I just got done reading Macbeth for school. Now since I have been in school I have read about 1 too many Shakespear books. What are your thoughts on Shakespear? I would love to hear from you.

Old Will was actually quite a smart a** in his day, if you look beyound the language thing, you will find cleaverly written critisisms of the monarchy in his day. Of course, when the penalty for speaking out against the government is death, you better be good at disguising it.

You can rock a cradle, but you can't rock a casbah!

Shakespeare was a smart-ass. Extremely witty and brilliant. Philly, I hate Shakespeare in high school too. Partly because everyone else hated him and partly because the teachers didn't fully explain things; they just said "this is what he means." In actuality almost everything that Shakespeare wrote can be interpreted many different ways.

Also, the one big mistake is throwing some of his more challenging plays (MacBeth, Hamlet, etc) at people who don't understand and have experience reading him. If you had started with some of his lighter comedies it would be easier to 'get' him.

What I'm trying to say is that man was brilliant and give him another shot.

THANX FOR THE RESPONSES,I AM ABOUT TO START TO READ HAMLET SOON AND I DONT KNOW IF I SHOULD LOOK FORWARD TO IT OR NOT. RIGHT NOW I DREAD THE FACT. MACBETH WAS THE BIGGEST HEAD CRAMP I EVER HAD!!

Personally, I quite enjoy Shakespeare.

Every summer there's a branch of the Kentucky Center for the Arts that puts on selected plays in Louisville's Central Park amphitheater. I make sure I attend. There's something nice about sitting in the park on a cool summer evening with a bottle of wine watching Shakespeare live.

I do agree READING Shakespeare is difficult, especially for those without experience. If you have a chance to see a LIVE play, I think you might be able to understand him a lot better. It's easier to get past all the 'thou' and 'thee' type words when you have actual action to go with them. I hope you enjoy reading Hamlet tho. It's a fantastic (tragic tho it is) tale. Perhaps you ought to rent the movie. The one with Mel Gibson was actually quite true to the original play.

Valerie

Of all the Shakespeare I´ve read (and I´ve read alot), Hamlet would have to be my favorite. And Val´s right, it might be easier for you to understand it if you see it instead of just reading it. Mel Gibson´s version is good and true to the story, but I would also recommend the one with Lawrence Olivier.

I absolutely LOVE Shakespeare!

In school we read Romeo & Juliet in gr.11, The Scottish Play in gr.12, and Hamlet in OAC. Shakespeare was always my fav part of English class I remember in OAC English my best friend and I made an oral presentation about how Claudius represents the 7 Deadly Sins. (We aced that report btw)

The tragedies are probably not the best way to start off Shakespeare, unless you're already an enthusiast. (With the possible exception of Romeo & Juliet). My personal favourites are A Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy, and, of course, Hamlet.

Some other good ones, if you are interested are The Taming of the Shrew (On which 10 Things I Hate About You is loosely based), The Comedy of Errors, and Much Ado About Nothing.

I also liked The Merchant of Venice, but I don't really think it was one of Shakespeare's better works.

The best part is, you can read any of Shakespeare's plays online FOR FREE!!!!! at www.shakespeare.com

Philly-Look forward to Hamlet! Don't go into thinking you are going to hate it. Hamlet is one of my favorites as well, I can't tell you how many times I've read it and how many papers I've written about it.

But, I have to disagree with the ladies on the Mel Gibson version. Yes, it was good and it stayed pretty close to the actual text, but if you are going to watch Hamlet, watch Kenneth Branagh's version. The man knows more about Skakespeare than most of the free world, he's brilliant. This version is about 4 hours long and it covers the entire text. Branagh also made some decisions on how to interpret the text. For example: he strays from the Hamlet being crazy and leans towards him being a mastermind, so to speak.

That cast of actors is amazing: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi (the best present day Shakespearean actor), Kate Winslet, Charleton Heston, Robin Williams...etc.

The movie is brilliant. The 'to be or not to be' soliloquy in this movie is absolutely breathtaking.

Actually, see all the versions you can get ahold of and see for yourself how many different ways Hamlet (or any Shakespeare play) can be interpreted.

Philly-maybe we can have a group discussion on Hamlet while you are reading it so you can get a fuller view.

Probably the highlight of my young life thus far was watching Cambridge University's drama troop perform Hamlet in the style of "Our Town." No set per se, just a few furniture props, and those ENGLISH accents...supurb!

I also saw the Mel Gibson version where they accurately pick up the strange relationship between Hamlet and the queen... Pretty good.

I was always told I'd make the perfect Ophelia...

Not Shakespeare but another one of my fav's is Oedipus Rex? Anyone read that one...marvelous...

Hi,
I read Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade, then Julius Ceasar in 10th (liked that one), then MacBeth in 11th grade. I memorized Antony's speech for class but all I remember now is the first 3 or 4 lines.

I haven't read Hamlet but it'll go on my to-read list now.

I also read Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in 9th grade, then Antigone (is that the title? she's the main character) in 11th; I think I liked the sequel a bit better even though the story isn't as well-known.

I haven't seen any of these on stage! The only old play I've seen is Medea, and I didn't really like it--toooo depressing and rather unbelievable.

Maybe I'm the only who digs true evil, but my favorite Shakespeare plays are "Othello" and "Richard III". I think Iago and Richard get some of the best lines, ever.

Now is the winter of our discontent
made summer by the brilliant son of York.

phew! I also dug MacBeth--c'mon--it's the bloodiest play in the English language. Literally. You'll be hard pressed to find a play that used the word "blood" more often than MacBeth does.

In terms of Hamlet movies, I would recommend the Kenneth Branagh version--it's almost 4 hours long, but it's also unabridged. So you don't have to worry about missing key scenes, or anything. I would read the play, and watch Branagh's movie at the same time. You can see how the words were meant to play.

Final note: Criticisms of Shakespeare would be much easier to take if you spelled the Bard's name correctly. I'm guessing if I quoted you, and called you "pillyhead" you would get annoyed...

i enjoyed reading THE SCOTTISH PLAY (Macbeth) when i was at school. Othello and some of the others were not bad but it was a long time ago so I don't recall many of them.

you don't even have to leave shakespear to find a bloodery play. Titus andronicus, i think takes the cake pretty easily. Speaking of which, the recent movie version was abelt o make the play even better.

Oh, and the best hamlet presentation. Its gotta be that little known flick......The Lion King, hehe

I've got to agree with tomije on "Othello" and "Richard III". In my opinion, Iago is one of the more brilliant roles Shakespeare ever conceived.

But, people, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a favorite of mine. It's impossible not to get caught up in the sillyness of it. Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is one of the great trouble-makers of all time!

If you ever get a chance to see a live production of this play, do it! Even a lesser talented cast can still make this play dreamy. It's one of Shakepeare's more accessible plays.

OC---Guess what my boyfriend got me recently? None other than The Globe´s Illustrated Shakespeare: The Complete Works Annotated.

It´s over 2300 pages of a tome, but well worth the read! It even includes accounts of his life and his will, and it´s interesting to find out that he signed his name William Shakspeare.

OOH, good present, Fortunata! Props to your boyfriend!

Did you read the part of his will where he left his wife "his second best bed"? One might think he was insulting his wife. But, the second best bed would have been their bed--most likely their wedding bed (the best one would have been for guests.) So, he could have given her a sentimental gift.

Just an interesting tidbit!

Note to self...the Lord and the Lady both like Shakespeare...this oughta be fun.
Hey, LadyC...you wanna be the Beatrice to my Benedict? "Lady Disdain? Art thou yet still living?"

I have read 15 of Shakepeare's 37 plays, one of his two romantic tone poems and numerous sonnets, there are 152, right? I love him. The only writer to ever capture so beautifully the human condition. Phillyhead2, first I see you like Limp Bizkit, you should watch it live. Shakespeare was meant to be seen in a play...a movie will do in a pinch. and yes Old English is tough...or is it Elizabethan English? whatever...you'll get used to it
the cadence, the beauty, it's just plain awesome.

I reallly enjoy his work. My personal favorite is A MidSummer's Night Dream.