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William Shakespeare
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| Yes | 23% | 268 votes | Total: 1167 votes | |
| No | 77% | 899 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesI'm no scholar, but then I'm not totally ignorant either and I love literature and studied the subject at college. However, I have to admit that I have never managed to get to grips with anything written by William Shakespeare.
I studied Henry 1V part 1' for my A' level exam and was totally bewildered by it. I have to admit that the tutor I had scared the life out of me and I was always terrified to ask for explanations about things I did not understand and I definitely did not understand Shakespeare. After a few weeks of reading the book, she asked us all to tell her which character we liked the best and why. I was totally out of my depth, I did not understand anything about the characters at all, in fact, I did not understand the plot, the words or anything else. Trying to decipher Shakespeare probably cost me a good grade in English Literature, I just could not think of a single positive thing to say about him and his works.
For a start the language he writes in, is long gone. Some of the speeches from his plays are famous, but only parts of them, and some of the speeches are quite beautiful, but as for understanding the language itself it may as well be written in Swahili for all the sense it makes to me.
The plots are tame compared to some of the amazing plots we have in books these days, we have moved on from those days, the words are no longer in use in modern life and do not make for easy reading. I even tried to assist myself by going along to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, which is luckily not very far from where I live, to see a Shakespeare play, acted out on stage by professional actors. I thought this might bring things to life a little, it might help me to understand the reasons why these plays are treated with such reverence and held up as classics, the like of which have never been seen before or since. I almost fell asleep, and I usually love the theatre and go at every available opportunity. In fact, the whole thing was totally disappointing. Visually, watching a play is always exciting because there are costumes and sets to admire, excellent acting to praise and lighting and effects to surprise and delight, but I could not understand the story, and of course, the dialogue did not help at all.
William Shakespeare was original and a genius in his time, but how many hundreds of years ago was that? Why have his works not been updated properly, so that modern people can understand and enjoy them. I think that a lot of snobbery has grown over the years and to admit you do not like Shakespeare immediately brands you an ignorant philistine. Maybe the students of today are misbehaving in our schools because of some of the outmoded, outdated and frankly inappropriate things they are required to learn Shakespeare being one of them.
Leave the original works of William Shakespeare for the true scholars and Shakespeare fans, and update his plays so that the people of the 21st century can understand them and identify with them. Who knows a whole new generation of Shakespeare fans may emerge, making him a modern day hero and bigger than P Diddy !
Learn more about this author, Janet Harris.
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No
Would we even be asking this question if Shakespeare's writing were truly incomprehensible?
Con sider the following:
-Shakespea re wrote his plays during the Renaissance period of England, in the late 16th century. More than four hundred years after, we are still reading and performing Shakespeare's works. Is that a sign of incomprehensibility?
-Shakespeare's works have been translated into nearly every major language of the world, increasing his readership to billions of people over several centuries. That doesn't seem like a sign of incomprehensibility.
-Writers all over the world have been influenced by Shakespeare and have written all types of works that show traces of his language, plot, characters, and even his poetry. Would that happen if his works were incomprehensible?
As a matter of fact, Shakespeare's works have stood the test of great literature and passed all criteria that make works classical. Readers and audiences the world over identify with the familiar themes, plots, and characters in Shakespeare's works. Everyone has met a love-lorn young couple, known a conniving servant, or dealt with an avaricious money-lender. Falling in love and out of love, seeking vengeance or redress, airing grievances and celebrating joys are some of the many situations that people resonate with, all of which are found in Shakespeare's works. How can that be so incomprehensible?
Any one who says Shakespeare's writing is incomprehensible might possibly have a weak grasp of the English language, assuming they are trying to read Shakespeare in English. They might also have attempted to read Shakespeare's writing like fiction. This is probably the biggest mistake a reader can make when imbibing a play. Because the majority of Shakespeare's writing is drama, it is plainly evident that the plays were meant to be acted rather than read, unless the reader is capable of envisioning the scenes enacted in their heads so that the directorial instructions and playwright's comments do not get in the way of understanding the play.
Modern readers must also remember that, the older the version of the play they are reading, the more likely the language will be difficult to understand, simply because of inconsistencies in spelling and the presence of words that are no longer actively used in contemporary English. Nevertheless, the inability to understand a few words in a lengthy text does not deter the ability to comprehend the text in its totality. That should be the attitude in approaching Shakespeare's writing. To understand the total text, especially the characters and their relationships and motivations for doing what they do, is the essence of understanding and appreciating Shakespeare.
To say that Shakespeare's writing is incomprehensible is to say that people and humanity in general are incomprehensible. It is really a matter of not letting a few words get in the way of understanding.
Learn more about this author, Cynthia Lapena.
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