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Tackling William Shakespeare
- Thread starter -Carlos-
- Start date
jaybe
Member
Why do you want to read Shakespeare? Having had him shoved down my throat at school - a book a term for five years - I am very anti the great bard.
Are you hoping to become an actooor? They seem to be only folk who say they lurve him.
Midsummer Nights Dream I would say was the easiest. Perhaps begin with a few sonnets though. They will hopefully show you he's too wordy and olde English to be fun these days.
Are you hoping to become an actooor? They seem to be only folk who say they lurve him.
Midsummer Nights Dream I would say was the easiest. Perhaps begin with a few sonnets though. They will hopefully show you he's too wordy and olde English to be fun these days.
beer good
Well-Known Member
Personally I prefer his tragedies to his comedies; Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo And Juliet, Othello. In roughly that order. There are very good reasons these still get played on the world's stages regularly; it's not like the issues they tackle automatically became irrelevant with the invention of the steam engine.
Also, of course Shakespeare didn't write in Olde English. But yes, he occasionally uses words that are no longer in use. Some people find this insurmountable.
Though ideally, of course, the way to experience Shakespeare is on stage or film. The plays are written to be acted.
Also, of course Shakespeare didn't write in Olde English. But yes, he occasionally uses words that are no longer in use. Some people find this insurmountable.
Though ideally, of course, the way to experience Shakespeare is on stage or film. The plays are written to be acted.
jaybe
Member
I have disagree with Wikedia on this. In my head over four hundred years is pretty old. I'm sure anyone who spoke like this to a hoody on the street would be asking for a knifing -
RODERIGO
Tush! never tell me; I take it much unkindly
That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse
As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.
IAGO
'Sblood, but you will not hear me:
If ever I did dream of such a matter, Abhor me.
RODERIGO
Thou told'st me thou didst hold him in thy hate.
exert from Othello.
RODERIGO
Tush! never tell me; I take it much unkindly
That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse
As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.
IAGO
'Sblood, but you will not hear me:
If ever I did dream of such a matter, Abhor me.
RODERIGO
Thou told'st me thou didst hold him in thy hate.
exert from Othello.
beer good
Well-Known Member
I'm afraid your disagreement with Wikipedia is about as relevant as someone disagreeing that New York should still be called "New" since it's several hundred years old. Old English is the established name for the language spoken in England up to about 500 years before Shakespeare's birth - most famous these days as the language of Beowulf:
As for advocating violence against people who are capable of understanding Shakespeare, please. It's Christmas.
A famous critic once said that of all authors he has read, and if were given the choice to question any dead author, he would not hesitate to ask Shakespeare:
"Did it comfort you to have fashioned women and men more real than living men and women?"
As advised in a post above, DO throw yourself into it (as in "go big or go home")
If it were me. I'd get a decent eddition of his collected works that has a good overall intro to his life and Elizabethan times that is well footnoted to get a handle on his Elizabethan English (he is said to have coined over 1800 words).
Start with an earlier comedy as been advised above (pick one) and spend the time to get a handle on the language. The going will eventually get easier, and (this is my opinion OK so don't jump up and down on me) the payoff is better than ANY other author you will likely encounter in your life time. Once you have a comedy under your belt, tackle a tragedy.
I had a Shakepeare class 30 yrs ago and we only covered 6 plays in the semester. I had never read Hamlet till last month. It took me a bit to refamiliarize myself with Bill's poesy and the Elizabethan. Especially I had to tell myself to slow down and absorb the words: as many many of his images and words have multiple meanings (thus to the great depth to his characters and their conflicts...)
I spent three days reading the play and while reading it brought back the impression that I have ONLY gotten reading Shakespeare:
His protagonists and villains MUST be real, that one is in the presence of a mind (wisdom, intellect, cogitos call it whatever you wish) unlike any other in literature, last, his characters always stay with you. (yeah I know, its a hassle having to feed them and find them a place to sleep
I will keep going back to his plays every so often after reading my doses of modernist or post modernist fiction to get a dose of what true singular genuis
is like.
In road cycling races they have categories depicting the degree of how strenuous a climb is in mountains like the Pyrenies and Alps. The climbs are from Named "Category 1" through "Category 5", and then, if the road grade % and elevaton gain is so sick as to be about undoable on a bike, it is listed as "Above Category". Of authors this old dude has encountered in 52 years, Shakespeare sits alone in the "Above Category" class...
Definitely include Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth, The Tempest, The Merchant Of Venice and As You Like It in your readings...
Say high to Hamlet and Falstaff for me....
"Did it comfort you to have fashioned women and men more real than living men and women?"
As advised in a post above, DO throw yourself into it (as in "go big or go home")
If it were me. I'd get a decent eddition of his collected works that has a good overall intro to his life and Elizabethan times that is well footnoted to get a handle on his Elizabethan English (he is said to have coined over 1800 words).
Start with an earlier comedy as been advised above (pick one) and spend the time to get a handle on the language. The going will eventually get easier, and (this is my opinion OK so don't jump up and down on me) the payoff is better than ANY other author you will likely encounter in your life time. Once you have a comedy under your belt, tackle a tragedy.
I had a Shakepeare class 30 yrs ago and we only covered 6 plays in the semester. I had never read Hamlet till last month. It took me a bit to refamiliarize myself with Bill's poesy and the Elizabethan. Especially I had to tell myself to slow down and absorb the words: as many many of his images and words have multiple meanings (thus to the great depth to his characters and their conflicts...)
I spent three days reading the play and while reading it brought back the impression that I have ONLY gotten reading Shakespeare:
His protagonists and villains MUST be real, that one is in the presence of a mind (wisdom, intellect, cogitos call it whatever you wish) unlike any other in literature, last, his characters always stay with you. (yeah I know, its a hassle having to feed them and find them a place to sleep
I will keep going back to his plays every so often after reading my doses of modernist or post modernist fiction to get a dose of what true singular genuis
is like.
In road cycling races they have categories depicting the degree of how strenuous a climb is in mountains like the Pyrenies and Alps. The climbs are from Named "Category 1" through "Category 5", and then, if the road grade % and elevaton gain is so sick as to be about undoable on a bike, it is listed as "Above Category". Of authors this old dude has encountered in 52 years, Shakespeare sits alone in the "Above Category" class...
Definitely include Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth, The Tempest, The Merchant Of Venice and As You Like It in your readings...
Say high to Hamlet and Falstaff for me....
silverseason
New Member
How should you read Shakespeare? Let us count the ways....
Get a good edition that feels pleasant in the hand and just sit down and read. (In college we worked our way through one of those one-volume complete plays editions printed on tissue paper. It was double work, plus a bad idea to drop the book on your foot.)
Read with a friend. This really works. We would take the different parts, reading out loud and arguing about what it meant.
See a movie. I recommend the Olivier Henry V and Hamlet, as well as the Romeo and Juliet made some years ago.
See it on stage. Best of all, although sometimes bewildering for beginners because of the language.
Pick the play that suits your mood:
Violence and rage - Othello
Sweet romance - Twelfth Night
Justice denied - The Merchant of Venice
Clever and sly - Richard III
Bewitched by fate - Macbeth
Do not start with the sonnets.
Get a good edition that feels pleasant in the hand and just sit down and read. (In college we worked our way through one of those one-volume complete plays editions printed on tissue paper. It was double work, plus a bad idea to drop the book on your foot.)
Read with a friend. This really works. We would take the different parts, reading out loud and arguing about what it meant.
See a movie. I recommend the Olivier Henry V and Hamlet, as well as the Romeo and Juliet made some years ago.
See it on stage. Best of all, although sometimes bewildering for beginners because of the language.
Pick the play that suits your mood:
Violence and rage - Othello
Sweet romance - Twelfth Night
Justice denied - The Merchant of Venice
Clever and sly - Richard III
Bewitched by fate - Macbeth
Do not start with the sonnets.