Do you like Shakespeare? (4 Viewers)

[Saintman2884]

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

Macbeth and the Tragedy of Julius Ceaser are just two of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays, but they seem to be a little more relatable, and perhaps more understanding of all the characters' motives, plots settings, roles and minor/major story arcs like how Lady Macbeth is really the major mover-and-shaker behind the scenes where Macbeth convinces her husband he should kill the king, crown himself and to lift up his uneasy conscience, he continually goes to the three witches to get assurances he won't die or be killed in retaliation.

If you really take the time to step back and view Macbeth from the perspective of the three witches introduced at the play's very beginning, one gets the sense they have no really political/power interests in either side to their benefit, nor do they care, Macbeth is almost a "useful idiot" to them, whispering murderous power-grab schemes in his ears that they know he secretly covets and wants. Then they just sit back and watch all the chaos unfold and unwind, the countless bloodshed and murders comment on it, like they've joined us, the readers and or audiences, as spectators.

 

[Yatman]

I will not buy this record, it is scratched.

my hovercraft is full of eels

 

[Scorpius the Allfather]

"One doth not simply love Shakespeare, one merely longs to embrace the radiating luminance of excellence." - Scorpius
So not exactly true, I just wanted to say something that sounded cool.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

"One doth not simply love Shakespeare, one merely longs to embrace the radiating luminance of excellence." - Scorpius
So not exactly true, I just wanted to say something that sounded cool.

 

[Scorpius the Allfather]

Hardy har har.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Romeo and Juliet is a farcical black comedy.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Feels like this should be bumped

 

[Optimus Prime]

Was there a contemporary of Shakespeare’s, whose work was just as well received that for whatever reason history more or Jess forgot about?

 

[Sun Wukong]

Was there a contemporary of Shakespeare’s, whose work was just as well received that for whatever reason history more or Jess forgot about?

Ben Jonson was at least Shakespeare's equal during that time in terms of popularity but, while remembered, is nowhere near as celebrated today. He was more of a satirist and his work fell out of favor during the rise of Romanticism while Shakespeare's work became more popular.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Ben Jonson was at least Shakespeare's equal during that time in terms of popularity but, while remembered, is nowhere near as celebrated today.

Any theories on why that is?

as simple/petty as Ben Johnson doesn’t sound nearly as historically grand as William Shakespeare?

and I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard that name before

 

[Sun Wukong]

Any theories on why that is?

as simple/petty as Ben Johnson doesn’t sound nearly as historically grand as William Shakespeare?

and I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard that name before

I edited my post just before you replied with a little more detail on why.

tl;dr, blame the romantics.

 

[Saintman2884]

Was there a contemporary of Shakespeare’s, whose work was just as well received that for whatever reason history more or Jess forgot about?

Marlowe, he was a well-liked, well-known, respected and highly literate author, playwright who introduced a young William Shakespeare to the crude, often dirty but fresh and thriving late Elizabethan 16th century London stage scene. A lot of the actors(actresses werent allowed to be played on-stage until Queen Elizabeth I's time)/actresses that became famous later on in Shakespeare's plays, at the Globe Theater. He also was and has been seen and viewed as a menacing, shadowy figure with an interest in the occult, black magic, very, very anti-clerical in his religious views, much more radical in his views on politics, religion and philosophy as well as expressing his themes, concepts in his works. His biggest, most well-known novel was Faust, but without Christopher Marlowe, more then likely, a young, provincial lad like William Shakespear (his actual real name) would've gotten lost, bewildered, and eventually wouldve given up his artistic protentions and gone back home to live a more simpler life. Marlowe helped create William Shakespeare and develop his career at the very crucial, initial stages.

British historians, to this day, aren't exactly sure on the circumstances, series or chronology of events or people involved that led to Marlowe's death or IMHO, murder because he was murdered. He had some powerful friends and equally powerful enemies, could have been one of Walsingham's fiends or spies working in concert with Elizabeth I's coutriers? Or perhaps he was assassinated by someone connected to a powerful English Catholic Lord or family?

 

[Saintman2884]

Ben Jonson was at least Shakespeare's equal during that time in terms of popularity but, while remembered, is nowhere near as celebrated today. He was more of a satirist and his work fell out of favor during the rise of Romanticism while Shakespeare's work became more popular.

I know they were political philosophers during and after Shakespeare'a time, but Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes works were far above the quality, depth and intellectual innovation in terms of substantiative material than anything Shakespeare ever wrote. If one reads Machiavelli's The Prince or the Chronicles, ideas and themes are amazingly simple, clear, straight-to-the-point, and razor sharp in his socio-political analysis or commentaries in contrast to a lot of Shakespeare's turgid, cumbersome prose in his plays.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Any theories on why that is?

as simple/petty as Ben Johnson doesn’t sound nearly as historically grand as William Shakespeare?

and I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard that name before

The Crucible wasn’t even in the top 10 of shows when it opened in 1953
(Many plays that we consider great today only became popular in their revivals )
It’s fun to theorize about why one thing succeeds and another ‘equal’ thing doesn’t- but usually there’s no discernible rhyme or reason

 

[Sun Wukong]

I know they were political philosophers during and after Shakespeare'a time, but Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes works were far above the quality, depth and intellectual innovation in terms of substantiative material than anything Shakespeare ever wrote. If one reads Machiavelli's The Prince or the Chronicles, ideas and themes are amazingly simple, clear, straight-to-the-point, and razor sharp in his socio-political analysis or commentaries in contrast to a lot of Shakespeare's turgid, cumbersome prose in his

Apples and oranges. They weren't remotely writing for similar audiences or even in similar mediums (popular plays to be watched versus books to be read by the educated elite).