What does thyself mean in shakespearean times?

Answer 1

The phrase is spoken by Polonius in Hamlet. It means "Do not deceive yourself". To deceive yourself (kid yourself, lie to yourself) is sometimes easier than deceiving other people.

The full quote is: to thine own self be true,and it must follow, as the night the day,Thou canst not then be false to any man

This says that so long as you do not deceive yourself then you will not be tempted to deceive other people.

this is bullcrap

There is a shade of difference between not being true to oneself and deceiving oneself.

As Polonius is so full of words, it is natural that the things he says be considered 'just a lot of words'. Polonius might not know the depth of his own words but Shakespeare did and it is upto us to get to it.

Answer 2

"Thy" is the second person singular posessive pronoun, which has been generally replaced by the plural form "your". Thus "thyself" is "yourself", and "Physician, heal thyself" means "Doctor, heal yourself."

Answer 3

The language Shakespeare wrote in was English, and modern English. "Yourself" is, accordingly, "yourself". "Confess yourself to heaven; repent what's past; avoid what is to come." Although there are a few exceptions, in almost all cases the word Shakespeare used for something is the same word you yourself would use.

Answer 4

be true to yourself; or in other words don't change yourself just to make other people like you

Answer 5

Thyself means "yourself".