LearnHub

oLahav said:

And please, oh please, don’t say R & J.

There are many theories behind who Shakespeare really was (Chuck Norris maybe?), but it doesn’t really matter- what does matter is that we got lots of great stories and plays, and that the English language got a great boost by Shakespeare.

Or maybe you hate the guy, because they made you study his stuff in high school and you didn’t understand one word.

Shakespeare has so many great great plays, and Sonnets, and other stuff. Which one is your personal favourite? Share your Shakespearean thought here.

acrosstheuniverse said:

Twelfth Night!

oLahav said:

I could’ve guessed you’d say that Krista.

My personal favourite… Richard the 3rd comes really close, but Macbeth takes the cake.

It’s Scottish, and it’s got great characters, and it’s so dark and evil… a story about ambition and how can literally kill you. All hail Macbeth!

Other Shakespearean plays I like- Lear, Hamlet, Caesar, you know, the tragedies. Not the comedies though, they’re not as fun (and less people die. I mean in Hamlet, they ALL die, how cool is that?)

windwind said:

When in high school I studied King Lear and it really struck me how he fell for the phony words of his 2 daughters and didn’t see past his true 2 life third one. And how he suffered for it afterwards, how she was the one who really cared for him. I can’t remember much more of it but I liked the idea of not hiding your true feelings and thoughts.

lechuck said:

Much Ado About Nothing!

hcraig said:

Shakespeare in Love! er.. no wait….

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – it was the first one I ever saw and I was obsessed with fairies at the time (did I mention I was 4?), but Twelfth Night comes in a close second, followed by Othello, mostly because of all the lewd insults.

But Oren, why so little love for Romeo and his Juliet?

oLahav said in response to:

Romeo and Juliet, in my opinion at least, is a pretty weak play. I really dislike the characters… usually Shakespeare has complex, logical characters you can relate to. Not here. Romeo and Juliet are both lovesick idiots who have no complexity whatsoever, the only thing that guides them is what they feel like doing at any given time. Especially Romeo, Juliet is just a stupid little girl with no mind of her own.

Sure, the plot is romantic if don’t look at it too deeply… but if you think about it, it’s pretty stupid, there was no reason for them to die really, which bother me. At the end of it there’s a sentence that’s pretty much like “oh, yeah, by the way, Lady Montague died”. It adds nothing. It’s pointless.

I don’t know, to me it always seemed like a really overrated play.

acrosstheuniverse said:

That’s why it’s an ironic tragedy! It’s like the movies of today when you find yourself shouting at the television “No! No! Don’t!”. In this society of ours, love is a very powerful thing and so all of the adaptions, especially the Hollywood features really draw out this story and try to modernize it. I think what makes it so popular is that the concept of forbidden love can be shown in real life contexts today and still sell audiences. Needless to say, I’m a hopeless romantic myself, so keep in mind my bias!

hcraig said:

For me, Romeo and Juliet are all fine and good enough. I love Mercutio, especially the rant he goes on before he dies. clique? Possibly, but I’ve always loved a good rant.

Plus, maybe we should cut The Bard a bit of slack? That play was one of his early works, and as is the case with many other writers, he did improve over time.

oLahav said in response to:

I totally support the improvement over time idea. Although with some writers, they write a first great piece and then all the other ones just aren’t as good (like TV, the first season of most shows is usually the best). But that’s not the case here.

I’m not a big Mercutio fan… it’s all about Tybalt.

oLahav said in response to:

Lear was great, I agree. So much pain and suffering, and for what? That’s what you get when you don’t think and just believe whatever you want to believe.

It’s also the only Shakespearean play with a complete subplot (Glausceter and son), which I think adds a lot to the main plot.

And of course, everybody dies. Almost everybody… and if I remember correctly, the ending is really good- it circles back to the beginning as Kent wants to divide the kingdom again. I liked that. Yeah, Lear is a good one.

Ever watched The Dresser? It’s a movie adapted from an old play about the assistant of an actor who plays Lear. It doesn’t have much to do with King Lear itself, but it does show a few scenes here in there, and it’s a pretty good movie.

windwind said:

I don’t know this movie but will look it up, thnx. I’m also a romantic – Romeo and Juliet is THE love story ever! I mean if somebody says ” Oh its just like Romeo and Juliet” eveyone knows what he means! Its a classic. I also liked Midsummer Night’s Dream – kind of an organised mayhem, imagination on the loose but in a logical setting. Nice.

hcraig said in response to:

Oren, we just can’t agree on anything can we? ;0)

hcraig said in response to:

Organized mayhem – what a great way to describe it!

albrecht said:

I have to agree with you oLahav, MacBeth is also my favorite Shakespeare play – mainly because of the story of how greed and power influence Macbeth as he makes the three witches’ prophecy self-fulfilling. Also, gotta love happy endings where everyone dies.

What impresses me most about the Bard is his range….romantic, tragedy, comedy, historical…not too many authors or playwrights from any time period have managed to have success across so many genres.

windwind said:

Some people can’t make up their minds about doing anything; from buying a shirt to choosing their career. But once they’ve decided they never doubt it, even if something wenr wrong. This is MacBeth.

Other people make up their minds very quickly, never thinking twice about deciding something. But afterwards, Oh afterwards they can’t stop second guessing their decision, sometimes to the point of loosing their minds. This is Lady MacBeth.

Isn’t it wonderful how Shkspr created these two conflicting – so true to life – characters? One can always ask oneself am I one or the other, and which is better to be?

windwind said:

Some people can’t make up their minds about doing anything; from buying a shirt to choosing their career. But once they’ve decided they never doubt it, even if something wenr wrong. This is MacBeth.

Other people make up their minds very quickly, never thinking twice about deciding something. But afterwards, Oh afterwards they can’t stop second guessing their decision, sometimes to the point of loosing their minds. This is Lady MacBeth.

Isn’t it wonderful how Shkspr created these two conflicting – so true to life – characters? One can always ask oneself am I one or the other, and which is better to be?

oLahav said:

windwind- I absolutely agree. Shakespeare is incredible that way.

I guess I’m a Lady Macbeth then… I’m great at making quick decisions and then regretting them.

renjiv said:

i am afraid but it is true that i don’t like Shakespearian novels

oLahav said in response to:

A lot of people don’t like Shakespeare. Some seem to think it’s because the language makes no sense, or they just don’t get them.

I believe that it’s really the fault of teachers who can’t teach well, and they foster a hatred towards Shakespeare and his works. If you could just watch the plays and have fun, it wouldn’t be a problem for anybody. But since they force you to take tests and write essays on stuff, especially if it’s not taught well, people begin to dislike this stuff.

I mean, some of Shakespeare’s plays aren’t top notch and can be a bit boring compared to modern stuff if you don’t know all the words and don’t like certain plots. But there’s so much variety and depth, you can easily find something you like if you just try.

renjiv said in response to:

i do agree that it is the faulty method of teaching which made me dislike Shakesphere.

acrosstheuniverse said in response to:

I think that the dislike for Shakespeare comes about out of our shear difference of perspective when reading these plays. The common people that would see these plays at Stratford-upon-Avon understood all of the language, all of the sly jokes and all of the lines that made them into a good afternoon of entertainment. For us to read Shakespeare, is almost like going to a languages class. I know from my own experience with Shakespeare that if I didn’t have that sidebar with translations of words and passages to modern English I would truly be lost! So I don’t think it’s necessarily the fault of teachers, it’s just that with material that is so different than what we’re used to reading and analyzing in modern English it can get frustrating.