Poll: What is the Big Deal With Bloody Shakespeare?!?!

[Jeronus]

I don't think he was as brilliant as everyone says he was considering it was okay in his time to borrow ideas and rewrite them as your own, but I guess he does stand out more than everyone else from that time so I will give him credit for being the "Master of the Remake".

 

[JanatUrlich]

I'm just pissed off because he's allowed to invent words and I'm not!

 

[FinalHeart95]

Romeo and Juliet was just plain stupid if you ask me, and way over dramatic. I was laughing when Romeo and Juliet died. That's how much I hated those twats.

Have yet to read anything else by him though, so I won't pass judgement.

 

[DSK-]

I disliked doing anything to do with Shakespeare in school. Unfortunately I still have a few quotes memorised such as "If you prick us do we not bleed? if you tickle us do we not laugh? and if you poison us do we not die?" as well as "The quality of mercy is not strain'd".

Though thinking back, after the old English was made decipherable it wasn't all that bad.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

snip

Some like that are still funny but others like some of the ones in the Merchant of Venice are about racist comments that don't really make any sense any more. The old English part does make it dated as I said we don't get the full appreciation of the language at a glance which I think you proved that.

 

[Aesir23]

Looks like you should have paid more attention to the grammar portion of the class.

 

[nebtheslayer95]

Your lack of grammar, good sir, combined with your frequent misspellings and deduced lack of intelligence, has led me to believe that you are a ninny! A twit! In other words, a quite silly man that I shall spend no more time talking to. Good day, sir!

^
this.

I don't love Shakespeare, but he was certainly a very good writer.

 

[ryuutchi]

snip

Some like that are still funny but others like some of the ones in the Merchant of Venice are about racist comments that don't really make any sense any more. The old English part does make it dated as I said we don't get the full appreciation of the language at a glance which I think you proved that.

Well, yes, the racist bits of Merchant of Venice are cringe-inducing-- which explains the tendency of theater companies to treat the play as a tragicomedy-- but so are the racist bits of movies from the 50s, and we don't say their humor is too "dated" to understand.

And, sure you don't get the full appreciation of Shakespeare's bad puns immediately, but that doesn't stop them from being funny when you realize that he just managed to talk about the ladybits with a deft bit of wordplay ("country matters", anyone?). Of course, if you're the twitchy, immediate-gratification sort, you might not want to put the effort in, but you could say that about some plays in modern English too.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

snip

Some like that are still funny but others like some of the ones in the Merchant of Venice are about racist comments that don't really make any sense any more. The old English part does make it dated as I said we don't get the full appreciation of the language at a glance which I think you proved that.

Well, yes, the racist bits of Merchant of Venice are cringe-inducing-- which explains the tendency of theater companies to treat the play as a tragicomedy-- but so are the racist bits of movies from the 50s, and we don't say their humor is too "dated" to understand.

And, sure you don't get the full appreciation of Shakespeare's bad puns immediately, but that doesn't stop them from being funny when you realize that he just managed to talk about the ladybits with a deft bit of wordplay ("country matters", anyone?). Of course, if you're the twitchy, immediate-gratification sort, you might not want to put the effort in, but you could say that about some plays in modern English too.

Well I agree but that is kinda the point I am making as if a joke has to be explained or takes more than 5 seconds to get most people probably won't like it. While that is generalisation it seems to hold true.

 

[JaredXE]

I'm gonna chip in and say that Shakespeare(and btw you twits that are jumping on the name spelling, Shakespear HIMSELF rarely wrote his name the same way twice!), well learning Shakespere was annoying. Having Romeo and Juliet thrust down my throat every year from ages 11 to 15 kind of guaranteed it.

Now, watching his productions...ok, I could say that that can be enjoyable, but the mandatory reading of Shaxpere's works because "it's culture" just bores most kids to death. Now, if the english teachers actually explained what Shakspeare was saying in his plays, and all the bawdy stuff he put in....well, that would get some attention.


It took me awhile to understand the opening sequence of Romeo and Juliet was two guys talking about throwing women against walls and fucking them.......so much better.

 

[MattRooney06]

(as a brit i am naturally bias but)

good ol shakey was amazing lol

 

[Rusty Bucket]

Like it or not, the man had an unparralelled grasp over the English language. Analysing just a single paragraph with my A-level teacher from Antony and Cleopatra, I managed to get so many notes I couldn't actually read the book for 2 pages. Man was a genious, 'nuff said.

 

[ryuutchi]

Well, yes, the racist bits of Merchant of Venice are cringe-inducing-- which explains the tendency of theater companies to treat the play as a tragicomedy-- but so are the racist bits of movies from the 50s, and we don't say their humor is too "dated" to understand.

And, sure you don't get the full appreciation of Shakespeare's bad puns immediately, but that doesn't stop them from being funny when you realize that he just managed to talk about the ladybits with a deft bit of wordplay ("country matters", anyone?). Of course, if you're the twitchy, immediate-gratification sort, you might not want to put the effort in, but you could say that about some plays in modern English too.

Well I agree but that is kinda the point I am making as if a joke has to be explained or takes more than 5 seconds to get most people probably won't like it. While that is generalisation it seems to hold true.

Except that the number of people who enjoy Shakespeare don't seem to bear out your hypothesis. The fact he's still considered a master at the craft and his comedies have been adapted plenty of times would point to the fact that the humor is really not dated at all.

 

[Kimarous]

Common Phrases That Originate From Shakespeare

Whether you like Shakespeare's work or not, one cannot deny his critical influence on the English language.

 

[Nomanslander]

Because for over 400 years it's given actor's a chance to gloat over how they've studied Shakespeare.

Simple example: imagine a room where one guy is a Battlestar Galactica nerd, and the other is a Star Wars nerd.

What do you think the SW nerd's reaction is going to be towards the other guy?...lol

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

snip

Yes his stuff is still good but I never heard lots of people come out of a Shakespeare play and say it was funny due to the original script. I am not saying that everyone is not like this but from what I have seen the original text as is doesn't have the same effect it did way back then.

 

[Ithos]

slightly above mediocre writer, hyped beyond all hope of unbiased criticism. His sense of literate structure was really good. His storys were the same crap everyone else wrote at the time. Potential wasted.

 

[agrajagthetesty]

The greeks and romans did more for writing that he ever did.

Seems a bit unfair to compare one man's works with the combined influence of two vast ancient cultures. Just saying.

And yes, I love Shakespeare. His stories are not especially original or strictly realistic, but then they were never meant to be. His ripping off of other works and frequent incorporation of the supernatural were quite common at the time. The big deal is his use of language. The way the words flow, the inventiveness, the shapes they create and the passion they convey are wonderful. Admittedly, some plays are better than others, and I haven't read them all. My current favourite is Othello.

 

[CrashBang]

Liking Shakespeare doesn't make you 'boring' >_>;
I think Shakespeare's great because his storys and plots can be placed into any era and any location and still be relevent to the people and their situations (except for the magical ones like Midsummer and The Tempest, of course)
His work is timeless. His use of structure and iambic pentameter makes it stage poetry. It's written art at it's highest form
(I'm doing a BA degree in theatre studies, so yeah I quite like him)