What's the joy in reading Shakespeare unless you are interested in ancient languages or the history of literature? His works were written for the theatre in an unintelligible language.
>UnintelligibleJust buy a version that defines all the old-timey words before every scene
>>18437898>Duuude just use a dictionary for every other word and idiom used in the text.No thanks, I'd rather read Ancient Greek or Latin classics that way instead.
>>18437917>every other wordA high schooler can understand 90% of Shakespeare. You're acting like it's Old English.
>>18437819He's far and away the greatest poet in the English language. If you don't like poetry or literary drama then don't read him. What's the point of this thread? It's like asking "What's the joy in listening to Bach unless you like music?" There isn't, because it's a retarded question and thread.
>>18437819if you can't read Shakespeare then you are illiterate
>>18437928A high schooler can understand the words but not the meaning behind them as they had a different meaning back then. And honestly when there is no flow of the language due to it being alien, there is no poetry in it for me. If you want to study the period I think it's great but pretending they mean anything more than that is laughable.
>>18437947>there is no flow of the language due to it being alien, there is no poetry in it for meYe elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves;And ye that on the sands with printless footDo chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly himWhen he comes back; you demi-puppets thatBy moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastimeIs to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoiceTo hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid—Weak masters though ye be—I have bedimm’dThe noontide sun, call’d forth the mutinous winds,And ’twixt the green sea and the azured vaultSet roaring war: to the dread rattling thunderHave I given fire, and rifted Jove’s stout oakWith his own bolt; the strong-based promontoryHave I made shake, and by the spurs pluck’d upThe pine and cedar: graves at my commandHave waked their sleepers, oped, and let ’em forthBy my so potent art. But this rough magicI here abjure; and, when I have requiredSome heavenly music,—which even now I do,—To work mine end upon their senses, thatThis airy charm is for, I’ll break my staff,Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,And deeper than did ever plummet soundI’ll drown my book.
Boy was under manchurian rule
>>18437819Just read it oh right you fucking can't lmao holy shit.
Just saw a production of Titus Andronicus in NYC last night, it was absolutely amazing. I had no idea how good that play could be.
>>18438303It's Shakespeare's weakest stuff too, imo at least.
overrated. Cervantes was from the same time period and I can understand him just fine
>>18437819He describes human situations and emotions much better than anyone else. They're relatable and profound in equal measure. Like Batman 1989.
>>18437819This is a troll thread but for anyone who is actually interested, Shakespeare is litterally modern English. It's perfectly readable.
Middle school kids with some footnotes or glossary have no trouble with Will. His work was always meant to appeal to a broad spectrum of the popular audience. The aristos got all the sophisticated Latin puns while everyone could laugh at the fart and dick jokes and cheer on the sword fights.
>>18438782>some footnotes or glossaryIt's fiction, not some technical article.
>>18438380this version of it was great, they trimmed it down to 2 hours and played up the humor elements in the script, turning it into essentially a horror-comedy. Also broadway level performers can make anything gold, the actor Patrick Page was Titus and he was 10/10.
>>18437947>A high schooler can understand the words but not the meaning behind themsounds like zen.
>Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?>Thou art more lovely and more temperate:>Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,>And summer’s lease hath all too short a dateUGH! Thee? Thou? Hath? I cannot understand a SINGLE thing this poem says, like GOD!!?!?!
>>18437947>A high schooler can understand the words but not the meaning behind themthank goodness that never otherwise happens right? could you imagine?
>>18437819>Shakespeare>ancient languagesWat.
>>18437819>Its another anon gets filtered by shakespeare threadsigh
>>18439884I think he was raised on the KJV and since the bible is ancient he thinks the KJV language is ancient too.
>>18437947>understand the words but not the meaning behind them as they had a different meaning back thenThe trickiest words in Shakespeare aren’t the weird ones no longer used in modern English but the ones that have changed meaning. “Nice” to us means a sort of bland goodness but in Elizabethan times it meant something kind of sneaky and fake. A footnote, a good teacher or an actor’s expressions can get the meaning across. I’ve done community theater Shakespeare in a midwestern suburb and we don’t have to dumb down the language to entertain the masses.
