# Let's Talk About Shakespeare



## Ð˜Ð²Ð°Ð½ (May 25, 2008)

Love him? 
Hate him?
Don't care?

Think he was brilliant?
Think he was a hack?

Or are you just tired of having Romeo and Juliet forced down your throat year after year?

Have at it!


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## M. LeRenard (May 25, 2008)

Oh... I always thought he was very clever, but I certainly don't worship the guy.  He's only revered amongst anglophones, anyway; he's a great author, but he doesn't quite break the language barrier like others (Dostoevesky, Balzac, Bukowski, to give examples).  Mostly I appreciate him for his contributions to linguistics.
Although I really did enjoy both Hamlet and MacBeth.  Those were fun.  Merchant of Venice was lame, Romeo and Juliet was just okay (considering all the hype), and The Taming of the Shrew was a bit misogynistic for my tastes.  Can't remember if I've read any others.  I really need to get around to reading King Lear one of these days.
I think mostly he's just a tool for quasi-educated people to brag about how sophisticated they are.


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## dietrc70 (May 25, 2008)

I don't like Shakespeare as much as I used to. He uses language beautifully, and is a great dramatist, but I prefer more direct language. Shakespeare loves weird puns and multiple meanings a lot more than I do.

I actually like Christopher Marlowe a lot better.

PS:

King Lear is Shakespeare's best play by far, IMO.  It is really stunning.  I strongly recommend it!


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## Xipoid (May 25, 2008)

I don't hate him, but I definitely do not like him. His work is out of touch to me.


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## lobosabio (May 25, 2008)

I've read both Romeo & Juliet and MacBeth and I was rather apathetic about both.  I've heard his comedies are better than his dramas, thought.


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## makmakmob (May 31, 2008)

sonnet 130 kicks ass 
...
What? It does!

I think some of shakey's observation of the human character are quite interesting, definitely, and I think his plays are easier to appreciate if you put yourself in the shoes of an Elizabethan pub goer, and try to think in those terms.


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## Adelio Altomar (May 31, 2008)

nameless_ermine said:


> Love him?
> 
> Don't care?
> 
> Or are you just tired of having Romeo and Juliet forced down your throat year after year?


 
The first one definently and a whole lot more to that second one. I think he's really over-rated, like alot of things in this country...


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## makmakmob (May 31, 2008)

We all know Ben Johnson wrote it all anyway.


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## lobosabio (May 31, 2008)

makmakmob said:


> We all know Ben Johnson wrote it all anyway.



Wait...I thought it was Francis Bacon.


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## TopazThunder (May 31, 2008)

dietrc70 said:


> I don't like Shakespeare as much as I used to. He uses language beautifully, and is a great dramatist, but I prefer more direct language. Shakespeare loves weird puns and multiple meanings a lot more than I do.
> 
> I actually like Christopher Marlowe a lot better.
> 
> ...



This is pretty much what my stance is, although the reason I like Shakespeare is _because_ of his play on words and puns.

And I agree, King Lear is a good one.


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## kitreshawn (Jun 1, 2008)

I was never a fan of Shakespeare for the most part.  I liked Merchant of Venice a lot but that was about it.

That said, his talent with words does impress me.  I'm fully able to recognize that he is a much better writer than I am or will ever be.  While many things in his stories may seem cliche today it is often because everyone copied what he did and made them that way.


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## Ultrafox (Jun 4, 2008)

M. Le Renard said:


> Oh... I always thought he was very clever, but I certainly don't worship the guy.  He's only revered amongst anglophones, anyway; he's a great author, but he doesn't quite break the language barrier like others (Dostoevesky, Balzac, Bukowski, to give examples).



uh, what?

I'm thinking about the operatic adaptations by Verdi, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, Shostakovitch amongst others. Also the many and varied translations into other languages... a few years ago there was a production of Macbeth at the Globe which was totally in Zulu, with tribal dress and all. My folks said it was excellent. Oh yes, and Ran, which was also based on Macbeth

Love Fox


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## Furthlingam (Jun 7, 2008)

I'm a big enough fan that I wrote this:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/655708/

Anyway, passing fan of Hamlet and R&J. I mean, they're lots of fun. I was reading Mallory's Morte D'Artur in the 5th grade. So for several reasons, the language variant hurdle was a little lower for me.

I've also lately been teaching myself to versify stories, even normalish modern narrative with the usual kind of narrative cues for dialogue and so on, which's had entertaining results.

And, I followed 90% of Stoppard's Rosencrantz&Guildenstern, and thought it was a flippin riot.


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