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| Yes | 24% | 292 votes | Total: 1215 votes | |
| No | 76% | 923 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWilliam Shakespeare is one of the greatest playwrights of all times. His plays are
popular across the globe, translated in to different languages and enacted as well. The plots and characters of few plays are so fascinating, that movies are made based on its storyline. The plays though intriguing in nature, yet not a casual reading. Reason being, firstly Shakespearean dramas are poetic in nature; with so many metaphors, soliloquy and euphemism, that a person should be an authority in English Language to comprehend it.
Secondly his writings dates back to sixteenth century, since then the English Language have evolved, just like everything to present day modern style, which we are familiar with. The English which we use today is more structured and lucid.
Shakespeare's plays remind me of my school days. His writings were part of the school curriculum since grade six. I remember studying the book titled "Sixteen Tales from Shakespeare". It is an abridged version of sixteen most popular plays of Shakespeare, in prose.
In my tenth and twelfth grade, I studied Julius Caesar and Macbeth, the original play, as English Literature curriculum. Though we are introduced quite early to Shakespearean style and character, his original plays are difficult to grasp. The play is divided in to Acts and each Act has several Scenes. I remember learning by heart, speeches from Macbeth and Julius Caesar, quoting the same in answers to score good grades.
The speeches which are more like poetic verses are recited in Elocution.
"All the world's a stage" from the play "As you Like it" (Act11 Scene 7)
is quite famous speech and meaningful too. It describes the seven stages in a man's life.
For me as a student, the original Shakespeare's plays were never easy to understand. I must thank my teachers who explained all the speeches, with hidden meanings and context, in simple English.
English is the most universally spoken and read language, but in each country it is different, be it accent, sentence structure or spellings of simple words, all vary.
There is a stark difference between British and American. British English is formal in style whereas American English there is lot of slang usage, skipping of syllables and even the spellings differ of several common words.
I am a science graduate, having not much knowledge of English Literature, got introduced to Shakespearean dramas while in school.
I conclude Shakespeare's plays are far from leisure reading, if somebody reads and enjoys original Shakespeare's writings then he is a genius.
Learn more about this author, Tanu Bhandari.
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No
Hard? Yes.
Incomprehensible ? No.
It takes a little work, a lot of practice and a really good dictionary but you too can fully understand Shakespeare. Here's how:
Make it modern.
It's important to remember that when Shakespeare worked on his plays, he was not writing in an archaic, foreign, hard to understand language. He was writing in the English of the time. Modern English. It seems foreign because language and sentence structure have evolved over the centuries. Granted, people were not running around speaking in iambic pentameter and a lot of what he wrote has a heightened style with poetic imagery. Shakespeare also used words that were unfamiliar to his own audience mostly because he made them up - words that are still in our vocabulary such as aerial, mimic, and zany. But for the most part, his audience was the common man. When they watched 'Romeo and Juliet,' 'Taming of the Shrew', and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' Shakespeare's audience heard modern English.
To that end, one way to fully understand Shakespeare is to make it modern. 21st century modern English. Write out a modern equivalent to the text. Think those modern words as you read Shakespeare's and it will begin to make sense.
The next thing to consider is that while language has changed, emotions haven't. Shakespeare's characters feel love, jealousy, pride, greed just as modern characters do. If you can pinpoint the emotion in the text, that's a lot more significant than understanding every single word. When you understand the emotion of a text, you understand character motivation, drive, action. You understand the play as a whole.
A good dictionary is your friend.
Many of the difficulties with understanding Shakespeare stems from the use of unfamiliar words. It's easy to comprehend why that would be frustrating at first glance. The solution for this is pretty simple, grab a good dictionary and find out what each of those unfamiliar words means. You'll need one with archaic definitions; some word definitions have evolved over time, which can also lead to confusion when trying to understand what Shakespeare is trying to say. Here's a great example:
In the 21st century the word 'presently' means: soon.
In Shakespeare's time 'presently' means: immediately. Right now.
The distinction gives a much different tone and a very specific emotion to this line from 'Romeo and Juliet':
'Do thou but call my resolution wise, And with this knife I'll help it presently.'
Juliet is talking to Friar Lawrence after learning of Romeo's banishment. She's ready to kill herself 'immediately' if they can't be together.
Take your time and figure out the right definition for every unfamiliar word. Is it going to be quick? No. But it will help to part the fog that is Shakespeare.
Speak Shakespeare, don't read it.
Shakespeare was never meant to be read silently. This is one of the issues with including Shakespeare on an English curriculum: It's taught as a novel and not as a play. Add to that the number of teachers who hate the Bard as much as their students! It's no wonder there is an ongoing campaign to remove Shakespeare from schools.
Shakespeare should be spoken aloud, performed, heard, felt. That's when all the puzzle pieces of understanding Shakespeare will fall into place. Again it's not easy. Start small, start with one line at a time. Repeat it over and over till it feels comfortable. Define the unfamiliar words, write a modern equivilent to the line. Think of the modern words as you say the Shakespeare words. Shout it. Whisper it. Solidify the emotion.
Before you know it, you'll understand Shakespeare as if you've been reading him your whole life.
Learn more about this author, Lindsay Price.
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