4 ms·

I never much appreciated Shakespeare at school. Maybe I was just too young; I'm glad I took another look in later life.

by alimw 9y ago

pbhjpbhj 9y ago
There's a lot of depth in it that doesn't get touched in schools - like how references to "nothing" are sometimes references to female sex-organs, as in Much A-do About Nothing. At school we _read_ the plays; unless you're familiar with the story and action I can't think of a more surefire way to be put off.
- SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
  No kidding we get told to read these works for class without really having the tools to appreciate them. Another example of this is reading The Catcher in the Rye while in high school. The problem with this book for a teen is that theyre as a whole not far enough removed from the angst of Holdon's character to see the bigger picture. To a teen Holdon is this exaggeration of their worst characteristics and, this is extra relevant for the AP and honors students who tend to read Salinger, a literally manifest of their most annoying and disruptive classmates. Getting over this is a lot to ask a teenager. However removed from a teenage perspective it's much easier to see why the book is well regarded. It depicts a kid broken by the loss of his sister and broken by the abuse handed down to him from his caretakers. Being unlike Holden just makes it so much easier to empathize with him.
  - watwut 9y ago
    There might be something on that. I found The Catcher in the Rye enjoyable and fun to read when I was at high school. However, I really disliked whenever people said that the character was supposed to talk for me or that I was supposed to identify with him. I was not like that at all, most my schoolmates were not like that at all. Non of them actually, we were selective school. He would not get in. Only minority of kids is like him and I considered the implication unfair. It was well written story of someone who is not like me at all that gave me a bit of inside into his head. That was cool. Essays and teachers and what not assuming or framing it as a book that is supposed to talk for me were not cool.
- mbubb 9y ago
  Or the use of 'nothing' in Lear which is much darker. This is the alternation in Shakespeare from bad, bawdy pun to the abyss and back again

I never much appreciated Shakespeare at school. Maybe I was just too young; I'm glad I took another look in later life.

by alimw 9y ago

I never much appreciated Shakespeare at school. Maybe I was just too young; I'm glad I took another look in later life.

There's a lot of depth in it that doesn't get touched in schools - like how references to "nothing" are sometimes references to female sex-organs, as in Much A-do About Nothing. At school we _read_ the plays; unless you're familiar with the story and action I can't think of a more surefire way to be put off.

SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
No kidding we get told to read these works for class without really having the tools to appreciate them. Another example of this is reading The Catcher in the Rye while in high school. The problem with this book for a teen is that theyre as a whole not far enough removed from the angst of Holdon's character to see the bigger picture. To a teen Holdon is this exaggeration of their worst characteristics and, this is extra relevant for the AP and honors students who tend to read Salinger, a literally manifest of their most annoying and disruptive classmates. Getting over this is a lot to ask a teenager. However removed from a teenage perspective it's much easier to see why the book is well regarded. It depicts a kid broken by the loss of his sister and broken by the abuse handed down to him from his caretakers. Being unlike Holden just makes it so much easier to empathize with him.
- watwut 9y ago
  There might be something on that. I found The Catcher in the Rye enjoyable and fun to read when I was at high school. However, I really disliked whenever people said that the character was supposed to talk for me or that I was supposed to identify with him. I was not like that at all, most my schoolmates were not like that at all. Non of them actually, we were selective school. He would not get in. Only minority of kids is like him and I considered the implication unfair. It was well written story of someone who is not like me at all that gave me a bit of inside into his head. That was cool. Essays and teachers and what not assuming or framing it as a book that is supposed to talk for me were not cool.
mbubb 9y ago
Or the use of 'nothing' in Lear which is much darker. This is the alternation in Shakespeare from bad, bawdy pun to the abyss and back again