast insights into “tangled webs”, but only if we rightfully credit “the One” who has given us such elucidation in the first place! The more that “mankind” appreciates and directs praise, the more supernaturally miraculous the reciprocal blessings will be! A proven fact if you will but believe and follow. bb A TruthSeeker!
Marv, here’s your song;
THE OTHER WOMAN, THE OTHER MAN
(Gerard Kenny / Drey Shepperd / Barry Mason)
Gerard Kenny – 1984
Oh what a tangled web we weave
When we practise to deceive,
We play our games and tell our lies
And synchronise our alibis.
They say forbidden fruit tastes sweeter,
It’s precious and so rare,
It’s heaven when you taste it,
And it’s hell when it’s not there.
I don’t see you when I want to
You only see me when you can,
‘Cause you’re the other woman
And I’m the other man
May be wrong, but it feels so right
Lying here in the candle light.
A secret place for you and me
And nowhere else we’d rather be.
They say forbidden fruit tastes sweeter ,
It’s precious and so rare,
It’s heaven when you taste it,
And it’s hell when it’s not there.
I don’t see you when I want to
You only see me when you can,
‘Cause you’re the other woman
And I’m the other man
It’s paradise but we pay the price,
‘Cause ecstasy doesn’t come free.
I don’t see you when I want to,
And you only see me when you can
‘Cause you’re the other woman
And I’m the other……
Oh what a tangled web we weave
When we practise to deceive.
Would he have written “practice” with a “c”? I was taught (British) that “practice” with a “c” was the noun, and “practise” with an “s” was the verb form.
Sir Walter used the “s”, definitely a transitive verb.
I seem to be late to the conversation but has anyone given a second thought to the spouse being cheated on? That is where the heart of what Scott was trying to say sits. He stated very poetically that someone is being lied too. No matter who started it or why it had begun there is still a person who doesn’t even know there entire world is a fake.
Very typically english, if you can’t have it steal it
Oh my defiantly What a Web we leave when at first we practice to deceive. It’s better to be upfront and centre and get things dealt with at the get go. We can always find a way to justify our actions in our own mind however why take the long roundabout. Be true to yourself, accept your feelings and take ownership of them. You are who you are; you ain’t who you ain’t per se. Food for thought eh
I’ve never read the poem, so forgive my ignorance, but, it seems that everyone ignores the word “first”
It sounds like novice liars weave tangled webs, but practised liars weave fluidly.
Sounds like Boris Johnson ex UK PM!!!