Shakespeare

[NATASHA]

I love Shakespeare because I am in the arts but it is a hard read if you cant really speak English fluently. I love reading these works because they are full of intriguing sayings, difficult wording and dramatic story telling in a whimsical sort of way. Have you read Shakespeare and which is your favourite?

[pesic87]

Oh yes I had an entire course in Shakespeare while studying English language and literature, back in the days.

I loved Shakespeare, and still do. I can proudly say I have read almost everything he wrote, and I would be a cliche and say I love Romeo and Juliet, but I do.  I am also pretty much inclined towards  The Merchant of Venice, Coriolanus, Richard III, and Antony and Cleopatra.

I love the language he is using and the way he actually coined many words in English language, such as: green-eyed, gossip, excitement, outbreak, ode, torture, laughable, skim milk, worthless, etc. and some expressions/phrases:

1. All that glitters is not gold  (from the Merchant of Venice).
2. Bear a charmed life (from Macbeth)
3. Break the ice. (from Taming of the Shrew)
4. Dead as a doornail. (from 2 Henry VI)
5. Devil incarnate. (from Titus Andronicus/ Henry V) 
6. Full circle (from King Lear)
7. Heart of gold (Henry V)
8. Sweets to the sweet. (from Hamlet)
9. Towering passing (Hamlet)
10. The world's my oyster ( from Merry Wives of Windsor)

You got to love Shakespeare.

[Duke Halifax]

Shakespeare is a wonderful author to spend a day with- however, his prose tends to fall on the more archaic side of the English language. It's wonderful to listen to, but as a non-native speaker, I can see where the reading might be difficult. Personally, I love Hamlet and Macbeth the best- the Bard always knows how to craft a good drama.

There are some places that have versions of Shakespeare's work "translated" into more modern English, side-by-side with his original version. That might help those who struggle to translate, and give you a clearer understanding of his meanings.

[AExAVF]

The only work of Shakespeare which I have appreciated is Macbeth.  I admit that I wasn't fond of Shakespeare's works, especially A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I recall reading Macbeth in my fourth year high school, and it was truly a tragedy.  Wnen our next class hasn't started yet, I would always read my English textbook on that particular chapter.

[czarina84]

The only Shakespeare work that I like is Much Ado About Nothing.  Most of his works seem like soap operas to me, albeit, bloodier.  I think that Much Ado About Nothing is much more real.  It's about love in its different phases and most of the over-the-top drama queen stuff is more subdued. 

[anna3101]

I was an avid Shakespeare reader when I was a teenager. All that drama! Wow! I was just hooked. I read anything I could get my hands on - "Romeo and Juliet", "Othello", "Taming of the Shrew", "King Lear", "Hamlet" and all the sonnets. Now that I'm an adult, I'm not as passionate about Shakespeare as I used to be but I have to make an exception for his sonnets. They are absolutely lovely, though reading them in the original is quite hard. Luckily for us Russian-speaking people, we have an awesome Russian traslation of the sonnets - it's a masterpiece of translation, really. I appreciate the Russian version as much as the original one, if not more (but this is something I will never confess in real life).

[takibari]

It was so long ago that I read Shakespeare. While I enjoy his works, I had difficulty reading them. Anyhow, my favorites would have to Hamlet and Othello. Other than these, I love his sonnets the most and Sonnet 116 is my favorite:

SONNET 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

[OmniHead]

Definitely, I love the complete works of William Shakespeare including comedy, history, tragedy and poetry, and therefore would be hard for me just mention one.

I have a favorite website on Shakespeare works that you may like to visit:

Quote

 Welcome to the Web's first edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. This site has offered Shakespeare's plays and poetry to the Internet community since 1993.

For other Shakespeare resources, visit the Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet Web site.

The original electronic source for this server was the Complete Moby(tm) Shakespeare. The HTML versions of the plays provided here are placed in the public domain.

This is the link to visit such site, http://shakespeare.mit.edu/

[Teira Eri]

Oh gosh, I used to feel like such a nerd in high school, because I was one of the few students in Honors and AP English that wholeheartedly enjoyed reading Shakespeare.  I even took Drama and Theater to be a part of the Shakespeare Fair.  I played a part in Taming of the Shrew and had to translate the Shakespearean verse into modern English for kids. 

Shakespeare is a genius.  His poetry can be read from several angles, and everyone will perceive something unique (regardless of whether it's the correct meaning or not).  Through his plays, we are told stories of the human condition that still happen today.  More people should read Shakespeare, in my opinion.  Everyone can garner something.

[takibari]

On 17/03/2016 at 8:26 PM, Teira Eri said:

Oh gosh, I used to feel like such a nerd in high school, because I was one of the few students in Honors and AP English that wholeheartedly enjoyed reading Shakespeare.  I even took Drama and Theater to be a part of the Shakespeare Fair.  I played a part in Taming of the Shrew and had to translate the Shakespearean verse into modern English for kids. 

Shakespeare is a genius.  His poetry can be read from several angles, and everyone will perceive something unique (regardless of whether it's the correct meaning or not).  Through his plays, we are told stories of the human condition that still happen today.  More people should read Shakespeare, in my opinion.  Everyone can garner something.

Ditto on Shakespeare being a genius! What I can never forget that my high school teacher said about Shakespeare was that He was one of those writers that clearly tackled the Universal Human Experience. His works, while difficult to read because of his choice of words and the language of his time, have the capacity to resonate even to modern readers. His works are just ageless and timeless.

[AureliaeLacrimae]

On 12/1/2015 at 2:32 PM, pesic87 said:

Oh yes I had an entire course in Shakespeare while studying English language and literature, back in the days.

I loved Shakespeare, and still do. I can proudly say I have read almost everything he wrote, and I would be a cliche and say I love Romeo and Juliet, but I do.  I am also pretty much inclined towards  The Merchant of Venice, Coriolanus, Richard III, and Antony and Cleopatra.

I love the language he is using and the way he actually coined many words in English language, such as: green-eyed, gossip, excitement, outbreak, ode, torture, laughable, skim milk, worthless, etc. and some expressions/phrases

You're quite right about this. One of my professors said that Shakespeare may have coined about ten thousand words. He is also rumoured to have used about fifteen thousand words, which is quite remarkable. I don't think I know that many even in my native tongue. People, in average, usually use about five thousand maximum.

His style is a little difficult to follow, as was mentioned before. But when it comes to Shakespeare, sometimes you really have to read the original. It's really sad that our education doesn't include older variants of English, though, because a lot of puns and rhymes no longer work in modern English, but they do work in Elizabethan English. It's incredible how language changes.

Anyway, back to the topic, Shakespeare's works. I must admit that King Lear and Macbeth are my favourite plays. There's something... special about them. I'd also seen King Lear performed, so that has contributed to my interest in the story as well. Another play I found quite to my liking is Taming the Shrew, which I now always associate with the musical "Kiss Me Kate." I'd enjoyed Richard III as well. Romeo and Juliet not so much. It was on obligatory reading list when I was in high-school, so that might be why. I really disliked my teacher. 

[KimBarstow]

I found this thread and I have no idea how I've done it, but have to say that Othello is my favorite work, I am waiting so much for Netflix to make a "remix" movie of it. Actually, I have to work with Shakespeare's masterpieces and I find daily interesting and unknown facts about him.

[KimBarstow]

On 5/22/2016 at 11:47 AM, AureliaeLacrimae said:

On 12/2/2015 at 3:32 PM, pesic87 said:

Oh yes I had an entire course in Shakespeare while studying English language and literature, back in the days.

I loved Shakespeare, and still do. I can proudly say I have read almost everything he wrote, and I would be a cliche and say I love Romeo and Juliet, but I do.  I am also pretty much inclined towards  The Merchant of Venice, Coriolanus, Richard III, and Antony and Cleopatra.

I love the language he is using and the way he actually coined many words in English language, such as: green-eyed, gossip, excitement, outbreak, ode, torture, laughable, skim milk, worthless, etc. and some expressions/phrases

You're quite right about this. One of my professors said that Shakespeare may have coined about ten thousand words. He is also rumoured to have used about fifteen thousand words, which is quite remarkable. I don't think I know that many even in my native tongue. People, in average, usually use about five thousand maximum.

His style is a little difficult to follow, as was mentioned before. But when it comes to Shakespeare, sometimes you really have to read the original. It's really sad that our education doesn't include older variants of English, though, because a lot of puns and rhymes no longer work in modern English, but they do work in Elizabethan English. It's incredible how language changes.

Anyway, back to the topic, Shakespeare's works. I must admit that King Lear and Macbeth are my favourite plays. There's something... special about them. https://phdessay.com/free-essays-on/raisin-in-the-sun/ is about literature and great free essays on "Raisin In The Sun". I found quite to my liking is Taming the Shrew, which I now always associate with the musical "Kiss Me Kate." I'd enjoyed Richard III as well. Romeo and Juliet not so much. It was on obligatory reading list when I was in high-school, so that might be why. I really disliked my teacher. 

Wow, I didn't know people use almost 5,000 words. What I wanted to point out is that I did some research and Shakespeare actually invented so many lexemes. We barely speak his language every day. My cousin - doctor of literature - confirmed your opinion. Impressive!