Quite a number of us have heard of Shakespeare or one of his works. What is your opinion on the writer himself? How many of his plays have you read? Do you have a favourite or least favourite play?
I had to read a lot of Shakespeare's tragedies (all of them except Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, and Trolius and Cressida, actually) when I was in my last years of Secondary School and for my English Language/Literature A-Level at College, and I found them all exceptionally dull. His is not a style of writing I can really get behind. I don't know enough about the man himself to have much of an opinion of him...I always thought it strange that English Literature courses generally require a study of the man's works but not the man himself. Slightly less related, but I've also seen more movie adaptations of Hamlet than I care to think about...and this one hilarious adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that was set in the present day, which basically turned the whole thing into an overblown gang war. There's also the Romeos and Juliets play in NieR Automata...
*bursts through the doors* shAKESPEARE for about 4 years now i've really liked the dude and his works (ive read i think 4 now)?? also reading his works is a fun challenge for me because unlike other books i read you really need to think about what he's saying because early modern english is a bitch but i dont care really lmao. also shakespeare was a bisexual legend? hell yes! i havent seen any movie adaptions but i did go to shakespeare's globe to watch a performance when i was in london!! it was hamlet but hamlet and his friends were girls now and ophellia was a guy but he was still wearing a dress and everyone died (spoiler alert for literally every shakespeare tragedy ever) if i gave up going to a london broadway show to see people talking like theyre stuck in the 15th century murder each other i dont know what will get my love for some guy with a silly mustache across i really dont
I've read two of the plays, but I definitely prefer to see them performed on stage. Somehow, that makes it easier to understand. There's also this movie that me and my family enjoy watching, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged. It's exactly what it sounds like, three guys performing the complete works of Shakespeare...except it's abridged, hilarious, and done in an hour and a half. My least favorite of Shakespeare's play is actually Romeo and Juliet, just because of how huge it is. Shakespeare has so many better plays, but Romeo and Juliet is the one that has been retold a million and five different ways. My favorite work though is actually a Midsummer Night's Dream, mostly because of the influence it's had on some of my favorite shows. I love the character Puck in Gargoyles. And one of my favorite movies, Strange Magic, is kind of based on a Midsummer Night's Dream.
Thats funny, a girl in my school's talent show did a poem from Shakespeare. Huh, coincidence much? I personally don't pay much attention to him. He's cool but I'm not a play person though I memorized the same poem that girl read once because my teacher offered a chocolate to whoever could do it first.
I have at least a passing familiarity with the majority of Shakespeare's work as well as the bard himself. Not that there's really much to know about him considering that whether or not the William Shakespeare that we know existed at the time was actually the man who wrote the plays. I've never really been a fan of his work. His writing, while basically the foundation of modern English, is highly antiquated and hard to follow. A lot of people feel that iambic pentameter provides a natural rhythm that flows nicely. I feel like it does the opposite and makes everything sound unnatural and scripted since most people do not have any sort of set rhythm to their speech. There's also the fact that few if any of his plays were actually original. They're all based off of earlier fairytales and stories or really, really loose interpretations of history. Also, ROMEO AND JULIET IS NOT A LOVE STORY! We need to stop acting like that's what it is. It's a story about poor decisions and a bad situation making things worse. It's a story of how the grudges of the older generation affect the younger generation for the worse. It's a story about the follies of youth and above all it is a tragedy. IT HAS NEVER AND WILL NEVER BE A STORY ABOUT LOVE!
I'm glad to hear this is the general consensus, but you put it best. It's a teenage infatuation that lasted about half a week and resulted in almost a dozen deaths I think, including the two who were infatuated. Not a love story. Anyway, as for The Bard himself: anyone who's stopped by my Q&A lately (shameless self-promotion, and don't bother with the scansion of my reply here, I'm not hiding anything) might notice that I've taken a liking to writing metered prose and poetry myself, and Shakespeare might well be the best-ever in that skill. I used to have distaste for Shakespeare for the previously-stated reason, but I've developed a huge appreciation for writing in prose. Yes, most poets who aren't doing strictly free-verse pay attention to their meter, but Shakespeare does it very well. Iambic step (as far as I know was Shakespeare's specialty) isn't that rewarding today even, Trochaic seems more popular in today's music scene. It's like Shakespeare's style today has increased effort for reduced reward. Anyway, I'm still trying to match his meter skill. The story-telling I'm not focusing on, but I'm absolutely striving to match his skill in meter.
I think Shakespeare is hilarious. Although Romeo and Juliet is not a love story, as most people think, and more of one of teenage infatuation, I’ve got a soft spot for Mercutio. I used to read Mercutio’s part during the Romeo and Juliet unit in English class and he had some of the funniest lines in the play. Other than that I’ve read the Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar. Both were drearier, in my opinion. I’ve also read a modern adaptation of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, which was quite entertaining and light hearted by Tui T. Sutherland. It’s been years though, so I don’t remember the plot too well.
I haven't seen much in the way of Shakespeare myself with my only knowledge on his work being English classes, and my problems with reading have urged me to not read anything, but I did find Shakespeare to be entertaining. I actually disliked Romeo and Juliet when I first read it and it was my first introduction to his work, (poor introduction I might add). I started to dislike Shakespeare all together because of it and it wasn't until I read Hamlet (I have no idea why my school thought that this was more mature than Romeo) did I actually start to like his work. I loved the story that he presented and even though I already knew it was a tragedy, I was still invested. I haven't read anymore since, but I do have new appreciation for the man and his work. I am so thankful that I had an English teacher who made us read the entire book in class and explained every word and phrase to us. If it wasn't for that, I think I would still hate Shakespeare. Because of my reading problems, I couldn't get a word of Shakespeare's dialogue and often found myself stuck on words and phrases that shouldn't be in such a backwards or wrong way. Now looking back at it, Sheakspeare's word play was more a product of its time than a timeless master piece. It was back in a time when simple word play was the only form of entertainment for these people, and purposefully making play's hard to understand was the best way to get people to come back and watch again to figure out what they missed. A business genius of his time, but one that doesn't hold ground to the massive media shift of today.
When it comes to Shakespeare, the first thing that comes in mind is Romeo and Juliet! Thats the only play I know of Shakespeare.
