What is your opinion of Shakespeare?

[Gecko of Gorn]

Titus Andronicus is stunning - it's like Stephen King, Jackie Collins and Thomas Harris all rolled into one writing for The Bold and The Beautiful.

You just can't get plots like that any more

Effin' A!

I would die to know what was going through S's mind when he wrote it.

I mean, it's seriously f!#$ed up stuff- feeding his enemy her sons with maddened glee, slaying his own daughter before his enemies and let's not forget self dismemberments left right and centre. And that's just the broadstrokes, as you know.

Was he dumped or something?

But damn, isn't it compelling!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'm a huge fan of Francis Bacon.

 

[thestrangequark]

I'm a huge fan of Francis Bacon.

He said my favorite quote, "There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion."

 

[gturner]

Shakespeare made money from real-estate investments, which is why he wasn't a starving artist.

The best guide to Shakespeare's English is still Edwin Abbott's 1870 work, A Shakespearean grammar. Abbott also wrote Flatland, the first book about a two-dimensional universe. Abbott's book on Shakespeare's language is probably as fascinating as any of Shakespeare's plays.

 

[stj]

Tamburlaine makes Titus Andronicus look puerile. And, judging from one son's rejection of Tamburlaine, the glorification of Tamburlaine's power is meant to be read as irony. Shakespearean irony, so far as I remember, is largely put in by actors who can't play The Taming of the Shrew as written. Titus Andronicus is just about enjoying bloodshed. And of course the Moor is main villian.

The historical records extant seem to show that the money for the investments came from the partnership in the theater.

 

[Willieck]

Although I kicked this one off I would the first to admit that I find reading Shakespeare a little hard going although there have been some excellent films such Richard III, The Taming of the Shrew etc.

As JiNX-01 points out it is amazing how much Shakespeare we know without realising it.

I agree that the frequent antipathy towards WS is often caused by the way he is taught in school and a good teacher will inspire his pupils to look beyond the difficult language and see the greater whole. I had to "read" one of his plays for my GCE examinations (for non Brits that was an examination generally taken at the age of 16+ [ now GCSE]) and it says a lot that I cannot even remember what the play was. I feel sure that I never read it through.

At primary school we read something called "Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare" which was a simple version of the popular plays for children produced by Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807. I cannot say after all these years whether or not I was impressed but I do at least remember the book. If anyone is interested the stories are reproduced under the following link:-
http://ibiblio.org/eldritch/cml/tfs.html

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm a huge fan of Francis Bacon.

He was a ham.

 

[Cheapjack]

I have the BBC's productions on DVD. I watch them, and read it at the same time. I understand Julius Caesar, Henry4 and Hamlet.

I liked the bit from Titus when he baked them and put them in a pie!

I'm on the second run of watching all of them, and by the third, will have a clue of all the plots. It's easier if you go on the internet and get some plot and themes hints.

It's very, very rich. Rich in metaphor and simile, but if you just let it go in and get the general hint of where they are going, you will get some bits where you get it and laugh and nod your head. They're the best bits.

 

[scotpens]

I'm a huge fan of Francis Bacon.

Did Shakespeare eat Bacon?

(Hey, someone had to say it.)

 

[captcalhoun]

he was alright, but i much preferred the one with Agatha Christie or the one with Charles Dickens in season 1. though the bit about killing your granddad did make me lol and the lead Carrionite was HOT!

 

[iguana_tonante]

I love Shakespeare. Taking inspiration from a Doctor Who episode, he works magic with language.

I especially appreciate his Sonnets: being English my second language, the short length and simpler language make them easier to understand to this foreigner. The plays are a bit more difficult to read, but I still enjoy them.

I do have to admit I'm not a fan of forcing secondary students to read Shakes. In my school, we read R&J in 9th, Ceasar in 10th, Hamlet in 11th, Macbeth in 12th. I think it does more harm than good forcing HS students to read the plays, since it turns off far more 16 year olds than it engages.

I always though that it would be much better if plays (Shakespeare or other authors) were watched before being read in school. Literary analysis is much easier if you get into the drama first.

 

[SPCTRE]

I'm with Captain Picard on this one.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF2StmlnmN4[/yt]

 

[TheBrew]

Good Will Shakes is awesome. Especially in the hands of a skilled production.

 

[Goliath]

Shakespeare was brillliant. To understand just how brilliant he was, it helps to compare his works to those of his contemporaries, like Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, or The Devil's Charter by Barnabe Barnes. The difference in quality is quite striking.

Not all of his works are to my taste--I prefer his tragedies to anything else he wrote. And like all playwrights, his work is really intended to be performed rather than read. That said--I really do think he deserves his reputation as the greatest poet in the English language.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Not a fan of Shakespeare but his sister made some good songs.

 

[ancientone51]

Have loved the Bard for many years. Reading and performing his works have both been fun.

I just need to do Maria in "Twelfth Night" to have played the hat trick of that favorite play.

FYI: The above is one of the filthiest plays ever written...check out "Filthy Shakespeare" don't recal the author.

 

[trampledamage]

Not a fan of Shakespeare but his sister made some good songs.

I was lucky enough to be able to see Kenneth Branagh play Hamlet in the theatre with the Renaissance Theatre Company - now that was a tour-de-force. The performance was using the traditional script, but at no point did I feel like they were just spouting verse at me - it felt real all the way through. Probably the best theatre performance I've ever seen.

 

[MetalPants]

A bad teacher can strip away all that is human from Shakespeare and leave the student with cold dead meaningless words. A good teacher can make the stories transcend the page and soar through a person's imagination.

I've had plenty of bad ones and one good teacher.

 

[WillsBabe]

I adore him. After having said that I think much of his plotting is heavy handed. But that isn't what I go to see him for. I love his use of language. He can distil the thoughts of two pages into one perfect phrase. My favourtie line from the whole of his works is from Macbeth: "...where Norweyan banners flout the sky and fan our people cold." I think this is my favourite line because it's the first time I "got" what he was doing with the language.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ That's what's best about Shakespeare. He can distill a thought or idea into it's very essence-- and will then elaborate beautifully. The "To be or not be" speech is the quintessential example.