Reading Shakespeare?

Is it possible to read Shakespeare instead of watching the plays themselves, or are the plays meant to be solely performed? I've got a Hamlet copy - it's the penguin modern classics one - and I've had it for quite a long time now. But I wasn't sure if I'll still be able to follow it if I only read it by myself?

There is definitely a literary quality to his plays. The use of language, his vocabulary, the puns, layered meanings, etc all allow his plays to be read as literature.

Seeing them performed just opens up another experience and aspect to his work.

It's not only possible but better!

You can go at your own pace, have time to read the notes, and will not be irritated by an inferior performance.

So read it, but don't expect to follow Shakespeare 'all the way' - no one can do that.

If you want to read it with others, just start by reading the first scene and post any questions/thoughts on this thread. I'd be happy to re-read it and put in my 2 groat's worth if you keep this thread alive.

The plays were written for performance but that's not to say you won't be able to follow it if you read the text alone. Go ahead - you are deferring a pleasure!

Reading Shakespeare, especially for the first time, can be a problem - it's sixteenth century English, it's in verse, it's richly packed with imagery, etc, etc. But with the help of some good footnotes, you should manage to overcome those initial difficulties.

It may help if you can read it aloud - that way the rhythm of the verse becomes evident and the meaning becomes clearer.

It may help if you can get hold of a recording and follow the text while listening to it.

It may help if you can get hold of a video recording - you can watch it before reading then when you read you will have a mental picture of the scene to help you through any difficulties you encounter in the text and give you an overall sense of the shape of the play. Or you can watch it after a first reading to compare your inner visualisation of the play with a director's vision of it, bearing in mind there are as many interpretations as there are productions.

And of course you can go and see a performance, if you are lucky enough to be near a theatre. This is the ideal, imo. It's an investment - the memory of a good production will never leave you, it will become part of your mental make-up. And through your life you may be lucky enough to see several different productions, each an enriching experience that will add yet another facet to your understanding of the play.

edit: I've just seen mal4mac's post and agree with his suggestions. I too would like to read the play scene by scene because although I have seen several productions and have studied the play as an example of Revenge Tragedy, I've never made a close textual reading of it, in company with discussion.

Reading Shakespeare is certainly enjoyable and worthwhile....as is re-reading his plays. I have read Hamlet so many times now, and each time I discover something different, and ask new questions of the text.

I agree that it is advantageous to be to able to go at your own pace, and to have the entire text (which very few productions of Hamlet will ever do) in front of you.

But it is also valuable to keep in mind that you are reading a play in Hamlet in particular, there are so many references to Hamlet as play (and not just the parts with the Players). Shakespeare enjoyed the concept of metatheatre, and really layers it on in Hamlet.

I have not read Shakespeare much at all. My husband has extensively, however, and convinced me to watch the lavish Kenneth Branaugh version. It was fantastic, and I enjoyed it very much. My husband did have to sit with me and go over it somewhat before and during.
We also went to Shakespeares house and watched some skits performed there. I have an appreciation of it that I did not have before.

I've took my time to get to it, but I finally started reading Hamlet yesterday, and I'm up to act 2 now. Hamlet is in the same room as the King, and of course those who have read it know what Hamlet has been told. I've got to admit, it's an experience I've never really had before; it never occurred to me that you could read Shakespeare, but I've just purchased the Penguin Classics set of 12 volumes of his works, I love it that much. At the beginning the language was foreign to my ear, but eventually it reveals itself, and it's easy to follow now. It's like listening to a new dialect, and eventually you pick it up.

Reading shakespeare canbe rewarding, as you go at your own pace and make your own discoveries.

Try and read aloud where possible (not on a crowded bus) as the language and rhythms become more obvious

Follow my blog as I read Shakespeare. (I'm reading Hamlet next)

http://readingshakespeare.wordpress.com/