I know millions of students curse their teachers when assigned to read works of Shakespeare. The plays can be hard to comprehend and difficult to understand all of the metaphors, irony, and multiple meanings of phrases. I myself sometimes need to use Sparknotes to clarify a passage.
Did the common people who attended Shakespeares plays actually understand his way with words?
2007-12-30 08:36:32 · 8 answers · asked by crashhhintome 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Yes, because shakespear was written mostly in slang of the day... he was a comon writer... he wrote for the masses. He didn't use big words and try to make it hard for the people to read, he just wrote what came to mind. It's hard becuase slang changes so rapidly between times and even cultures. What we spoke in high school has changed so much that the kids now don't understand me at all, and tha'ts only been 5 or 6 years... imagine 200 years worth of slang!! lol
oh well. Good luck!!
2007-12-30 08:42:37 · answer #1 · answered by Silver Thunderbird 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm going to dare disagree with most of the other answers and say no. I'll admit that I'm no expert on Shakespeare. And, I admit that the thou pronoun and the different ways to conjugate verbs were really used in Shakespeare's time. However, if you read stuff in English from before Shakespeare, the phrasing is actually more like today's English, even though Shakespeare's spelling is more like today's English. Back then, most of the common people watching his plays were too drunk to care, anyway. They probably just enjoyed the action. And it's not like he had much competition when the theater was considered an immoral form of entertainment. Also, Shakespeare's story's weren't completely original. The story of Romeo and Juliet, for example, is very similar to courtly love, which had existed in France since the 11th century.
2007-12-30 14:37:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course they did.
As language has changed, some people today have problems reading it because it isn't the same language as used today.
But it was used when Shakespeare wrote his plays.
Although, not as complex.
-Selina
PS: Hard to comprehend and difficult to understand mean the same thing.
2007-12-30 08:49:29 · answer #3 · answered by Rose 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes, they did. Most people back in that time spoke that way. So then everyone could understand his work. Its just like today but since then some of the language has changed over time.
2007-12-30 08:47:42 · answer #4 · answered by Danielle S 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would say that they generally did, because his writing reflected the language of his time, because they were more familiar with the set-ups (comedies are like this, tragedies are like this), and because it's usually easier to follow a play acted out than understand it when you read it.
But I doubt that everyone got everything! Some caught the bawdy puns but not the more cultural allusions, I'm sure.
2007-12-30 09:40:01 · answer #5 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes
2007-12-30 08:42:49 · answer #6 · answered by dreamkaztle 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, and they enjoyed them. And yes common people attended The Globe as well.
----
They're, Their, There - Three Different Words.
Careful or you may wind up in my next novel.
Pax - C
2007-12-30 08:42:05 · answer #7 · answered by Persiphone_Hellecat 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Yes.Better than today.
2007-12-30 08:42:38 · answer #8 · answered by Hiruminie A 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋