Is class in session?

[Kim]

*Walks in room and sits at desk, folding hands on top* Okay, I'm here. Educate me.

[shaxper]

Well that's one way to start!


What would you like to know?

[Kim]

The question is where to start. Umm... could we possibly start with the plays and what they're all about?

[shaxper]

Heheheh. Pretty big question.


Well, I'll give you my take on "Shakespeare in a nutshell", but I'm sure there are some other folks here with differing perspectives, and I'm sure you'll hear it all


For me, there are two things about Shakespeare that make him fully cooler than any other author ever born.

1. He writes whole people. If you look closely at just about any of his characters that's given a decent chance to talk (and no, unfortunately the tragic heroines rarely fit this criteria), you realize that they have many sides to them. Shakespeare rarely (if ever) writes villains and heroes. Every character has some good and some bad in them, and that's a rare thing to see in a play or novel. I read a Shakespeare play and see him exploring what it is to be human, how easily ANY of us could become Caliban in The Tempest, Edmund in King Lear, or suffer the fates of King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Enobarbus, Richard II, etc. He also warns us against putting too much faith in "perfect" heroes like Henry IV, Henry V, Antonio in Merchant of Venice, and so on. I really find that aspect of his writing fascinating.

2. He is probably the most clever writer in history. Just as Mozart could concieve of potentials for music that no one else had the brain power to envison, Shakespeare's plays and sonnets contain a beautiful complexity that remains unmatched. His fascinating characters aside, the sheer musicality of his lines is amazing. Most times, his lines either have a musical rhythm that's specifically trying to tell you something, or there is no rhythm or a broken rhythm, which can be even more telling. It's amazing to read Hamlet's lines: "All my sins be remembered", which is a disturbingly atonal line, followed by Ophelia's "Good, my Lord", which could simply be a greeting, but also serves as a rhythmic and meaningful continuation of the line:
"All my sins be remembered good, my Lord". It bounces with iambic meter. Ophelia is trying to save him from his self-damnation, and the music supports it.

Finally, he's a master of word play. Shakespeare has a knack for having his characters say one thing and actually mean three. It's the main reason textbook editions have so many footnotes. Sometimes, these other meanings are just plain humerous, and sometimes they reveal something startling about the undercurrents of the play. Just try reading the final scenes of Henry V. Henry woos Kate in a seemingly loving, romantic way, but there's a major power struggle going on. His gaining France without looking like a tyrant ("We are no tyrant, but a Christian King") depends upon his marrying Kate, but she won't play along. He constantly tells her to give up the playfullness and swear to love him (in a loving way), but she is reluctant. It's a scene you really need to read for yourself. I make enemies any time I try to explain that Henry V isn't an all-out saint, but it's in there.


Anyway, that's a whole lot for you to take in at once! Please don't let it intimidate you. We've had debates on this board before about which Shakespeare play is best to staryt with, so why don't you begin by telling me which parts of what I just said interested you most (if at all). I'll try to direct you towards a play that has some great examples of it, and help you understand what's happening in the play while you read. If you weren't planning on jumping into a play right off, and this is a much more in depth answer than you wanted, then just say so. I'm always happy to oblige

[Ganymede]

That's a pretty broad question there. Each play is different, although I agree with shaxper that they all undeniably possess (at least to some degree) the mark of Shakespeare's genius. A good way to start is to pick one play and learn all you can about it. (Often trying to take in all the plays at once is overwhelming and pretty much impossible.) Looking in the Shakespeare/The Plays section on this board will help. We've discussed a lot of the plays in depth. If there is a specific play that you'd like to discuss further (or if you have questions) just begin a thread. I'd be happy to have a reason to read his plays again!

Good luck and welcome aboard!
Ganymede

[Kim]

Thanks Ganymede! And thanks, shaxper, for the big response. I'm not sure how to reply to this. I never learned a whole lot about Shakespeare and the only play I read was Romeo and Juliet. I'm a little familiar to Midsummer's Night Dream. So we can start with either one of those.

[shaxper]

Don't worry so much about that. Highschool rarely tells you anything about Shakespeare that will actually help you enjoy it.

Lemme strongly recommend you follow this link (http://boarshead.proboards9.com/index.cgi?board=plays&action=display&n=1&thread=97) to a topic about what people should know when starting out on Shakespeare. Some of it (histories vs. tragedies, etc) will be over your head right now, but most of it should be helpful. If you have any thoughts on what you read there, please post them. I'd love to help clarify or further explain anything in there that interests you. After that, we can get a reading group going. We'll take a play scene by scene and read it together (SLOWLY). Sound good?


Really glad you want to venture down this path, and even more so that you've asked us for help

[Ophelia]

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Welcome Kim!

I was struck by what you said, here Shaxper...

shaxper said:

I make enemies any time I try to explain that Henry V isn't an all-out saint, but it's in there.

Well I'm one person who won't become your enemy for that. In fact, I wrote a piece of coursework arguing that point once.

[shaxper]

Long time, no see, Ophelia!

Yey! An ally in war

Do you still have the paper? Perhaps you could post it?


Welcome back, by the way!