Do you like Shakespeare? (2 Viewers)

[Boy_of_wonder75]

Shakespeare's language is widely considered to represent the pinnacle of English. But that status is underpinned by multiple myths — ideas about language that have departed from reality (or what is even plausible). Those myths send us down rabbit holes and make us lose sight of what is truly impressive about Shakespeare — what he did with his words.

The Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's Language project at Lancaster University, deploying large-scale computer analyses, has been transforming what we know about Shakespeare's language. Here, incorporating some of its findings, we revisit five things that you probably thought you knew about Shakespeare but are actually untrue.

1. Shakespeare coined a vast number of words

Well, he did, but not as many as people think — even reputable sources assume more than 1,000. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust puts it at 1,700, but carefully add that this number concerns words whose earliest appearance is in Shakespeare's works.

The word "hobnail" first appears in a text attributed to Shakespeare, but it's difficult to imagine it arose from a creative poetic act. More likely, it was around in the spoken language of the time and Shakespeare's use is the earliest recording of it. Estimates of just how many words Shakespeare supposedly coined do not usually distinguish between what was creatively coined by him and what was first recorded in a written document attributed to him.

Even if you don't make that distinction and include all words that appear first in a work attributed to Shakespeare, whether coined or recorded, numbers are grossly inflated. Working with the literature and linguistics academics Jonathan Hope and Sam Hollands, we've been using computers to search millions of words in texts pre-dating Shakespeare. With this method, we have found that only around 500 words do seem to first appear in Shakespeare........

MSN

"Only" 500

 

[Madmarsha]

Not really but maybe I'll go to the Globe Theatre next week since the musical I really wanted to see isn't playing on the West End.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

On average, I log onto this board at least once per day and it amazes me when I notice all the bumped threads I never saw the first time around.

As stated in the OP, I can't get past all the thous and thees and thys. The closest I've come to appreciating Shakespeare (or any poet) was Baz Lurhmann's Romeo & Juliet.

I don't really know why that is. I've spent an innumerable amount of hours daydreaming (not so much anymore). I think in analogies and I have a habit of using far too many words to describe feelings and events.

Seems like a person of that nature would adore Shakespeare.

But for some reason, (I guess?) I prefer storytelling to be as direct as possible. I don't think I'm a fan of things that are open to interpretation.

Like... say exactly what you mean in the clearest and most direct way possible.

Sometimes I wish I could appreciate the ambiguity in works like poetry.

Do you not like *any* acting? It's all subtext.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Not really but maybe I'll go to the Globe Theatre next week since the musical I really wanted to see isn't playing on the West End.

Zack threw down quite a gauntlet for how posters are supposed to share their vacations with the board
We expect daily reports with pictures- plus cool little cultural differences like what word do the British use for ‘pedicab’?

 

[Madmarsha]

Zack threw down quite a gauntlet for how posters are supposed to share their vacations with the board
We expect daily reports with pictures- plus cool little cultural differences like what word do the British use for ‘pedicab’?

You mean posting on my mobile? Also, don't let me forget to take my brolly.

 

[Madmarsha]

Oh, also, as I am sure we will be doing a lot of walking, I am contemplating taking TWO pairs of trainers. But I should have the luggage space since it's not too cold yet that I need to take any jumpers.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Oh, also, as I am sure we will be doing a lot of walking, I am contemplating taking TWO pairs of trainers. But I should have the luggage space since it's not too cold yet that I need to take any jumpers.

quite

 

[Madmarsha]

quite

You want to tell my smoker husband what they call cigarettes?

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

You want to tell my smoker husband what they call cigarettes?

and spoil the reaction at the tobacconist?

 

[Madmarsha]

and spoil the reaction at the tobacconist?

Spoiler alert: He apparently does know what they call them. He watches more BBC America than I do.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

and spoil the reaction at the tobacconist?

I will not buy this record, it is scratched.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Earlier this year, I spoke to the actor Natasha Magigi, a regular at Shakespeare’s Globe. With the audience crowding close around the stage, she must know exactly when a play is or isn’t landing, I suggested.

“One hundred per cent. You can see the whites of people’s eyes and you can also see when they start to zone out. You can’t pretend that you haven’t said something weird, especially if you catch someone’s eye.”

The conversation made me wonder where audiences and creatives stub their toes on Shakespeare’s plays. Unfamiliar language, outdated ethics, baffling behaviour? We’ve become used to sifting racism or sexism in these texts – but what other problems give people pause in rehearsal or performance?

Blanche McIntyre has been juggling problems in All’s Well That Ends Well, one of the gnarliest of the comedies, currently staged at the Royal Shakespeare Company. “It’s almost as though Shakespeare wrote an anti-romcom,” the director says.

“Every time it seems to be progressing straightforwardly, there’s a sudden turn and everyone is left sprawling in the dust.”

Nonetheless, McIntyre explains, “intractable problems, both of situation and personality, make for juicy drama. You go to watch people going through things that you can’t imagine going through.”

In All’s Well (“famously the play where you don’t like anyone”), the biggest stumbling block is a moral one – Helena, the heroine, beds her crush Bertram by convincing him he’s having sex with someone else.

“The idea of a bed trick is ethically questionable,” McIntyre protests. “It’s essentially a sexual assault: Bertram can’t consent because he doesn’t know who he’s sleeping with. But the play has no problem with the bed trick. The play thinks it’s fine; it even cheers her on.”…….

If there’s one thing worse than Shakespeare’s gore, it’s his comedy. Who hasn’t endured the tumbleweed silence of an audience faced with ancient puns? Both Much Ado and All’s Well contain clown roles that are notoriously hard to animate.

“On the page some of it is woefully uncomic,” Hastie concedes. Casting helps, he reckons, getting “a brilliant comic actor in the room” – in his case Caroline Parker, as the watchman Dogberry……

To be or not to be cancelled: how directors deal with Shakespeare’s problematic side

Misogynist gags? Ancient puns? Unethical bed tricks? Theatre-makers discuss how they tackle the Bard’s trickier works

www.theguardian.com

 

[saintmdterps]

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

Kind of like the Beatles

 

[Optimus Prime]

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

I watched this a couple weeks ago

Couldn’t tell you what made me put it on

It was beautifully shot, black and white isn’t used nearly enough, too many think it’s too old fashioned but it can convey moods and majesty in ways that color can’t

Very well acted

Denzel is a mesmerizing actor even if you don’t understand what he’s saying

And I didn’t

I know enough about the story and saw enough context clues to follow well enough along and get the basic gist of everything

But I found the language just as impenetrable as I always did

 

[Consigliere]

I watched this a couple weeks

Yes it is very good. I always love the Porter scene. "Drink hath three effects upon a man..."