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RE: Shakespeare - 9/20/2011 11:24:38 AM

MadAxeman

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The outstanding feature of Shakespeare's plays and poems is the LANGUAGE.
It has not been common at any time for people to convey their thoughts in long passages of blank verse full of metaphors.
Textspeak is about getting it done quickly.

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RE: Shakespeare - 9/20/2011 11:30:00 AM

lobodomslavery

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oh no doubt about the language is very vivid very powerful, Shakespeare's use of idiom and linguistic capability to me its unsurpassed, it is has no compere, not even with classical authors
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RE: Shakespeare - 9/20/2011 12:01:45 PM

Iamsemisweet

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I also find it surprising how well the jokes, particularly the bawdy ones, still hold up today. While not bawdy, "tomorrow I shall be a grave man" is pretty clever and still understandable.

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RE: Shakespeare - 9/20/2011 12:59:21 PM

lobodomslavery

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oh absolutely. what are your views on Yorick the jester in i think King Lear. To me he is a very impressive representation of a comedian
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RE: Shakespeare - 9/20/2011 1:23:30 PM

Marc2b

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I love Shakespeare. I didn’t care for it when I was in school and it was force fed to me by a teacher that I now realize was ill equipped to make the Bard understandable to fifteen year olds but many years later I stumbled across Shakespeare on my own. It was, of all things, during the white Bronco chase when O. J. Simpson was first accused. After getting bored watching a car travel slowly down the highway I started flipping channels and found a movie that I’d never seen before but liked. It turned out to be the Kenneth Branagh version of Much Ado About Nothing.

That was enough to get me re-thinking Shakespeare and to start watching other Shakespeare movies, reading the plays (and works about Shakespeare) and eventually going to live productions (the only way to truly watch Shakespeare). Today I go to local productions, Shakespeare in the Park in Buffalo and once a year I go to Stratford, Ontario.

Stratford does a truly excellent job and I’ve seen so many great productions there (and not just of Shakespeare plays) that I wouldn’t know where to start in describing them. A few highlights: Seeing Christopher Plummer as Prospero. Seeing Brian Dennehy as Sir Toby Belch and seeing Seana McKenna as Richard the Third in an absolutely stunning performance.

I would also add that the Festival Theater is possibly the greatest, most versatile theater in the world. A few years ago, during a production of As You Like It, a change of scenery was done so artfully that it brought applause from the audience. That’s not something I’d ever seen before or since.

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RE: Shakespeare - 9/20/2011 1:28:29 PM

Marc2b

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quote:

Calling the language of Shakespeare overblown has to be among the silliest things ever said.
You might as well call the guitar playing of Robert Johnson too bluesy.

Hey there MadAxeman. Long time no see... I hope all is well in your world.

Oh yeah... I agree with what ya said. Shakespeare is to language what Pink Floyd is to music. It appears simple and straight forward at first but that just hides many deep layers of meaning.

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RE: Shakespeare - 9/20/2011 2:30:26 PM

Iamsemisweet

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I barely remember the jester from King Lear, to tell you the truth. The part about that play I remember is the line:

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!

I use that on my kids every once in a while. They are both Shakespeare fans, so they think it is hilarious.

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Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.
The Cat: Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
Alice: How do you know I'm mad?
The Cat: You must be. Or you wouldn't have come here.

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RE: Shakespeare - 9/22/2011 9:50:13 PM

MadAxeman

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If you want to try something bawdy and classic, Chaucer is a fine choice. The Canterbury Tales have much that is saucy, sadistic, and full of the type of people that would frequent CM. There are stories of courtly love, with firmly set rules, but also vulgar jokes about scorched arses and humiliation. Middle English can be a little difficult to digest, but there are some very good interpretations of the CT written in modern language. There are even quite watchable versions on Youchoob using Lego actors.

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