shakespeare: part the second!?

Question

nothing wrong is there methinks betimes with concepts woven long ago by old billy ....but some fools just dont get the point. i think the stories, plots, ideas, concepts are all fine and interesting, but the last time i read anything by shakespeare [about 4-5 years ago] this was my experience:
read a paragraph fine,read the next..fine come acrross a convoluted back to front section which took four times as long to read and untangle before i could re-read it intelligably and then move on again.
when this happens every 4 or 5 paragraphs it infuriating.
its not a matter of intelligence or attention span ... its that the reading is such a jagged and bumpy ride with lots of halts and pauses to untangle the sentences that it becomes an altogether dreary and tedious experience.
im sure that to shakespeare contemporaries it was a sublime thing a joy to read and wonderful language to savour......but we are living centuries later when the very structure of sentences is different.

Answer 1

Remember - Shakespeare was never intended to be read, it was only ever written to be performed onstage. Try reading a modern film script, it's exactly the same (except Shakespeare usually had a coherent, if not convoluted, plot).

Answer 2

Alice Andromache Bianca Cassandra Charmian Cleopatra Cordelia Diana Francisca Helen Helena Hermione Imogen Iris Julia Juliet Katharina Lucetta Margaret Maria Nerissa Ophelia Paulina Phoebe Portia Regan Rosaline Tamora Titania Ursula Viola Shakespeare so rocks!

Answer 3

Shakespeare can be understood by reading it - you just need a bit more hard work and application than for a Jackie Collins novel. A decent glossary can help and having a good summary of the plot (such as Lamb's Tales From Shakespeare) can also help if you lose your way. But gaining an understanding of how and why Shaksepeare wrote the way he did pays huge dividends in enjoying his work.

By the way, the first line of Hamlet is Barnardo standing nervously saying to Francisco "Who's there?" in the dark while a ghost is known to haunt the battlements. Not much there to misunderstand...

Answer 4

hell no. Shakespeare wrote more than plays first off. Poems and sonnets.....
secondly even for his time his writing was odd. Only educated people understood it then cause it has references to old Greek mythology, and some serious Latin language infused into it that no one even knows anymore.

But to modernize it would take away the full meaning and lose the luster that is Shakespeare. If you want modern Shakespear, look to The Lion King, it's "Hamlet" in Disney form. That Julia Styles/Heath Ledger movie 10 Things I Hate About You, thats "Taming of the Shrew". "Othello" has been done also, as "O", with Julia Styles again and Josh Hartnett and Mekhi Phifer. Adapted for modern themes.

Not everyone can warp their mind to suit his style. Which is what you're asking to change. I was able to understand his works by 7th grade......but then I have a warped mind.

perchance and mayhap the intrictcies and details wherein lies through his dealings fly like winged harpies above thine noggen.

Answer 5

I know, tricky. Personally, I think it's better to see it performed as a film or play. I've read a fair bit of Shakespeare in my time and still don't find it easy (though easier than it used to be). Now I read it along with a recording of it so that I can hear the rhythm and the ends of sentences spoken by an expert. Once you get a grip on it I think it starts to get easier and you enjoy it more. And if you don't? Well, nothing wrong with not liking Shakespeare - there a plenty of other things to read. And plenty of other plays to see.

Answer 6

Yes, it can be very convaluted and difficult to understand, especially if you have no idea what some of the words mean in relation to actual objects of the time. However, get a shakespeare version with liner notes and the actual index of meanings of words (bodkin - what the heck is a bodkin?) AND - heres a big tip: Read it aloud to yourself slowly - hearing it aloud will increase understanding by 35%

Shakespeare was not meant to be read, (and many of his contemporaries thought him talentless, but to be performed, and many times he wrote quickly or a bit convaluted knowing his company would play it onstage and the meaning would become clear. A great way to enjoy his texts as well is to rent or see films or plays of them.

Answer 7

The whole point of Shakespeare is the language. He took his story lines from history, legend (many from Petrarch), if any one can tell me the name of one play written by Shakespeare which was originally his idea, I'd be very surprised.

Shakespeare invented words, enriched the English language. Minute dissection done in schools spoils the beauty of the language. You don't have to understand every line. Enjoy the rhythm and the poetry.
'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May....'
Shakespeare's 18th sonnet.
What's difficult about that? Pure romance.

Answer 8

First: Unless you're HEARING Shakespeare, you're missing more than half the point. Reading Shakespeare is like reading Bach. That is, drop me into the score of one of the Brandenburgs and I can follow along in my head -- but only because I've HEARD them a thousand times (oh, right, and also because I know how to read music...).

Want to get the most out of Shakespeare? Get thee to a theater. That raises another whole genus of gripes and groans about interpretation, staging and performance, but at least you'll have a night at the theater, and that's always good.

Second: Approach Shakespeare as if it were written in a different language. It is, after all; it's just one you don't speak yet. It's like dissing Virgil because "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" just makes NO sense to you at all. But once you know what he wrote, there's SO much more dread in it than in the cliche translation, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." (Or at least it is if you see it in the dramatic context of Cassandra trying in vain to warn her family and her city that the big wooden horse left by the people who have been killing your people for ten years is NOT your friend.)

Not every journey is easy. And to be fair, not every journey is worthwhile to all who travel it, even though they complete it. But fundamentally, if you can't understand Shakespeare, it's not his fault. You may have to shift your perceptions, learn some new words (or new meanings for old words), and develop the ability to hold more than one idea in your head at the same time. It's a skill you don't have at the moment, but that's nothing to be ashamed of; I can't plunk out more than half a dozen tunes on the piano, or repair a subdural hematoma.

I see that you've posted this under Theater & Acting. If you're involved in performing Shakespeare, get somebody who has performed the play to work with you on the scenes you're having trouble with, and do a reading with them. Or at least find somebody who's seen the plays (yes, and has read them too) and has an idea about the dramatic content and context of the scene you're slogging through.

And as one final observation... I'll support you in any way I can if it's a matter of helping you get the juice out of Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, Richard III, Othello, and a few more; my nine-year-old son understands those plays, and quotes from them regularly, because he's immersed in the theater, in literature, and, well, in me. :-) (Some are born to Shakespeare; some achieve Shakespeare; and some have Shakespeare thrust upon them...)

However, if you want to argue that Timon of Athens, Measure for Measure, or Troilus and Cressida aren't worth the time it takes to suss out the meaning... oh, look, donuts!

Answer 9

I have a wonderful book (somewhere) that tells many of the stories in plain English. Can't find it at the moment, so can't tell you publisher or author - but I can tell you that at least one book like this exists.
Macbeth I did at 'O' level and Hamlet at 'A' level - so I was taught well how to understand them. I do think though, that just as a starting point try The Merchant of Venice. It is funny and poignant - and one the more 'easily readable' works.

Answer 10

Yes I agree, I think they should change the text so we can understand it, and by text I mean text not the story....


I'm still trying to understand the first line of Hamlet (since the last 10 years!!!)