Shakespeare

A lot of people I know are daunted by things written by Shakespear. I personally think Shakespeare was a player. He knew all the right things to say, and how to present it. He also left room for the actors to express what they thought a Soliloquy might mean. His comical plays are back breaking if you understand it. Twelfth night was performed last year, and with the right actors it was hilarious. One of my favorite poems by Shakespeare is My mistress' eyes. Here are a few lines from the poem. " And in some perfumes is there delight, Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That Music hath a more pleasing sound.

Comments

[Polly G.]

I think Shakespeare often presents insightful ideas, but they can be difficult to interpret. However, once his meanings are discovered, the points he addresses are intriguing. His works challenging but at the same time offer an intellectual puzzle that asks to be solved.

[Selena P.]

Do you think Shakespeare is only one person? I wonder. If you read 12th Nite and A Comedy of Errors, they are almost the same story.

[Eliezah D]

Usually, when I read Shakespeare (ha, usually--more like that one time sophomore year when "Hamlet" was forced down my throat by an awful student teacher) I don't understand it the first time through, or the second, or the third, and so on. But, I've come to find that when I actually turn my brain on, Shakespeare really is interesting to interpret. And yes, I'll agree with you, sometimes even funny. Hopefully "King Lear" will be good, once we get past the fact that it's as dense as 7-layer chocolate cake.

[Matt E]

Maybe it's because it's 1:58 in the morning but the 7-layer cake comment was a great comparison. Reading Shakespeare was like reading GOST (or vice versa) they both seem to have their own language. A great deal of his work was fun to analyze. I especially liked the video we watched sophomore year about the Shakespeare conspiracy theory. As for reading "King Lear"...not looking forward to it.

[lucianarez]

Well, honestly, I'm not very good at deciphering a Shakesperean play, or analyzing one of his poems but I must admit that if I really (and I mean reeeally) take the time to pick at his work, it's truly amazing.
The problem with this is that there isn't enough time in school to analyze one of his works so thoroughly that the entire story is clear and therefore magnificent.
This is why I am only fascinated with parts of his plays and wish I had the patience and insight to analyze them as a whole. And why do I have a feeling that King Lear will only add to my collection of Shakesperean bits and pieces?

[Kristopher RT]

I personally don't think that Shakespeare is as big a pain as people make him out to be. Sure, his wording is complex and a lot of the time difficult, but its his style, part of what makes him who is, and you either love it or hate. That said, I wanna make a throwback to last year. We studied several conspiracy theories surrounding Shakespeare, the most important being that supposedly he didn't write any of his work, but that it was done by a man named Marlowe, who faked his death and continued his writing through Shakespeare. Crazy huh?

[StephL.]

I'm currently in the Shakespeare class, and I have grown to LOVE Shakespeare. It's so weird, we are on our 4th play this semester and I have come to understand Shakespeare's plays and the meaning they convey. Once you get into his language, and try acting it out and seeing what each scene is about, it's sooo easy. Also, looking up words you don't understand as you go through helps.Even though there are many plays that are very similar, such as Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing, it doesnt matter. It is his words that draw people to his plays. But, I must say that I am really excited to read King Lear because I've never read it before and I heard it's one of his best. But I dont know if it can compare to Othello. We'll have to see.

p.s. I heart Iago.

[CamilleG]

I am very inspired by many of Shakespeare's writings, as well as plays. I wasn't able to catch the 12th Night, however understand where you're coming from. Eliezah's comment about the 7-layer cake was right on the money. Often times, with me atleast, Shakespeare's talent is hidden behind the many level's of difficulty of interpreting his works. I find it very frustrating, to the point of just reading the Sparknotes. However, once you get to that point in his novels, when you can actually understand what's going on, the feeling of triumph is amazing. Regardless, I'm definitley not looking for to King Lear, especially not right before the holidays. Like we don't have enough stress in our lives, and anyways "senior year's the easiest year". Ha, that's funny, whoever said that has a lot of explaining to do.

[JaimeB]

I am with Camille- reading King Lear isn't seeming too exciting to me right now. I've enjoyed reading Shakespear in the past, but I'm just not really in the mood. Hopefully once we start reading I'll be able to dive in somehow because reading some thing you're not committed to is the absolute worst. Although Sephanie's comment gives me some hope!