Reading Shakespeare!

[Nossa]

Hello everyone,
I had a question concerning reading the Shakespearean works in general (whether they are plays, sonnets or poems).
I have a hard time reading Shakespeare, especially the plays. My biggest problem is the language of course. It frustrates me that sometimes I don't understand more than one line in a row, cuz some words are totally new to me. I started to feel intimidated by Shakespeare's works, that I didn't dare to start reading anything on my own for a while now. I only stick to the plays we study every year in university.
But this summer, I decided to start reading Shakespeare again. I have his complete works, and I'm determined on reading at least one play on my own this summer, if not more.
I was wondering if anyone here, who likes Shakespeare (who doesn't? lol), can give me a few advices when I start reading on my own. It's starting to be a big problem, since I'm an aspiring professor, and I can't be a professor, teaching english lit., if I didn't know how to read and understand Shakespeare's works alone.
Thank you SO much in advance, any help is appreciated.

PS: I'm relatively good in sonnets and poems, my basic problem is with plays actually.

[aeroport]

Regardless of how good one is at reading Shakespeare, footnotes are always valuable to anyone, so, if your edition of the complete works does not have them (or some similar means of explaining the obscure terms and allusions), I would set out to find one. Of course, a collected edition such as the Riverside Shakespeare with all of these things can get rather expensive, so I would suggest instead getting an individual copy of, say, Othello or Macbeth, maybe Romeo and Juliet - really anything but the sprawling Hamlet or King Lear - that does include these, and make liberal use of them. However, it takes more than "looking up" the words one doesn't know to get the hang of Shakespeare. The cool thing about his works is that you really don't have to understand all the words to pick up on what's being said. Just read the sentence (note: a complete SENTENCE, not just a line) a time or two and you can discern something of the message. You have to practice a bit in order to develop this, but if you're good with the poems this is probably not much trouble for you. There are some things that crop up in every play (using "an" for "if" and so forth), but generally every piece includes foreign references; no one but a Shakespeare scholar "just knows it". Thus, the footnotes! And then, additionally, there are lots of people here who can help.

[applepie]

One thing that was a huge help to me when I first really became interested in reading Shakespeare was to reword parts of the play. Once you have rewritten a couple of his plays in terms that you can understand, it becomes much easier to read. I also agree with Jamesian. Be sure to read a copy with the footnotes. These are a huge help when you first start reading. The only other thing to do is stick with it. Keep reading play after play. If you like tragedies, read all of those. If you would rather read something lighter and more amusing try A Midsummer Nights Dream. Te more you read the easier it gets. Reading the sonnets are another good way to start becoming familiar with the language. Good luck to you, and if you get stuck, someone here will be able to help. Jamesian is right on the count also:) Sometimes in the sections divided by author it takes longer to get a reply, but you can normally get an answer.

[Nossa]

Thank you so much guys!! I already started reading the first set of sonnets, and the first act in Macbeth...I'll def. use your tips on reading Shakespeare, and try to find an edition with footnotes :D

[Metanoia]

I think alot of people make Shakespeare seem more difficult than it really is. It is different from modern writing, but I've found that once you get into the flow of it, it's fairly easy to understand. I have been lucky though, because my sister has a great understanding of Shakespeare and of all literature, so I've always had a great teacher.

[Lote-Tree]

Yes. I love Shakespeare :D



"What a piece of work is man!
How noble in reason!
how infinite in faculties!
in form and moving, how express and admirable!
in action how like an angel!
in apprehension, how like a god!


How hard is it to understand above Nossa? :D

[Virgil]

Nossa, don't you have an edition that provides meaning for words or phrases that have shifted meaning over the 400 years? If not, you can find a number of helpful sites here: http://www.bardweb.net/language.html

[JCamilo]

My advice is "Understanding is overated". Enjoy it, skip what you do not understand, perhaps read it out loud, because the sound is part of Shakespeare worlds. You will eventually get the concept behind one phrase or another (Eventually, the Queen Mab will need a footnote, but it is irrelevant to the work), after sometime you will notice you are understanding it, after all that is how it works with most of idioms.

[grace86]

I'm going to be taking a Shakespeare's tragedies course starting Friday Nossa, I'll be glad to help if I can. Like you, I've not read many of his plays.

Good luck with your readings and someone is always here to help. I recently just bought a Barnes and Noble edition of Macbeth and on one side of the page it has footnotes and on the other page, the play...it seems like it is really helpful so far...just a suggestion (I really should work for Barnes and Noble considering how often I talk about them!)

Anyway happy reading. :)

[quasimodo1]

To Nossa: Shakespeare had the largest vocabulary of any English writer ever. Once you are aware of this and the fact that he invented many English words, you can have a huge dictionary on hand (or online) and being forwarned of this, you are forarmed. Since Henry V is possibly his most dynamic play, the force of the plot might help you plow through it. quasi