Shakespeare

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Do you find the jokes funny? I do! Studied tones of his plays in College, including Hamlet, The Tempest and so on. And I'd go who far as to say that they are CORKERS of literary genius! Amazing imagination in that bard's mind!

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I am of the generation that had to endure listening to Shakespeare records for hours on end in English class in high school with no explanation of the language or context. I wish it were different, but I have a hard time with it to this day. The only play I enjoy is Much Ado About Nothing.

 

[TCRAIG]

We read Romeo and Juliet in middle school, Hamlet and MacBeth in HS and King Lear and Much Ado in college - I also read Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lives Labour Lost, Tempest and Henry…i wouldn’t say I found his jokes real ‘knee slappers’ per se but I appreciate Shakespeare’s sense of the absurd and irony.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

We read Romeo and Juliet in middle school, Hamlet and MacBeth in HS and King Lear and Much Ado in college - I also read Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lives Labour Lost, Tempest and Henry…i wouldn’t say I found his jokes real ‘knee slappers’ per se but I appreciate Shakespeare’s sense of the absurd and irony.

That's a lot of Shakespeare!

 

[Jangles]

If you ever have the opportunity to see one of his plays at The Globe Theatre in London do it. It is so much fun.

 

[TCRAIG]

That's a lot of Shakespeare!

Yeah - I like Shakespeare- also I lived in Stratford Conn during HS - home of the American Shakespeare Theatre at the time.

 

[sam_gordon]

Can't stand him. Hated reading him in HS, don't think I ever fully read one play (thank god for Cliffs Notes).

Watched a lot of movies & TV episodes that had his stories as background or the plot itself that I've enjoyed, but that about it.

 

[C&Jx2]

Yes! My son is the president of his HS drama club and a prominent actor at his school. They just performed "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged" and it was GREAT! I studied a lot of it through my college years and enjoyed the political/cultural jabs but seeing it performed as a sketch comedy is something else!

 

[Moliphino]

Can't stand him. Hated reading him in HS, don't think I ever fully read one play (thank god for Cliffs Notes).

Watched a lot of movies & TV episodes that had his stories as background or the plot itself that I've enjoyed, but that about it.

I think that's because most schools go about teaching Shakespeare all wrong. It's not literature and it's meant to be entertaining to all, not just the highbrow types.
I took one Shakespeare class in high school where my teacher delighted in pointing out all of the innuendo and sex jokes. We had a lot of fun with it (except for having to watch so much Branagh).

 

[sam_gordon]

I think that's because most schools go about teaching Shakespeare all wrong. It's not literature and it's meant to be entertaining to all, not just the highbrow types.
I took one Shakespeare class in high school where my teacher delighted in pointing out all of the innuendo and sex jokes. We had a lot of fun with it (except for having to watch so much Branagh).

Maybe. I just couldn't read it and follow the story.

 

[Moliphino]

Maybe. I just couldn't read it and follow the story.

Yeah, it's really not meant to be read like a book, which is what they make you do in school most of the time. It's like if you just read the lyrics to a song and don't listen to the music, you miss out on so much.