Night Elf Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Okay, I'm not enjoying Shakespeare. Sorry, I'm just not. I read Julius Caesar and the story just ticked me off. Plus, I couldn't read it the way it was written. If it wasn't for Spark Notes and No Fear, I wouldn't have read it at all. And for the Shakespeare challenge, we started with A Midsummer Night's Dream. What a stupid story! I lost interest and couldn't bear to bring myself to finish it. If it was a current story, I would take it back to the library or if I owned it, I would give it to Goodwill. I'm not holding my breath that I'll continue this challenge. I just can't help but wonder why these stories are supposed to be all that. I'm missing something big time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Get a Folger Library edition and read Merchant of Venice or Twelfth Night. They are both very funny. Have you done any study of Shakespeare's language? I iambic parameter, wordplay, and pronunciation? It helps with reading and understanding. I like the Folger books because they give a mini synopsis of each scene and define the really odd words and phrases. It gives you room to enjoy the language and poetry. The more you read, the easier they get. The stories are not in themselves amazing, it is the beautiful language and fantastic play on words that make the plays. You read Shakespeare for the language. It is also best read aloud. They are plays, plays are meant to be heard. Find someone to read with, it makes a high difference! MacBeth is good if you want a tragedy, as is Hamlet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 :lol: I listened to an abridged version of Midsummer Night's Dream a few years ago and thought it was a stupid story. I am still going to try the original, though. I'm determined to learn to like Shakespeare if it is at all possible! I've been watching a documentary series on Shakespeare and the occasional scene performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company are acted so wonderfully I am convinced they could make me like even MND! Stick with it, Beth. You and I can be the whingers. We'll make everyone work hard to convince us it's great. It'll be good for them. :tongue_smilie: Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 They are meant to be seen and heard as plays, not read. Reading/study is best done after enjoying a live or recorded presentation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 Stick with it, Beth. You and I can be the whingers. We'll make everyone work hard to convince us it's great. It'll be good for them. :tongue_smilie: Rosie :lol: That sounds like a whole different group challenge! I don't have anyone to read aloud with. DH has zero interest in Shakespeare and the kids would look at me like I have 2 heads if I even suggested it. I find it really difficult to enjoy the poetry of language when the language doesn't make sense. I read it as translated and it no longer has that beauty I guess. I might as well be reading something in Russian. I'm a terrible English student. I just want to curl up with my Aunt Dimity and Cat Who books. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 They are meant to be seen and heard as plays, not read. Reading/study is best done after enjoying a live or recorded presentation. :iagree: This afternoon I was watching a video of Hamlet with my 14 y/o and it was absolutely fantastic. Subtitles helped, too. What a fabulous language. And I agree: Shakespeare is NOT about the storyline itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I hate Romeo and Juliet, but what is the Shakespeare challenge?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I like watching Shakespeare plays much more than reading them. Just as I am sure I would with any tv show now too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Oh, are we just talking about Shakespeare we hate, then? Romeo and Juliet blows. I'm directing a production of Dream this summer. Dh was quite against it. He kept lobbying for something else, but Dream has lots of roles and fairies. Let's just face it. Little girls want to be fairies. But to get in the mood, I watched the '68 RSC movie with Helen Mirren and Diana Rigg and... well, bajillions of other famous actors... and it was done all psychedelic creepy style, which really turned me off and is probably not appropriate for elementary school actors. Also, they cut much of the bit in Act One where Helena is moaning and wants to know how Hermia won Demetrius's heart and Hermia's like, well, I treat him like crap and it seems to do it. I think that's one of those bits that's potentially really funny. Also all the mix-ups, if done very slapstick have a lot of humor. But I'll admit that it's not the bard's very best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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