Who likes Wiliam Shakespeare?

Question

i don't see what's so cool about him(i didn't mean it like that but i couldn't find a better way to put it) most of his stuff is long and boring and has too many characters. in our school we are reading macbeth and i read three lines in that play i was already disinterested. i remember i read romeo and juliet in 8th grade, it's not as boring as macbeth but a lot of his writings i don't understand so do you like shakespeare or not? give me your opinion.

Answer 1

To answer your question, frankly, I do. I can understand some people's disinterest, though. Often times, high school teachers pass out a book and tell you to read it or, worse, tell you to read it out loud as a class. Seems pretty boring to me. Here's the thing: Shakespeare never wrote these plays intending for high school kids to have to read them. He didn't intend for ANYONE - apart from the actors learning their lines - to read them. These plays are meant to be performed. I recommend putting down the written works for a little while and try to catch some LIVE performance of his works (videos can do in a pinch, I recommend a movie called "Titus", if you want to really be shocked by what Shakespeare was capable of writing). Try watching and (hopefully) enjoying the plays instead of reading them. They may take a little bit for you to get used to hearing the language, but you'll soon find yourself following right along. THEN, try to pick up the written plays and see if you can picture or appreciate them.

PS - Don't feel bad. I've got several advanced degrees in Shakespeare and I still don't like or "get" Macbeth.

Answer 2

I used to think like you when we're required to study his "The Twelfth Night" in the early 70's for our literature course. I thought then it's boring since our lecturer translated nearly all the time but I found one of my consolations by trying to understand some good parts related to everyday life.
Later I've found his wisdom through innumerable quotable quotes and, surprisingly, they're wonderful and apt to even the contemporary world. I answered somewhere in this website that he's definitely one of the greatest men of letters and he should have been a professor at Oxford or Cambridge then, rather than a dramatist, actor or head of a family.

These are some quotes I like for you:

1. Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. (Twelfth Night)
2. Good night, good-night! parting is such sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow. (Romeo and Juliet)
3.To be or not to be: that is the question: (Hamlet)
4. All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players. (As You Like It)
5. Fear no more the heat o' the sun. (Cymberline)

In other words, his plays are like 400-year-old wine. Be patient and selective, skip any part you don't understand and ask some scholars later, it's never late to appreciate his literary contribution to English and mankind.

Answer 3

You may not like or understand Shakespeare for the same reason an 85 year old Kansas farmer may not like or understand rap--even though there are probably more similarities between the two than you might think. To understand both, you need to understand the historical and sociological contexts in which both were written, what moved the writer to write them, and what the writer wanted the audience to know or do after hearing what he or she wrote. In almost all cases, Shakespeare and rap artists were/are writing about universal truths--things about people that are as true today as they were in Shakespeare's time. Once you figure out the key to what they're saying, you'll probably find their work more enjoyable--because you'll see how they apply to your life today.

Answer 4

I can tell that you are looking into the writing William Shakespeare has survived through generations and if it wasn't for his great talents you wouldn't be forced to learn about him now wwould you?
The only book I've read by him is Romeo and Juliet(in 9th grade). My whole class complained about how boring it was and no one paid attention to its meanings or its powerful message that our teacher tried to show us. Because of my class's attitude towards the book, I became narrow-minded towards it but then decided to give it a try. I learned much from this book. He applied the themes of love, faith , and hatred into a play that had drama and comedy in it.

Answer 5

Millions upon millions of people love the works of William Shakespeare!

Methinks perchance thou hast the poorest guide
That thou should find the Bard's works so "ho hum"
You need a tutor who is much more good!
So strike your current teacher on the bum!

(You might want to rent a DVD called "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, [Abridged]". Three guys perform all of William's works in about an hour & a half. It's hilarious!)

Answer 6

I do not like green eggs and ham i do not like them william I am.