After adjusting the data to account for educational level, use of alcohol, smoking, the level of body mass, and sleep duration, the study found that being a night owl increased the risk of an early death by about 9% compared with morning types, who are often called early birds. Over 29% were clearly morning people, while another 27.7% described themselves as somewhat inclined to prefer mornings.įor the new study, researchers looked at death records of a subset (8,728 participants) of the original study. Only about 10% of the twins described themselves as definite evening people, while 33% said they somewhat preferred staying up late. However, calling someone a ‘night owl’ these days simply means that they are someone who stays up late, or operates better in the evening rather than during the daytime.When the study originally began, each twin was asked to pick one answer from the following questions: I am clearly a morning person I am to some extent a morning person I am clearly an evening person or I am to some extent an evening person. How is the term ‘night owl’ used today?Īs a metaphor, the owl is connected mainly with sexual violence in literature. In Henry VI Part 3 King Henry remarks that an owl was heard at the birth of Gloucester (The owl shriek’d at thy birth, an evil sign) who, of course, grew up to become the villainous King Richard III. One of the worst omens is if an owl is heard while a child is being born. Shakespeare’s use of the owl imageĮven when they are doing nothing, and not hunting, owls are a bad sign in Shakespeare. The association of the owl with bad omens and death is repeated numerous times in Shakespeare: in fact, Shakespeare’s plays and poems include a number of negative images of owls. Shakespeare copies that Roman idea by having an owl cry while Macbeth is murdering Duncan. Virgil describes how the owl cries as a portent of Dido’s impending death, and Ovid’s Metamorphasis has an owl screech during the story of Myrrha sleeping with her own father, Cynadus. He calls the owl an “especially funerial” bird, “greatly abhorred,” a “direful omen.” He tells about how the whole city of Rome had to be cleansed after an owl had flown into the Capitol. Pliny calls the owl “the monster of the night” in his book, Natural History. In ancient Rome, they were associated with bad omens. They have never had a positive image in literature. Owls have a sinister, unmistakable appearance and their cries are bloodcurdling. He is stalking her late at night, intent on raping her, and is described as a night owl. Tarquin is portrayed as a predatory bird, an owl, intent on catching the sparrow, Lucrece. The use of the term ‘night owl’ to refer to a type of person is first found in Shakespeare’s poem The Rape of Lucrece. The term has been tautologically used to denote the actual bird – the owl – for centuries but it was Shakespeare who first applied the term ‘night owl’ to a type of person. Where does the phrase ‘night owl’ come from? That is the idiomatic or metaphorical use of the term. ‘Night owl’ is a term used to refer to someone who prefers to be active at night rather than during the day. Each Shakespeare’s play name links to a range of resources about each play: Character summaries, plot outlines, example essays and famous quotes, soliloquies and monologues: All’s Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry VIII Henry VI Part 1 Henry VI Part 2 Henry VI Part 3 Henry V Julius Caesar King John King Lear Loves Labour’s Lost Macbeth Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night’s Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo & Juliet The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Winter’s Tale This list of Shakespeare plays brings together all 38 plays in alphabetical order. Plays It is believed that Shakespeare wrote 38 plays in total between 15.
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