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William Shakespeare
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| Yes | 23% | 277 votes | Total: 1182 votes | |
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Add to FavoritesCan Anyone Really Understand Shakespeare?
In my uneducated opinion, the answer is a resounding no. Is it simply a matter of ignorance? Perhaps, yes. The simple fact remains that I have reached adulthood (reached it rather well, too, as I am in middle-adulthood now!) and can honestly say that it bothers me to admit that I still cannot understand the writings of one of the world's most famous literature figures of all time!
A good question to ask: Have I really tried? In my younger days, I did try to understand Shakespeare's plays, and to be quite honest, I have not continued to do so to date because of my complete frustration in my earlier attempts to do so. This is completely my own fault, but is it really? Let me explain.
In the 1990's there was a very cutesy movie that touched upon this very subject that I had the pleasure of watching. It was titled "The Renaissance Man" and starred Danny Devito. I could have been one of his many un-couth students who he attempted to teach Shakespeare to. I actually took some knowledge of the famous Bard away from this helpful movie, but not enough, not by far. I'm afraid I would have failed Devito's class!
The barrier that has held Shakespeare at bay from me since the very beginning has been the old-world language vs. modern English. Being fond of many English authors today, I can still claim some ignorance to their speech vs. my native Americanized version. But I can get through any difficulties that I might have by simply re-reading the line prior to or after the part that has caused a hang up' in my mind. This is not so with the plays of William Shakespeare.
The fact remains and (it truly seems to me) that there are simply too many interpretations in his work for the lay man or woman and that people have been dissecting it since its inception. To this author these constant interpretations have not cleared but rather muddied the waters further, making any hopes of me simply reading his works and enjoying them nearly impossible!
The real pity is that I shall go to my grave not knowing what the great William Shakespeare was saying in his highly acclaimed plays. And that is very sad indeed.
Learn more about this author, Carrington M. Nye.
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No
I believe all of us have had the same experience - sitting, bored silly, with a text of some Shakespeare play perched in restless hands, aware of some classmate trudging through some assigned passage, but not really listening. And then, someone raises their hand and speaks "Mrs._________, why are we reading this? Nobody talks like this! Waste of time, I tell thee!" And, I must admit, I thoroughly agreed. I remember getting into MacBeth one year, but only for about an act or two. No, it is safe to say that I was not a fan of Shakespeare in the beginning.
Years later I went to a bookstore and noticed a large volume on sale. Picking it up, I flipped it over and "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" stared me in the face along with the famous Droeshout engraving of the Bard, showing a balding, timid, somewhat mischievous Bill Shakespeare on the cover. The price was $4.99. I haggled with myself and grudgingly bought it, thinking it would be a good reference book for all the Shakespeare adaptations that come out on film. It lay in the back of my bookshelf for close to a year until one miserable day in university, sick as a dog, I needed something to bore me enough to make me sleepy. I picked up Bill and turned to 'King Lear'. Hours later I was done, and surprised at how much I enjoyed it. As the years went on, I read more and more plays. It wasn't until I started reading some of Shakespeare's buddies and contemporaries - Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe - that I realized how much greater and larger that Shakespeare was...and is.
I am not an English major, nor a literary critic, nor do I profess any heightened talent for writing, reading, and judging literature. Like many others, I have often asked myself why William Shakespeare is still popular. 400 years after his death, aspiring actors dream of playing Hamlet, Lear, Othello or Falstaff. Writers as eminent as John Milton, Sam Johnson, Dostoevsky, Hugo, and many others hold him in very high regard. He is routinely hailed as the greatest playwright in history, certainly the greatest writer in the English language, and by some respected critics such as Harold Bloom he is regarded as the greatest writer in history, period. He actually invented hundreds of words that are still in use today. But is he comprehensible? Does he fit in with these multi-cultural times considering he is (gasp) a white European? The answer is yep.
Shakespeare seems to transcend cultures and nationalities. Bloom recounts how in his travels he has seen Shakespeare performed in many countries, in their own language, with their own unique cultural attributes. Hamlet played by a Japanese transvestite, Lear played by a lesbian, and most astonishing of all - Henry the Fifth played by Kenneth Branagh! Shakespeare seems to have a universal appeal that few writers before or since have attained. His fellow poet and friend Ben Jonson wrote a small preface for the first printed collection of Shakespeare's works, and said of him "He was not of an age, but for all time." Besides acknowledging Shakespeare's talent, he seems to foresee the immense popularity that the Bard would enjoy (then again, maybe Jonson was just feeling guilty because it is rumoured that Shakespeare's death was brought on by a particularly heavy drinking binge the two poets had together. Apparently it was quite a bender).
We see Shakespeare's genius in the words of his greatest characters. Hamlet grows as a character by listening to himself talk. He speaks his inner thoughts - contemplates life, love, sorrow, suicide. He is a philosopher, the scene in the graveyard nearing the end is remarkable for Hamlet's ruminations on the fleeting nature of our existence. One of my favourite passages in the play is Act 5, scene one. Hamlet is talking to Horatio about how no matter what station and position we have in life we all end up the same. Hamlet says "To what base uses we may return, Horatio! Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander [the Great] till 'a find it stopping a bung-hole?" Now, obviously certain semantic changes through time has, well, changed the definition of 'bung-hole', but the passage has power nonetheless.
My advice to anyone who has not bothered with Shakespeare since their student days is to pick up a copy of one of his plays, preferably one of the 'great' ones, and read it. You will find that what you maybe had difficulty comprehending in school, you find his meaning in now. Seeing one of his plays performed live (which I haven't), as long as it is a quality production and well-acted, may be an even better idea. Shakespeare had an understanding of true human nature and motivations that far surpassed any other writer. In this way he is 'larger' than all other writers. Those who complain about him being incomprehensible sound like they are not putting much effort into reading him. "Once more into the breach, dear friends, and please no more Hollywood productions of my plays!"
Learn more about this author, Joseph Broadworth.
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