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Note: the assertion that the experience of plague caused Shakespeare to change the ending of King Lear is really just speculation by one scholar. The evidence i

Note: the assertion that the experience of plague caused Shakespeare to change the ending of King Lear is really just speculation by one scholar. The evidence is circumstantial in the extreme. We know rather little about Shakespeare’s biography or inner life, and after two centuries of people combing over every scrap of archival evidence they can find we are not likely to discover much more. Which is fine by me really - just read the plays! But it doesn’t prevent these kinds of rather clickbaity claims to have uncovered something.

ghaff 6y ago
I'm by no means a Shakespearean scholar but, in the context of his many earlier tragedies, wouldn't Lear with a happy ending have been something of an outlier? >just read the plays! And watch them!
- bryanrasmussen 6y ago
  The play that Lear was based off of had a happy ending, and Shakespeare had obviously written things that were not tragedies, but yes if he said this one's a tragedy you were guaranteed lots of death and misery.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    But with some exceptions (perhaps most notably his late The Tempest), the elements of his plays mostly categorize them as either tragedies or comedies. Not to suggest there's no ambiguity though and certainly the fact that the source material differed from his play does at least raise some question.
mav3rick 6y ago
Can you suggest a plain English adaption of his works ?
- mistrial9 6y ago
  I read some Shakespeare in class with a book that had translation notes on every page.. one page of play and one page of notes.. every page. The language is strange to everyone, which is part of what makes it "magical" sometimes ! It really is made to be performed, and often makes awkward reading I think. Lots of the drama is based on the personalities of the actors and actresses.. Some people make a show of learning the lines and shouting and such, which to me, is part of learning.. Plain language text in a book would lose almost all of that.. perhaps find a video to try?
- jfengel 6y ago
  I don't think a plain English adaptation is very helpful. His work isn't about the story, but the language. The work is poetry, both literally and figuratively, and a plain English adaptation is like somebody telling you about their favorite song. Better, I think, is to see a good film adaptation. Shakespeare was never intended to be read, but to be performed. There's a lot in the text that isn't apparent until you've studied it closely, but a good performance will bring it right out in the open. A few films that I'd suggest to get started with: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_(1989_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_(1989_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing_(1993_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing_(1993_f... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(1995_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(1995_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolanus_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolanus_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_%2B_Juliet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_%2B_Juliet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(2000_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(2000_film) These are all good, accessible versions of his plays. You don't need to be an expert to understand and enjoy them. (They're very roughly in order of my favorites, if that matters to you.) I won't guarantee you'll like them. There's really nothing wrong with that. People get snobby about Shakespeare, and they shouldn't. It's OK to say, "Yeah, it's not for me". But under all the snobbery, there really is great text and great performances that people genuinely enjoy. If you're interested in that, these films are the places I'd start.
  - ghaff 6y ago

ghaff 6y ago

I'm by no means a Shakespearean scholar but, in the context of his many earlier tragedies, wouldn't Lear with a happy ending have been something of an outlier? >just read the plays! And watch them!

bryanrasmussen 6y ago
The play that Lear was based off of had a happy ending, and Shakespeare had obviously written things that were not tragedies, but yes if he said this one's a tragedy you were guaranteed lots of death and misery.
- ghaff 6y ago
  But with some exceptions (perhaps most notably his late The Tempest), the elements of his plays mostly categorize them as either tragedies or comedies. Not to suggest there's no ambiguity though and certainly the fact that the source material differed from his play does at least raise some question.

mav3rick 6y ago

Can you suggest a plain English adaption of his works ?

mistrial9 6y ago
I read some Shakespeare in class with a book that had translation notes on every page.. one page of play and one page of notes.. every page. The language is strange to everyone, which is part of what makes it "magical" sometimes ! It really is made to be performed, and often makes awkward reading I think. Lots of the drama is based on the personalities of the actors and actresses.. Some people make a show of learning the lines and shouting and such, which to me, is part of learning.. Plain language text in a book would lose almost all of that.. perhaps find a video to try?
jfengel 6y ago
I don't think a plain English adaptation is very helpful. His work isn't about the story, but the language. The work is poetry, both literally and figuratively, and a plain English adaptation is like somebody telling you about their favorite song. Better, I think, is to see a good film adaptation. Shakespeare was never intended to be read, but to be performed. There's a lot in the text that isn't apparent until you've studied it closely, but a good performance will bring it right out in the open. A few films that I'd suggest to get started with: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_(1989_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_(1989_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing_(1993_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Ado_About_Nothing_(1993_f... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(1995_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_(1995_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolanus_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolanus_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_%2B_Juliet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_%2B_Juliet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(2000_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(2000_film) These are all good, accessible versions of his plays. You don't need to be an expert to understand and enjoy them. (They're very roughly in order of my favorites, if that matters to you.) I won't guarantee you'll like them. There's really nothing wrong with that. People get snobby about Shakespeare, and they shouldn't. It's OK to say, "Yeah, it's not for me". But under all the snobbery, there really is great text and great performances that people genuinely enjoy. If you're interested in that, these films are the places I'd start.
- ghaff 6y ago