---
dataset_info:
  features:
  - name: text
    dtype: string
  splits:
  - name: train
    num_bytes: 4349261.614414368
    num_examples: 114704
  download_size: 3640301
  dataset_size: 4349261.614414368
configs:
- config_name: default
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: data/train-*
task_categories:
- text-generation
language:
- en
pretty_name: Shakespeare Lines
size_categories:
- 100K<n<1M
---
# Shakespeare Lines Dataset

The **Shakespeare Lines** dataset contains cleaned, line-by-line excerpts from the *Complete Works of William Shakespeare*. This dataset is curated for use in training and fine-tuning language models on literary or archaic English. It has been stripped of metadata, scene directions, headers/footers, and other non-dialogue filler commonly found in public domain eBooks.

## Dataset Structure

Each example contains:

- `text`: A single line of dialogue from one of Shakespeare’s plays or sonnets.

Example:
```json
{
  "text": "To be, or not to be: that is the question."
}
```

## Source

The raw texts were sourced from Project Gutenberg, which provides public domain books. The dataset was manually cleaned to remove:

- Stage directions (e.g., [Enter Romeo], [_Exit._])
- Scene headers (ACT I, SCENE II)
- Line numbers and roman numerals
- Table of contents and licensing info

## Usage

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

dataset = load_dataset("benchaffe/shakespeare-lines")
print(dataset[0])
```

## Limitations

The dataset does not preserve scene or speaker metadata.<br>
Some filtering may accidentally remove legitimate content (e.g., short lines in all caps).<br>
Lines are context-independent unless reassembled manually.<br>

## Source

Project Gutenberg: (https://www.gutenberg.org/)