Do you like Shakespeare? (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

Inspired by watching Station Eleven**

Do you like Shakespeare?

Schools have been forcing me to read it since the 6th grade and I've NEVER liked it

All the thees, thous and thys went right over my head and even through high school still went over my head

With the possible exception of poetry Shakespeare was by far my least favorite subject not just of English class but all classes

Shakespeare is where I first discovered Cliffs Notes existed

In college we were assigned a Shakespeare play to read (I don't remember which one but it was a lesser one, so it wasn't Hamlet or Romeo & Juliet)

And for the first time in my life it all made sense. The veil was lifted, the light went on, the angels sung. Not only did I understand it, I loved it, I thought, "This is great!"

During discussion class it turned out I was completely wrong. I misunderstood everything.

Nobody was saying what I thought they were saying, no one was doing what I thought they were doing, nothing was happening that I thought was happening

I read a completely and totally different play than everyone else (My play was great though)

What are your thoughts on the Great Bard?

**In a post-apocalyptic world, I refuse to believe that Shakespeare becomes the preferred entertainment of the land

 

[Brad Mojo]

I get it. I respect it. I don't dislike it. Yet still not a big fan.

 

[St. Widge]

I don't like reading it but I do like when the plays are performed or when the stories are made into movies. And, honestly, that's how they were meant to be enjoyed. They were written to be performed, not to be read. If you can read them and enjoy them, more power to you. But, I think the stories are only fully realized when they are performed.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I don't like reading it but I do like when the plays are performed or when the stories are made into movies. And, honestly, that's how they were meant to be enjoyed. They were written to be performed, not to be read. If you can read them and enjoy them, more power to you. But, I think the stories are only fully realized when they are performed.

Watching the movies helped some, at least I can see what's going on, but the language is still an impenetrable wall to me

Denzel Washington's just released MacBeth is supposed to be fantastic

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

The problem with Shakespeare is that we teach it so poorly. A script, however beautifully written, is not a play any more than a blueprint is a house. Shakespeare was meant to be performed by actors sen by an audience. THEN you can go back and read it, learning to find its rhythms and structure.

I love, love, LOVE Shakespeare, both on the page and on the stage but the appreciation for the language came well after falling in love with the experience of seeing the plays.

 

[Sailorsaint]

Never met the man.

 

[B4YOU]

The problem with Shakespeare is that we teach it so poorly. A script, however beautifully written, is not a play any more than a blueprint is a house. Shakespeare was meant to be performed by actors sen by an audience. THEN you can go back and read it, learning to find its rhythms and structure.

I love, love, LOVE Shakespeare, both on the page and on the stage but the appreciation for the language came well after falling in love with the experience of seeing the plays.

This is the answer. Take HS kids to a play, then give them the script. Just reading it leaves too many lost in the language.

 

[Loco Hornet Fan]

I don't like reading it but I do like when the plays are performed or when the stories are made into movies. And, honestly, that's how they were meant to be enjoyed. They were written to be performed, not to be read. If you can read them and enjoy them, more power to you. But, I think the stories are only fully realized when they are performed.

Absolutely. I have taught my fair share of high school Shakespeare and it really is meant to be performed/observed.

After students at least got one hand on the wheel with the language & rhythm, we’d try and walk through it/perform it as much as possible.

We were never able to get a trip to a theatre for them to watch a stage performance, but I would show them movies, which they enjoyed.

The language mixed with a good performance is incredibly captivating.

 

[0rion]

They make a decent rod and reel. I have several ugly sticks that I've had for years. My son has a few ugly sticks also. I bought him a $200 Lew's bait caster last year and can't tell you I notice a huge difference between it and some of the Shakespeare stuff I have.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

................it's complicated

I do NOT want Shakespeare as literature or as canon - this leads to waaaaaaaaayyyyy too many **** productions of his plays - esp the dramas
his dramas are like ballet - you need incredible talent up and down the cast to pull it off - it should only be down by seasoned rep actors or middle school kids - HS and undergrads should go nowhere near shakespeare
(the comedies, otoh, are essentially fancy Threes Company episodes and as long as people can handle the language - go for it)

then the canon issue is significant - he is used (mostly subconsciously) too often as a gatekeeper - i would MUCH prefer students being exposed to August Wilson plays than Shakespeare plays
culturally, we'd be much better off if there were more productions of Miller, Williams, Chekhov, Kushner, Ruhl, Zimmerman, Stoppard, Mee, Parks, et al than Shakes (just as it would be better to have more Stravinski, Bartok, Glass, Part, et al than Beethoven/Mozart)

so yes, there are a precious few things better than an incredible production of his top 5-6 dramas BUT over-reliance on his works is cultural laziness

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

................it's complicated

I do NOT want Shakespeare as literature or as canon - this leads to waaaaaaaaayyyyy too many **** productions of his plays - esp the dramas
his dramas are like ballet - you need incredible talent up and down the cast to pull it off - it should only be down by seasoned rep actors or middle school kids - HS and undergrads should go nowhere near shakespeare
(the comedies, otoh, are essentially fancy Threes Company episodes and as long as people can handle the language - go for it)

then the canon issue is significant - he is used (mostly subconsciously) too often as a gatekeeper - i would MUCH prefer students being exposed to August Wilson plays than Shakespeare plays
culturally, we'd be much better off if there were more productions of Miller, Williams, Chekhov, Kushner, Ruhl, Zimmerman, Stoppard, Mee, Parks, et al than Shakes (just as it would be better to have more Stravinski, Bartok, Glass, Part, et al than Beethoven/Mozart)

so yes, there are a precious few things better than an incredible production of his top 5-6 dramas BUT over-reliance on his works is cultural laziness

I JUST told my 16-year-old this morning that August Wilson is America's Shakespeare.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I JUST told my 16-year-old this morning that August Wilson is America's Shakespeare.

and you are correct

 

[FLEA]

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

right? and we haven't even introduced Marlowe into the discussion

 

[tenordas]

To be fair, to truly appreciate Shakespeare, you must read...


Seriously, I love the majority of Shakespeare's works.
My top favourites are Othello, Henry V, and Macbeth, not necessarily in that order. Close behind are Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, King Lear and Richard III. There are so many brilliant moments in his plays, bringing such depth of human emotion, intellect, and experience. I admit I am fonder of the tragedies than the comedies, but the comedies are wonderful as well, especially Taming of the Shrew and The Merry Wives of Windsor. His works offer us an absolute endless ocean of brilliant quotable lines.

However, there is one exception: I despise Romeo and Juliet. The main characters are vapid fools, and the plot twist is just a little too stupid to be bought as realistic. Also, Mercutio is the only interesting character in the play. His diatribe on Queen Mab is the one moment of true literary brilliance that reminds us how great (usually) is the author who wrote this thing. When he dies at the top of act III, the play should just end. It's all vapid stupidity after that. It reads like a farce written by someone who doesn't understand that the genre of farce is supposed to be comedy.

And I fully agree that one should see the plays first before reading them. They were written to be performed, not read, and certainly not to be studied in a literature class. IMHO, experiencing the emotion of the actor is essential to understanding the Bard, because he wrote the plays with that in mind.