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William Shakespeare
Organichu
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, this is a thread about the dude who might be my favorite content creator of any medium of any genre of any era: William Shakespeare.
If you have ever endeavored to learn English in the first world, you've almost certainly read some of these:
Thankfully my school curriculum had me read all of these! And a few others, but I think these are probably the three most commonly assigned to American students. Or maybe you didn't read any of them. You might have seen them performed on stage or in film.
For me personally, Shakespeare changed my life. As English is not one of my first languages, I struggled mightily (and felt a lot of alienation and insecurity) upon moving somewhere that eschewed everything else. I spent years trying to punch above my grade and read American and English classics. I read the dictionary. I read the encyclopedia. I tried to do anything I could- I threw it all at the wall, hoping that some of it would stick. None of it did. I was too young, and my grasp on the language was too tenuous.
And then I read Shakespeare. I don't know! Maybe it was just the right place and the right time. I was comfortable enough with the language that I could perceive wordplay and follow along with allusion and foreshadowing. I could predict and truncate things in my head. It might be sheer luck that his were the first works to penetrate my brainmeats. But I don't know; I don't really care. William Shakespeare gave me a lifelong appreciation for cleverness, wit, communication, complexity, interplay, and drama. I love him!
1) what do you all think of the dude
2) questions of authorship can eat my butt and find another thread
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
If you have ever endeavored to learn English in the first world, you've almost certainly read some of these:
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It is among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.
The Tragedy of Macbeth (commonly called Macbeth) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare about a man who commits regicide so as to become king and then commits further murders to maintain his power. The play clearly demonstrates the corrupting effect of ambition, but also deals with the relationship between cruelty and masculinity, tyranny and kingship, treachery, violence, guilt, prophecy, and disruption of the natural order.
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. The work revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his wife, Desdemona; his lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted ensign, Iago. Because of its varied and current themes of racism, love, jealousy, and betrayal, Othello is still often performed in professional and community theatres alike and has been the basis for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations.
Thankfully my school curriculum had me read all of these! And a few others, but I think these are probably the three most commonly assigned to American students. Or maybe you didn't read any of them. You might have seen them performed on stage or in film.
For me personally, Shakespeare changed my life. As English is not one of my first languages, I struggled mightily (and felt a lot of alienation and insecurity) upon moving somewhere that eschewed everything else. I spent years trying to punch above my grade and read American and English classics. I read the dictionary. I read the encyclopedia. I tried to do anything I could- I threw it all at the wall, hoping that some of it would stick. None of it did. I was too young, and my grasp on the language was too tenuous.
And then I read Shakespeare. I don't know! Maybe it was just the right place and the right time. I was comfortable enough with the language that I could perceive wordplay and follow along with allusion and foreshadowing. I could predict and truncate things in my head. It might be sheer luck that his were the first works to penetrate my brainmeats. But I don't know; I don't really care. William Shakespeare gave me a lifelong appreciation for cleverness, wit, communication, complexity, interplay, and drama. I love him!
1) what do you all think of the dude
2) questions of authorship can eat my butt and find another thread
Organichu on
Posts
My favourite Pre-Mellvillean line about vengence.
I need to read more Shakespeare.
Also,
PA Lets Play Archive - Twitter - Blog
edit:Better video of the speech.
Whores, however, have many little deaths.
PA Lets Play Archive - Twitter - Blog
Rad as fuck.
Take the battle between Hotspur (Harry Percy) and Prince Hal.
Struck down, Hotspur, who had spent much of the play as an entitled, egotistical dick, reflects (in part):
To which Hal replies,
Starts out as something distinctly resembling an action film one-liner, but twists into something alternately triumphant, reverent, and sad.
I think.
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That goddamn modern film, Romeo + Juliet, ruined that for me so much.
PA Lets Play Archive - Twitter - Blog
Did I say ruin? I mean, it's the best thing ever, watch it! <_<
PA Lets Play Archive - Twitter - Blog
To be fair, having spent probably too much of my academic career studying Shakespeare, he and the rest of the Renaissance crew would have goddamned loved Baz Luherman. It's a visual realization of everything they tried to do with the language alone.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=shakespeare+animated+tales&search_sort=relevance&search_category=0&page=
http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Animated-Tales-Alec-McCowen/dp/B0002CHJS2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334514915&sr=8-1
EDIT: Also,
PA Lets Play Archive - Twitter - Blog
What don't you like about it?
I think Romeo and Juliet gets a bad rap for being overrated, I don't know that it's my favorite (it's hard to contend with Othello), but there's some great stuff in there. Any scene with Mercutio in particular.
"It's got all the classic characteristics: the wise old man (picture of some old Congressman), the fair maiden (picture of Hillary), and of course... the Moor (picture of Obama)."
What?! When?!
Also, who played Caliban?
I mean seriously.
Goddamn that speech is great.
I lament the fact that the art of really epic speeches is something you just don't see enough of in modern media.
Yeeeees, this is my favorite Shakespeare sonnet. That man. That man!
The sonnets are really my favorites out of his writings.
Romeo and Juliet is better if you take the view that it isn't the great romantic tragedy that everyone pimps it out to be in high school.
For my money, his weakest play is probably King Lear, at least out of the ones I've read.
You're crazy. King Lear is amazing and one of his best. He has a bunch of lesser plays like Cymbeline that are worse than stuff like Romeo and Juliet.
And that doesn't make it awful, I mean, Shakespeare's worst is still going to be miles ahead of anything else.
Lear's problem, for me, is that it's two awesome plays stitched together into one which muddies it up.
Edward Bond's Lear is a great adaptation of King Lear, btw. I don't particularly like King Lear and I loved Bond's, so if you like Shakesman's give it a go.
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*slowly loads firearm*
wait
you say 'had' a real hate
Yeah, definitely past tense. I the Made Easy version have a thoroughly modern translation on the left page, with the more archaic version on the right. Suddenly I could understand the jokes - which incidentally, is pretty fucking crucial to finding them funny - and the snappy dialogue and shit. I was so outraged that we didn't work with those in class, and didn't even have copies in the school library.