Heyya everybody!! its really been quite a while since i've been here and actually posted sth...whew*!! anywho, this topic's really about who loves Shakespeare, or his works? i mean, isnt he simply the greatest playwright who ever lived?? i mean, i truly some of his works...you know, like Othello, Hamlet, As You Like It, Tempest and so many others...then of course, there are some that arent so good...i actually hate Romeo and Juliet...the two characters are awfully stupid...those of you who like them, try reading the original shakespearean work and you'll see how silly they are!! if you wanna more from me, ask..i'll tell you why...and if any of you wanna know what happens in Othello and the other plays, ask me...i'll tell you all gladly ...so, who loves Shakespeare??

P.S: no one comes and criticises him with idiotic stuff like he's gay, or he's actually a group of people and stuff...so, please, only people who appreciate him and who want to know about him, or his plays!! ..that's was nice, thank you ...

Heya, I love Macbeth, now I admit that I'm biased about it because I studied it extensively and come to appreciate the underlying themes that Shakesphere so cleverly does. You got to love those witches - boil and trouble - I forget the lines.

I did read Romeo and Juliet and sometimes I like it and I don't in a way. It is just a very dramatic tragedy isn't it? I prefer the Macbeth's themes - which by having excessive ambition and questionable morals, you can destruct yourself...

I have read a little about Othello but I'll have to read it a bit in more detail sometime as I think it's probably one of Shakesphere's best works.

Have you come to study Shakesphere whilst at school or personally?

I've seen the Midsummer Nights Dream as a play, and I really liked that. I want to read Othello, but I've never been ever to get through it.

I've tried reading Shakespeare, but it is so hard. All those old timey words. How do you guys do it?

Othello, yeah not one of my favorites. I perfer Henry V. That was worth reading and watching. I don't get that very often with Shakespeare. Most of his plays are a serious pain for me to read but when you see them performed you can't help but love them.
My favorite is a Midsummer Nights Dream but mostly because it was the first one I read. I know most people start off with Romeo and Juliet but love stories don't do it for me unless I can laugh. And believe me, I laughed during Midsummer Nights Dream. It was such a ridiculous set of events toss together I laughed and laughed. As You Like It was pretty funny to. The Clown was my favorite character.

We read Romeo and Juliet for school..I really loved it. It was very tragic but good. I love the language too it sounds so nice when spoken, a very good love story..with a sad ending.
I also like the movies for the play. The older version was better and the actors were better. But the newer verison with Leo DiCaprio was good..it had a better death scene..he was dieing as she woke up and she saw it so it made it sadder.. with the movies..But the play was great..we had to memorise 20 lines from it and I still remember mine.lol. I want to read MacBeth it looks good. well thats all for now.

When you say the version with Leonardo Dicaprio was good, you mean decent, right? Because when I went to see that mvoie I had to supress the urge to go up to the ticket booth and demand my money back. As for the older version, yeah it was good.
I'm not sure how I feel about Romeo and Juliet, myself. On one hand I feel it was a wonderfully written story, about two star-crossed lovers who's living conditions and child like innocence led to their deaths. On the other hand, watching a bunch of adolescent(?) thugs wondering around a city picking fights and telling inappropriate jokes is a sever pain. What are your thoughts on it, guys?

ya i meant decent..it was soo..weird..I HATED how it was modernized..beucase the old english didnt sound as good. I just thought the death scene was better..because he was dieing as she was waking up and she saw him die..idk it just seemed so much more like how I would have envisioned it.

Actually, I liked seeing it modernised - it just shows a lot of different perspectives of the play and also makes it a bit more interesting. I guess with the modernisation of the Romeo and Juliet enables people who particularly didn't get Shakespeare because it is old fashioned and it allows people to try and understand it by making it contemporary - I reckon it was very effectively done. When you see different versions of the play, it is interesting to reflect upon it and you have a much deeper understanding of the underlying themes - all showed in different ways.

Love the stories, but the way Shakespeare writes it? I can't stand it.

But that is the beauty of it. It makes him stand out and the language is so poetic and ironic. When I first read Macbeth, I was just so amazed on how he expresses the story in such a unique way and cleverly hides behind irony and when you get it, it's like a revelation!

Well he did write these plays some 500 years ago in Elizabethen England. You can't expect him to write the same way we do these days.
Revelation? I guess but you get that with most books. What I love about him is the poetry of it all. The way he knows and understands almost every aspect of human character and manages to put it all in meter. We haven't seen someone that good since Homer.

How do you all feel about Taming of the Shrew? When I first read it I was in European Literature and we hadn't been introduced to Feminist Criticism yet. So you can imagine the discussions were very bland. Me personally, I just liked laughing at the way Kat treated everyone. But I guess there's a lot to be said about Shakespeare and Britain at the time. Please express yourselves. I feel the need to debate. Oh and feel free to throw in other works, too.

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Good point there - about the works being written 500 years ago and if they were translated into plain English then the whole concept, imagery and poetry will be lost and there's no point doing so because it is not really meant to be read as succinctly - I think it's meant to make you think more about it and maybe be disturbed by the description of an imagery.

Taming of the Shrew? I've heard my friends from high school talk about it but I've never studied it. Wasn't there some contemporary example - a movie or something? I'm sure there is one - but I have forgotten what the play was briefly about. Can you tell/remind me?

The interesting thing I learnt about Shakespeare which I hadn't know before, in some of his works such as Othello and The Merchant of Venice, that there is some evidence of oppression of the Jews and the Turks during the early modern European period. There are some suggestions that he made those plays as an example of the early modern Europeans' anti-Semitism...just interesting thought...

That would be "10 Things I Hate About You." It is an excellent movie. Read the play first, then watch the movie. You'll get so much more out of it and find so many more things amusing.

Taming of the Shrew is about, sheesh where to begin- a guy who loves the "perfect" girl. She's not allowed to get married until her older sister does. Who the heck is going to marry the older sister who is Katherine. (Younger sister is Bianca) Anyways. . .long story short: Katherine ends up getting married to Verona (I think it was) and she ends up being the model wife (even though she was thought to be the shrew of the story) and the younger sister becomes the undesirable character. Strange twist, but extremely entertaining.

I enjoy Shakespeare's history plays the best. Henry V being my favorite. His tragedies are awesome as well (even though it's overdone, Hamlet is still my favorite there).

Once you get the rythm down, for those who may be intimidated by Shakespeare, it is a bit easier to follow. Of course, have a dictionary around as well. I know it can be painful to have to stop every five words to look something up that you weren't able to get from context, but the enrichment you'll receive for hanging in there and finishing is really worth it.

Where I do think you lose a lot of what makes Shakespeare wonderful if you translate the stories into modern day English, I don't think it reduces the stories. The imigary he used was impressive. It makes me giggle to this day to think of him sitting at his writing desk, searching his brain for an appropriate word; and when none existed-he made one up! He made up so many words! Of course, we understand them today (believe it or not), think of what his audience of that day was thinking! Oh, it makes me smile. He invented over 1700 words that we still use in our language today, some of them being: blushing, accused, obscene, dawn and flawed. If you like this type of thing, this is the book to read: "Coined By Shakespeare" by Jeffrey McQuain and Stanley Mallessone

Ah, yes. I enjoy Shakespeare.

I love a Midsummer's Nights Dream! We are studying it at school at the moment and every lesson we listen to part of the play read bt English actors. When I was 10 I was in a moderised version of the play but it was still good, just not as good as reading the poetry and the Old English.
I haven't read any of the others yet but I plan too before I'm sixteen!

Caity, another one that involves a good Forest scen is "As You Like It." It's highly amusing, though admittedly not one of my favorites. (I think that stems from a college assignment of having to redact it and act it out. . .ick.) It's even got some good old fashioned cross-dressing involved. Read his sonnets, too. Now those are some superior bits of poetry.

yes, i'm doing romeo and juliet at school...but i've read othello, macbeth, tempest and taming of the shrew at home, by myself. they werent so deep in study thing, but i got the basic gist of it(i'm not sure how to spell gist/jist wateverr)...and i think romeo and juliet is pretty dumb because they are 'two stupid dogs' (the cartoon with the thick dog and the thin dog, lol)... ...anywho, those of you who havent read othello, READ IT, or ask me ...lol, bye, later!~! yeah the sonnets are soooo good too! they are like the perfect examples of sonnets! plus, did you read the kingdom of the bees? its from one of his plays...i think its from the Winter's Tale or sth close...

I love Shakespeare! My 8th grade drama teacher loves Shakespeare even more! My favorite play would be a MidSummer's Night's Dream. It's so brilliant and they have fairies! We did a modernised version of Romeo and Juliet this year. Since I am apart of Florida Junior Thespians, I competed. I did an emsemble act from Shakespeare's King Lear. I was the part of Reagan.

Shakespeare's words can be confusing at times, but once you understand what he's saying then you realize how beautiful his words are. Even though I love JK Rowling, she is a far way from William Shakespeare. Shakespeare invented words and names we use today in our regular life.

I also love his sonnets! We had to write one in 7th grade (my drama teacher was my l.arts teacher) in L. Arts. It was very hard and Shakespeare wrote 154 of them! One day I would love to visit the Globe Theatre in England.

Whenever some says to me Shakespeare invented words like majestic I can't help but remember that joke by George Carlin. It goes something like this:
I have just as much authority as the pope. Just not as many people who believe it.
Yes, Rowling is centuries from where Shakespeare is but so's just about every other author since him. Being great is hard, but being Shakespeare is nothing short of impossible. But guys like him pop up every four or five centuries, so where due in for another Bard soon!
You had to write sonnets in th seventh grade? That's hilarious! My eigth teacher considered giving us that assignment, then he had a sudden stroke of commonsense and realized no one would be able to compose one that was even somewhat coherent. Instead he had us do scenes from The Tempest. I played the sprite or whatever it was. Man I wish he'd given us the sonnets. Failing and retaining dignity is better than failing and losing your dignity.

Yeah I had to write a sonnet in 7th grade. But it was really easy, I got an A. My teacher said that she loves Shakespeare and that she wanted everyone to get a head start on it before we start High School.

JK Rowling is far from Shakespeare, but she still is one of the best. What makes Shakespeare the best of all writers (in my opinion) is because he lived centuaries ago and his plays were published until after his death. He became popular because of his writings. No one's opinions were biased because of something else.

So the question is, who is good enough to be the next Bard?

That's an excellent question. Just who could possibly replace the great Shakespeare?... Well we certainly have had several great writers since him but not one that produced nearly as many great works in a short time. Hopefully it will be before I die so I can meet him or her.
Truth be told, I'm not sure our modern world would allow such an artist to fully reach his potential. It would probably take a few decades and maybe even centuries for their work to be discovered. It's happen more than once. I guess only time will tell.
Hey! Here's something humorous, one of my buddy's teacher's has on more than one ocassion compared Eminem to Shakespeare. According to her they have a lot in common.( I would have csaid Mozart, who honestly was a lot like Eminem only bad with money.) I don't know just what to make of that. I haven't heard many songs by Eminem so I can't really comment.

Eminem compared to Shakespeare? I'm sorry, but I don't see the comparison there. I do know some of Eminem's songs, but I don't like them. Mozart? We sure are getting off-topic here.

The next Bard will not come for another hundred years or so. I think Shakespeare still has a long time to reign as "The Bard" because he is so good and let's face it, writing is not the same as it once was. In 1600's there was no TV, Internet, or Radio to entertain people. So they read and watched plays. But today no one has time for that. Truth be told, no one has an interest in that. Well except for a few!

I love Shakespeare especially Hamlet and Macbeth. They are such well done works. he was an amazing person!

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Aww...i cant believe how many people actually like shakespeare!! i'm so full of happiness...i thought i'd be getting loads of 'i hate that guy' and 'he's gay' and 'he's not actually a man, he's a woman' sorta stuff...but, you know wat, i guess it was only in my former school, where i had first come across REAL shakespearean works...here, my teacher's thinking of setting us sonnets for assignment, but she's had us working so hard already, i guess she's having second thoughts! hehe...she's a bit , you know..but i shouldnt say anymore ...anymore, thats just moving off-topic...i'll just say that i love all Shakespeare works...though some of them are really a bit not-okay type...however, the language is something that really throws people off track...but i think, that if you read atleast one book of his, you'll understand his ways...puns, paradoxes, oxymorons...that guy was SUCH a genius! i just love reading into his words...you're always bound to find something special...he was such a word-person, i swear...

Yay! This thread is thriving quite nicely with lots of people interested in Shakespeare... I just had a thought - As I am genuinely interested in some of his works, I haven't read all of his works so I thought maybe perhaps we could choose a work/play to discuss? I am willingly to read the text (perhaps not at the moment for me as I have exams coming up ) and we could discuss about the themes, imagery, what the play is about, what contemporary examples (movie etc) are there etc etc.? It wouldn't be that study intensive - just a general discussion. It would just make it a really interesting thread to participate into. Just a thought - what do you guys think?

you know, that's an excellent idea! i could do that...but i just did two plays into real study details...i never scrutinised that many Shakespeare plays...and since i'm doing romeo and juliet maybe we should do that one ...hang on, i started this thread, dont i get to decide what to do around here? so, yeah, . there you have it people...let's tear Romeo and Juliet to pieces, examine them, study them, and discuss them!!! ...and yeah, i'm sitting for my english exam this friday *worried, worried*...and btw, let's not even mention how silly that romeo and juliet movie was with Leo diCaprio and Claire Daines ...we just saw it at school today, and i felt like shouting at the teacher for her stupid idea of watching the movie!! none of the characters were portrayed well and shakespeare would've died of shame if he'd seen it ...anywho, i seem to be the one moving a teensy wee bit off-topic here, so uh, ROMEO AND JULIET discussion here poeple!!! i love doing that loudspeaking, ordering, commanding, leader thingy...

I love Shakespeare, don't get me wrong, but the antics and actions of his characters are classic. Whether it be the attitudes of the time or Shakespeare's own views of the attitudes of the time, I don't know, but I love the differentiation of his world and ours.

Here, a scenein Othello from Act IV, Scene I-between Iago and Othello.
~~~
OTHELLO: Get me some poison, Iago, this night. I'll not expostulate with her, lest her body and beauty unprovide my mind again- this night, Iago.

IAGO: Do it not with poison; strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath Contaminated

OTHELLO: Good, good! The justice of it pleases; very good!

IAGO: And for Cassio, let me be his undertaker. You shall hear more by midnight.

OTHELLO: Excellent good!
~~~
Roughly translated:

OTHELLO: I'll poison Desdemona tonight.

IAGO: Don't do it with poison, strangle her in her bed- the one she cheated on you in with Cassio

OTHELLO: Good, I like the justice.

IAGO: And I'll kill Cassio, I'll tell you all about it later

OTHELLO: Great.
~~~

Anybody else absolutely cack youself laughing? No, perhaps not- you should read it. I love Shakespeare. The drama...the tragedy...the unintentional comedy...

Othello is one of his best plays. But a lot of his lines are often mistaken as something else. I would love to live in the time he did. His world was so much cooler! Take the quote from my signature.That quote was really funny to me! Especially since I want to become a lawyer!

[font=Book Antiqua][color=#993399]yeah othello is totally the best...thats what i always say...btw, werent we supposed to be discussin' romeo and juliet here today? oh well, random's good too ...anywho, i just get so worked up everytime i remember how iago had poisoned othello's mind...and, uh, did i mention that i would perfectly love living in shakespearean times too? if i havent, well, lemme say that i'd love to...they had such a perfect world then...btw, did i say how much i'd love to live in shakespear's time?

Romeo and Juliet! ... come on! how can you not love it?!?!

I've read Othello, Hamlet, Midnight Summer Dream,Macbeth, The merchant of Venice, and still R&J is one of my favorites... all the simbolism the metaphores... its just the tragedy for excellence. You have tor ead it more than once to get how deep it goes into human nature.

I remember reading Act 2 scene 2 (Capulet's orchard) for my literature class, we studied almost line by line to get the real meaning of all, and it just was too beautiful to believe it was just 1 scene

oh i know that R&J is a play with loads of puns and stuff like that...but that's just how shakespeare writes! he used those creative word thingys in every play he ever wrote!! ...but i guess ppl find it so intriguingly beautiful because of the love story...but you know wat? even though i love how he spun the characters like Mercutio opposed to Romeo, Capulet, Tybalt, Benvolio, Juliet, the Nurse and Friar...the role of the Prince, Queen Mab and eveyone - thats all just ever so unique! but the story isnt all that touching, because, come on, how do you expect someone to fall in love at first sight by two kisses and then expect to get them married in less than twelve hours?? ...thats just wrong and wrong and double wrong ...sorry, cant accept that...

Yay! What I can say is: Shakespeare, thou is bloody brilliant! Lol!! His English is so sophistocated and truly beautiful; he makes the language that is English an art form. And think about the words he created! He actually created the word 'successful' a word relevant to his life most definitely.

We read the script for Macbeth in English last term and a year ago we did study Shakespeare's relevance to modern day, I was able to convince everyone that yes, he most certainly is relevant to conteporary society!

I have always thought that those Elizabethan dresses would look stunning on someone! Lol. I would love to try one on and visit the 1700's if I was able to travel backwards in time.

Do you know why I loved Macbeth??? Well in the PoA film the children sing a song called Doube Trouble (as most people will know) and the lyrics were taken word for word from Macbeth!! When I was asked to play the second witch I was glad because she says most of the lines from Double Trouble! Woopee! Lol.

Also, a man just visited our school and spoke about the comics based on Shakespear's plays that he has created. So far he has released Macbeth and The Tempest and he is currently working on Romeo and Juliet. If you would like to take a look at his work then visit this link:

http://www.randomhouse.com.au/WEB_ASP/ttle...983]Clicky!
I do not know if he sells his books outside Australia however?


*~*Stephanie*~*

P.S. I didn't like that modern day Romeo and Juliet film with Leonardo Decaprio, in fact I thought it was awful!

I sometimes like Shakespeare, othertimes I don't.
I quite like Much ado about nothing, it's kinda funny and I wan't to try some of thier ways of setting people up.
Shakespeare created the words assasination and bump, too.
However I dislike Shakespeare sometimes, because he completely copied the plot of Merchant Of Venice from someone else, that, I thought, was really mean. I don't know if he did it with other plays or not though...I wouldn't be surprised...
I thought the R&J film was OK, it seemed a little bit wierd with old speech and modern everything else...but I like wierd, so it was OK.

heyya everybody! and i'm so happy this thing's going so well! shakespeare's being so much loved! yes, shakespeare did copy a lot of his works from other latin and italian people...romeo and juliet is a copy from this Latin guy...Romeo and Julietthe, i think...and then, Capulettii or something and Montagiis or something close...so he changed all of that Latin into english - Romeo and Juliet and Capulets and Montagues and so on...he's just such a genius, you've got to love him! i mean, i cant believe that a literateur can be so much more intelligent than Einstein! ...

I know the current topic is supposed to be Romeo and Juliet, but it really was not one of my favorites. I absolutely love Hamlet. Polonius is in my opinion the most amusing character. The only thing that I didn't really like about Hamlet was Ophelia's weaknesses. If you look at her conversations with Laertes and Polonius, she is totally subservient. Yes, it goes along with the time period, but geeze, get a backbone!

His sonnets are also wonderful. I love the one where he makes fun of the popular sonnets of his time. I cant remember which one it is, but instead of saying things like his mistress smells wonderful, he uses reeks. Anyway, I know I am rambling now, so i'll let someone else take the reigns.

lol, I meant that the few posts before mine were Romeo and Juliet related....

No, Romeo and Juliet isnt exactly the topic...Shakespeare and his works are the topic...so, its not wrong if you want to talk bout 'Much Ado About nothing'...however, i've heard that name for sure, but i'm not positive if i've read it...i cant quite remember, so i cant really discuss, sorry

I love Macbeth, it is brilliantly structured, how at first Lady Macbeth, is the dominant character, and then she goes mad and keeps seeing blood on her hands, and then Macbeth becomes dominant. I love Romeo and Juliet, it is so sad. They were both willing to die to be with each other, lovely. I have never read Hamlet. I love Shakespeare.

I have just spent a whole day and I shall spend today and probably tomorrow doing an assignment on Shakespeare and his works. It is so hard, but my favourite is A Midsumer Night's Dream and I had to write a brief outline of it in the assignment. At least Shakespeare is a good writer and Elizabethan England is interesting.

Next year I have to study Romeo and Juliet and I can not wait to read it.

[color=#993399]Shakespeare worked equally hard on all his works...its just that he had worked on some of them earlier than some latter ones...that just makes the earlier ones a little not-so-good as opposed to the totally magnificent ones...and well, reading and writing and studying about Shakespeare is, like, one of the most fun things to do!! i seriously think so and trust me, i'm not a nerdy ...

I know most of Romeo and Juliet. We read it in school and I was usually Mercutio or Juliet seein as I was the only one who undertood modern english.... I hate when people say they don't understand Shakespeare.

I know what you mean. It isnt really hard to understand and I love the tehcneque that Shakespeare used to write his plays(blank verse).
I don't know what my favourtie play would be. i am very fond of Romeo and Juliet seeing as we studied it at school but I also like A Midsummer Nights Dream. I had to perform an extract of the play for my drama exam recently and I'm still waiting for my results.
I would really loved to play Lady Macbeth though.

Oh, I love Shakespeare. We read Romeo and Juliet in English last year, and it was so much fun. The words just slid right out. He truly makes the English language beautiful. Other favourites:

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Macbeth
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Taming of the Shrew

My absolute favourite, though, is Much Ado About Nothing.That is a funny play. One of my frinds was in the play for our theatre, and he was such a riot. We watched the movie of the play, and it's one of my favourite movies of all time.

I agree with you, Stephanie, the new Romeo and Juliet wasn't very good. In English we watched the old 1968 version and compared it to the new version, and the older one was way better.

Shakespeare is a myht! The first masterpiece I studied when I was 10, was a Midsummer Night's Dream: in the play I acted Puck

Then two years ago I studied Macbeth and I found it exciting!
Do you know that under the famous balcony of Romeo&Juliet in Verona there is a statue of the two lovers? but the breast of Juliet is very consumed because all the students of the University touch Juliet's breast before every exams!! not so romantic!
Anyway in Italian tha names of the two family are Montecchi and Capuleti!

The Merchant Of Venice is a very interesting play, but I love the way he descrived my city: Venice! Also the new film of this play is very good..

I love old literature, and nobody can make me cry quite like Shakespeare can. I quote him or Edgar Allen Poe when I write a lot, but I couldnt touch either of them, even on my best day....
I loved Macbeth. I read it just last year actually, and everybody is obsessed with Romeo & Juliet, and I have to admit, so am I. Its just such a classic tale of love. So *points to self* Big Shakespeare fan right here.

well last year in school we learn alor about William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe and they are great. william Shakespeare is great for the romance and everything like Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth is amazing they are great I love Romeo and Juliet is is so sad and then it was nice that they died together. then Edgar Allen Poe is so dark and awesome for the stories he writes

i just dont get why people like Romeo and Juliet so much...i mean, everything happens so fast...there's not even much time to feel sad or feel nice at the end...when everything falls apart, its not much time before they die...you can just see everything going wrong...and well, you can kind of predict what's to happen next...

I love Shakespeare! My favorite is A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's funny.
But I think my least favorite is The Tempest... it's a little too simple and formulaic in my opinion. And even though Romeo and Juliet was depressing, I still love it. I mean, it's really profound in alot of ways. And i love the Shakespearean language... it's very poetic.

I love Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's dream is my favorite comedy, although I very much enjoy A Comedy of Errors. My favorite Tradey other than Romeo and Juleit is Othello. Some of his other plays I'm not huge fans of. I don't really like MacBeth, because well the destiny verse chocie thing is very cool, there isn't a character in the whole play who's really relatable to anyone with a moral compass.

i love poems too..i think shakespeare was a great poet too...i mean even if he never discovered his awesome ability to write plays, he'd probably be as famous anyway writing poems...like i said, that guy is the coolest, or atleast 'was' the coolest...