Jump to content

William Shakespeare


The Heron
 Share

Recommended Posts

I can see why the stories have endured, I just don't get the theatrical and historical adoration by which they are held. There are many other authors I would read.....Hardy, Dickens, and many others right up to modern day, that I would much rather read than Shakespeare. 

I would one day like to think the works of Pratchett would be held with some adoration akin to that of the so called bard. 🙂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, for me Shakespeare still sets the mark. He moved language and theatre on far more than any of our modern contemporaries have done. The debate over whether he wrote them will never be settled, but there are no more credible possibilities than Will. Bacon, Oxford, several men not one, whomever you pick there are massive flaws in the theories. 

There are too many stylistic difficulties to make someone of high court feasible. The vast majority of Shakespeare's plays all have an elemental feel of the maverick (the controversial (to the time) politics, the treatment of religion, the complete dereliction of the unities etc) about them that point to someone educated but not of the establishment. And there's no coherent logic behind saying it could have been more than one. Stylistically, the plays fit too well and the ones where we know there's collaboration immediately stick out in the text and subtext of the narratives. A single author whose works and style matured over time makes more sense

14 minutes ago, Scully said:

I can see why the stories have endured, I just don't get the theatrical and historical adoration by which they are held. There are many other authors I would read.....Hardy, Dickens, and many others right up to modern day, that I would much rather read than Shakespeare. 

I would one day like to think the works of Pratchett would be held with some adoration akin to that of the so called bard. 🙂

I think he'd have agreed with you, to be honest. I love Shakespeare and hoovered it up at school and uni, but there's an absurd reverence about his work that actively harms enjoyment of it. I've seen the best Shakespearian actors  of our day do his stuff, but none beats a production of Twelfth Night done by a local to Reading professional drama house I saw. It was bawdy, irreverent, chaotic and absolutely brilliant - and probably closer to what to what it would have been like in the 17th Century than any RSC production given to an audience drunk on its own self importance. 

 

Edited by chrisjpainter
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shakespeare is damned forever for some of us by being force fed at school.

However, when you are at a good production the language simply flows over you. Every so often there is a a phrase or figure of speech which we still use today, and you realise that this was the first time anybody said it ! Comparison with a modern (and excellent) novelist such as Tom Clancy is just not appropriate. It's like comparing Bach's B Minor Sanctus with Stairway to Heaven - both great but one is not "better".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Pushandpull said:

Shakespeare is damned forever for some of us by being force fed at school.

However, when you are at a good production the language simply flows over you. Every so often there is a a phrase or figure of speech which we still use today, and you realise that this was the first time anybody said it ! Comparison with a modern (and excellent) novelist such as Tom Clancy is just not appropriate. It's like comparing Bach's B Minor Sanctus with Stairway to Heaven - both great but one is not "better".

Bach. Euch. If it ain't baroque, don't fix it. Give me Beethoven any day of the week ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...