5 ms·

I thought it was illegal not to have read Hamlet by 21? Seriously though, give it another try. Shakespeare's wide-ranging enough that there's likely to be some

I thought it was illegal not to have read Hamlet by 21? Seriously though, give it another try. Shakespeare's wide-ranging enough that there's likely to be something to your taste. And with his comedies, especially, I'd recommend watching Shakespeare and not reading him- that's how his plays were meant to be experienced. Although it's nice to read an annotated version and discover all the (often dirty) jokes you didn't get. Added benefit to reading Shakespeare: you'll understand about 40% more literary allusions (read the Bible, Ovid, Homer, and Virgil to get the rest).

shiro 10y ago
Grown up in Japan and got into theatre, I've tried a few of Shakespeare (in Japanese translations), but I didn't fully get it---until I came to US and actually read it aloud in English. I agree that it is much more approachable as spoken words.
henrikschroder 10y ago
One thing that never ceases to amaze me is that there are so many succesful modern retellings of his plays. Something about the stories are just timeless. Watch the originals, by all means, but the reimagined ones are not too shabby either: Romeo + Juliet, modern day "Verona Beach" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VBsi0VxiLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VBsi0VxiLg Much Ado About Nothing, set in modern days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnmZc8uoEbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnmZc8uoEbo Hamlet, set in the 1800's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rd74Gniz-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rd74Gniz-A Richard III, set in WW2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXc0-EME0C8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXc0-EME0C8
- ZeroGravitas 10y ago
  His stories were timeless, even when he first wrote them, as they often drew on existing stories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_plays#Source_material_of_the_plays https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_plays#Source_m...
mewse 10y ago
As someone new to Shakespeare, you should definitely start out by watching performances, rather than reading scripts. Until you've absorbed the rhythm and the literary style, it can be very difficult to follow their plots just from a cold reading of the text; particularly for the histories. (And while King Lear is classed as a tragedy, I've personally always felt that it reads more like one of the histories) If you do start reading the scripts for pleasure (which totally is not required!), then it's probably a good idea to start with one which you've seen performed, just to let your brain adapt itself to seeing the words in written form, and to get used to looking back and forth between the text and the annotations, without needing to worry about losing the plot.
- jrapdx3 10y ago
  Over the years I've seen (heard) a lot of Shakespeare plays, and I mostly agree with you. Yes, just reading the play is inadequate because the written form is so bare. Attending a live performance is a much better experience. The dialog is meant to be spoken and to be heard. What I do recommend, and is my own practice, is reading the play before going to the performance. We are especially blessed to read Shakespeare today, the internet is so very helpful. So many versions of every Shakespeare play, most have annotations about Elizabethan language that help the reader make sense of it. Reading AOT makes it much easier to follow what's happening on stage. Even small local productions can be done well, Shakespearean plays were always meant as entertainment, go and enjoy! I think you are right about the classification of the plays, Comedy, Tragedy, etc, don't necessarily fit our modern sensibilities. In Shakespeare's time, "Merchant of Venice" was called a "comedy", but in our era we'd say it's more tragic than not. I'd agree familiarity with the play is more important than its categorization.
  - hudibras 10y ago
    >What I do recommend, and is my own practice, is reading the play before going to the performance. But what about the spoilers?
    - a_humean 10y ago
anexprogrammer 10y ago
I'd highly recommend performances using original pronunciation if you can track some down. It makes a remarkable difference compared to the RP commonly used for Shakespeare. Half the rhymes just don't work in modern English, and especially not in RP English. It took me a little while to tune in to what sounds to modern ears like a heavy West Country (pirate!) accent. That said I found it far easier to enjoy than RP. For a little background on OP, see a 10 min Open University explainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s or this 6 min comparison of a speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-rejaoP7U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-rejaoP7U

shiro 10y ago

Grown up in Japan and got into theatre, I've tried a few of Shakespeare (in Japanese translations), but I didn't fully get it---until I came to US and actually read it aloud in English. I agree that it is much more approachable as spoken words.

henrikschroder 10y ago

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is that there are so many succesful modern retellings of his plays. Something about the stories are just timeless. Watch the originals, by all means, but the reimagined ones are not too shabby either: Romeo + Juliet, modern day "Verona Beach" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VBsi0VxiLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VBsi0VxiLg Much Ado About Nothing, set in modern days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnmZc8uoEbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnmZc8uoEbo Hamlet, set in the 1800's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rd74Gniz-A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rd74Gniz-A Richard III, set in WW2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXc0-EME0C8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXc0-EME0C8

ZeroGravitas 10y ago
His stories were timeless, even when he first wrote them, as they often drew on existing stories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_plays#Source_material_of_the_plays https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_plays#Source_m...

mewse 10y ago

As someone new to Shakespeare, you should definitely start out by watching performances, rather than reading scripts. Until you've absorbed the rhythm and the literary style, it can be very difficult to follow their plots just from a cold reading of the text; particularly for the histories. (And while King Lear is classed as a tragedy, I've personally always felt that it reads more like one of the histories) If you do start reading the scripts for pleasure (which totally is not required!), then it's probably a good idea to start with one which you've seen performed, just to let your brain adapt itself to seeing the words in written form, and to get used to looking back and forth between the text and the annotations, without needing to worry about losing the plot.

jrapdx3 10y ago
Over the years I've seen (heard) a lot of Shakespeare plays, and I mostly agree with you. Yes, just reading the play is inadequate because the written form is so bare. Attending a live performance is a much better experience. The dialog is meant to be spoken and to be heard. What I do recommend, and is my own practice, is reading the play before going to the performance. We are especially blessed to read Shakespeare today, the internet is so very helpful. So many versions of every Shakespeare play, most have annotations about Elizabethan language that help the reader make sense of it. Reading AOT makes it much easier to follow what's happening on stage. Even small local productions can be done well, Shakespearean plays were always meant as entertainment, go and enjoy! I think you are right about the classification of the plays, Comedy, Tragedy, etc, don't necessarily fit our modern sensibilities. In Shakespeare's time, "Merchant of Venice" was called a "comedy", but in our era we'd say it's more tragic than not. I'd agree familiarity with the play is more important than its categorization.
- hudibras 10y ago
  >What I do recommend, and is my own practice, is reading the play before going to the performance. But what about the spoilers?
  - a_humean 10y ago

anexprogrammer 10y ago

I'd highly recommend performances using original pronunciation if you can track some down. It makes a remarkable difference compared to the RP commonly used for Shakespeare. Half the rhymes just don't work in modern English, and especially not in RP English. It took me a little while to tune in to what sounds to modern ears like a heavy West Country (pirate!) accent. That said I found it far easier to enjoy than RP. For a little background on OP, see a 10 min Open University explainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s or this 6 min comparison of a speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-rejaoP7U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-rejaoP7U