| --- |
| 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/) |
