Shakespeare - crap or great?

[Coco H]

Shakespear is up there with Moliere in my opinion and I agree I prefer to see them performed.

[Trophybloo]

Absolutely essential if you want to know where so much of modern english started.
If you have a spare fiver (cost of the 'groundling' admission) get along to the Globe on the South Bank and see the current production of Taming of the Shrew, as bawdy as the Bard intended. The current Hank 5 isn't bad either.

[Silver]

Seeing them performed really brings them to life. Last year I saw Hamlet performed in a crypt and it was breathtaking.

I've always really liked Shakespeare's characterisation - some of them are flawed, stupid and mental but somehow he makes them real and you can't quite hate them.

[silverthorn2151]

Went to see Timon of Athens at The National last night.

It's one of the more obscure and lessor known works. The dialogue would be incomprehensible if you were reading but watching it interpreted and deklivered with the correct intonation and emphasis made it pretty easy to follow (like most Shakespeare).

Sadly it's hideously dull story dragged out to 2 1/2 hours about the power of wealth to corrupt ans the shallow nature of some relationships. Good production and some great performances though.

Back to the OP though, the answer has to be great, but great doesn't always mean fantastic.

[DJRC]

ali_kat said:

MorrisCRX said:

It's the force feeding thats done in schools that ruins it for those like my self.

I've seen the tempest performed and I'm sure the rest are great in the medium they're supposed to be presented. (not sure that sentence made sense..)

Printed, they're of no interest to me.

Exactly this

I've seen most of them performed now at the RSC (sometimes living in the sticks has advantages), usually without the 'Stars' in them, but Shakespeare doesn't need 'Stars', it needs actors (not always the same )

The Taming of the Shrew is my favourite

So many of his plays are the basis for 'modern' films & very few have any idea!

How did I miss this post???

Well it made me smile

With regards to the original question...the Bard was a genius and I love much of his work. Romeo and Juliet is complete tripe though.

Edited by DJRC on Monday 24th September 16:23

[Bradgate]

One of the reasons why Shakespeare's plays are so much better when performed than read is that the performances are often edited. Done well, the editing process tightens up the plot, keeps the story moving and enhances the audience's enjoyment.

[Silver]

Bradgate said:

One of the reasons why Shakespeare's plays are so much better when performed than read is that the performances are often edited. Done well, the editing process tightens up the plot, keeps the story moving and enhances the audience's enjoyment.

True, though I think as well that as the plays are written in a way which most people are unaccustomed to reading, it can be hard to get a good sense of plot and characters. That's not to say that people are stupid and can't read properly etc etc but when you're used to reading novels, plays and poetry are harder to get your head around.

Performances allow the audience to see the motivations, emotions and character traits which they might not pick up from the written plays.

[rumple]

I think Shakespeare is arse, but ive never seen it performed and despite being a big reader have never completed a play, im willinjg to admit this is owing to my ignorence, one day ill have a proper bash, what would anyone recomend i start with.

[mattnunn]

rumple said:

what would anyone recomend i start with.

A spell checker?

[XTR2Turbo]

I hated English Lit at school. It was my worst subject and I scraped a 'C' but never understood why it was being forced on us. At the time it just seemed like studying Eastenders in a few hundred years time. I don't think the personality of the teacher helped either.

There are many other aspects of English history or culture that I think merit equal or even higher justification to be studied. I would have much rather studied ancient English engineering or architecture.

I probably should make an effort but being so put off it all at a young age has never given me the inclination to give it a second go, especially when there are so many other things I also don't have time for that I know I will enjoy.

David

Edited by XTR2Turbo on Tuesday 25th September 21:01

[jjones]

hated it at school, supposedly Shakespear's school also

[coppice]

rumple said:

I think Shakespeare is arse, but ive never seen it performed and despite being a big reader have never completed a play, im willinjg to admit this is owing to my ignorence, one day ill have a proper bash, what would anyone recomend i start with.

I don't recommend you read one- except very briefly to get the plot sorted. Then see it live - and by a good company like RSC. You will no longer dislike Shakespeare, or you are a beyond hope philistine. If I had to recommend one it would be The Tempest

[oj121]

Problem I find with WS is the over analysing of the subject matter. In this line he says this but he means this by doing this......

No he didnt! He was a play write that was making 'popular' plays to earn money. Yes he may have been the best/most famous at what he was doing but please quit with this reading inbetween the lines to the millionth degree.

[coppice]

He was a playwright who earned his living from his work - yes. And his work can be read at different levels - this may not be for you but don't knock it- much of his work absolutely merits analysis and discussion- and has been subject to this for centuries. . Just stick with the basic plot and enjoy that eh ?

[VinceFox]

Outstanding stuff, ruined by being over taught.

Bloke i used to work with killed Blade Runner for an entire generation of students by making them deconstruct and study it to death, you can do it to anything if you aren't careful.

[oj121]

coppice said:

He was a playwright who earned his living from his work - yes. And his work can be read at different levels - this may not be for you but don't knock it- much of his work absolutely merits analysis and discussion- and has been subject to this for centuries. . Just stick with the basic plot and enjoy that eh ?

Nice being condescending! But who are you or anyone else to say he means this, he wrote that because of this, by saying this he means......
He wrote what he wrote and he he chose those words and phrases to make the play the best it could be in order to earn maximum money. He didnt write it so in hundreds of years time people could sit and try and decipher some unwritten code of meaning hidden within the lines. I dont like plays but thats my personal opinion. Im not knocking or arguing that he may or may not have been a great playwrite. By all accounts he must have been. But this rediculous over analysing of simple plrases is rediculous. You could use that level of disection on any piece of writing ever completed. The only person that knows what and why it was written is the person that wrote it and the reason it was written in that way was to achieve their goal of the piece. For Shakespeare surely that was money and fame and not to make someone feel superior by talking jibberish about the meanings of phrases hundreds of years later?!?!?!

[coppice]

If I had wanted to be condescending I might have started with your spelling. Look- if you had studied English literature(I assume you haven't- nothing wrong with that but ignorance rarely works when used to justify an argument) then you might have learned that along with many other greats Shakespeare can be read at many levels because great writing often encompasses several themes ; you might think WS was some sort of Elizabethan Simon Cowell figure but he was a bit more sophisticated - even though his number one single count is lamentable compared to the high trousered one.

[rumple]

mattnunn said:

rumple said:

what would anyone recomend i start with.

A spell checker?

Any other suggestions, I cant find that anywhere on Amazon.

[kuzushi]

Shakespeare is beyond great. He is awesome. His impact on the English language is colossal. The richness of his language drips from every page: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this Son of York..." He was a genius.

[CLINCHY2]

i would recommend a trip to Shakespeare county race way, and whilst you enjoy a good days drag racing you can ponder the hardest leterary question of all which one is best !