There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who love shakespeare and those who can't read his plays without drowning in old english and complete confusion.
I am the latter.
I have to take two pre 1800 lit classes to graduate and needless to say i waited until the last semester to do so. For a day i was in a shakespeare's class this summer, but i was so mortified by my teacher who wanted us to act the plays out in front of the class, that i quickly dropped it.
However unless i plan to remain a college student my whole life, i have to get these classes out of the way or i will be stuck here...forever.
I am taking a shakespeares tragedy and a medieval masculinity class to fulfill my requirement. My medieval masculinity teacher is wicked awesome. She has that cool "i teach english look about her". She walks in to class with these army styled boots, a book in her hand, and these cat classes which offset her wavy blonde hair. Then for the next 75 minutes she talks about knights, and queen, castles and woodland creatures. I blame my middle school obsession with romance novels on my interest in knights and castles. But for this class my years of reading chivalric stories has paid off.
I can't say the same for Shakespeare. The language barrier is just too awful. I don't think that his plays suck, but having to spend the whole time dechiper words and get character name and importance together is a little grating. My teacher is so nice though. You can tell he was never picked first for any kickball games, because he was probably in a corner reading Othello. He's kind of small and balding, and his voice is so soft he could coo a baby to sleep. Unfortunately because most the people in my class are the "i don't like Shakespeare" audience, class discussion is pretty painful.
He sits on the desk, trying to get something out of us but for the most part we just stare at him with blank eyes and yawns. It's pretty painful to watch. Sometimes i even have to avert my eyes as he pleads with us (with his eyes) to say something...anything. There are about two or three people who contribute full heartedly, but even they are at a loss for words sometimes. So mainly it's just him, sitting on his desk or walking around class talking with as much enthusiasm as he can, only to greet the disappointment of our dormant faces.
AWKWARD.
And of course now i have to read Romeo and Juliet for the 97th time. If he can pull something out of this play that hasn't been discussed before then i'll have to applaud or even contribute to class discussion.
I'm suffering from a case of awkwardness this week. I feel like an idiot when i speak. I'm self conscious again, and it's because talking with people is more exhausting than i thought. I'm having to put myself out there, and apart of me is totally...awkward. In everything i do, especially when i am trying to get words out of my mouth.
I am taking linguistics this semester, and we are learning all about sentence structures and how people use language as a form of communication. It's sounds boring, which it is, but after an array of embarassing and awkward responses to questions in the last two days...i'm thinking i may learn something in this class.
There is that moment when someone says something to you and instead of having a normal response, something stupid comes out. It's only after the stupid comment that you realize "what the hell did i just say"
Today, for an example, in linguistics we worked in groups. Luckily i got to work with a girl who i've previously had a class with. We clicked pretty well and got through the discussion questions posed by the professor with a good knowledge of the material.
After 15 mintutes of group work, the professor brought the class back together so we could discuss the questions as a whole. As i was daydreaming about what i would do after class (grab something to eat) i heard my name being called. She wanted me to answer the first question on the paper.
The logical apporach would have been to just discuss what me and Alison (my group member) had talked about. Instead the first thing that came out of my mouth was:
Me: Oh Really?!?!! You want me to answer..
There was a collective laugh from the other students as i trudged through the question without too much problem.
That was only a small example of the least embarassing moment i've had in the last two days.
It's like i'm getting more awkward with age. It's horrible.
Time for Romeo and Juliet.
5 comments:
Nice post (and profile) ^-^
WOW. medieval masculinity class sounds RIGHT up my alley! i'm jealous.
now, shakespeare. GIVE SHAKESPEARE A CHANCE! don't get too hung up on deciphering every word. read a plot summary BEFORE you read the actual play, so you know wtf is going on. then go back, and read.
if you want to be a writer, then you need to understand why shakespeare is so important in our literary and cultural heritage. the man did things with words that are unreal. he INVENTED dozens of words we use today (how many words have YOU invented?).
which plays are you reading? let me know and i can try to help you. the thing is, shakespeare is totally full of melodrama and dirty jokes.
and for the record, Mr Shakespeare is actually modern (early modern) english - same as what we speak ourselves. consider this as well: if unschooled peasants - and i mean for-real peasants - could go watch a shakespeare play and love it, then why can't WE read/see them and get it?
(i also advise watching some - even just parts of some - film adaptations. hey! yes! go watch the Romeo + Juliet with claire danes. that movie is doing EXACTLY what old shakespeare does).
true fact about shakespearean performance: no real costumes or sets. actors would wear sort of old clothes, "actor suits," of no particular style, and then have some kind of prop to mark their meaning. like, the actor playing King Richard would have some sort of burger-kingesque crown to show that he is the king, but not much else. the WORDS are everything.
here's another thing: right before shakespeare's time, the Iconoclasts (religious sect) took a lot of power, and visual arts got destroyed and denigrated. PICTURES were not encouraged or valued. so writers took over, and had to make images with their words, in ways they never had to before. that's why you get such descriptive language from shakespeare.
hey: if you read king lear, let me know. i'd like to re-read it - maybe we could read it "together"???
I just got schooled!!!! =).
We just finished Titus Andronicus which i must admit wasn't terrible (until of course 5 people died in a matter of seconds at the end of the play. ).
I just get so confused with whose what, when where or how, that i sort of give up reading the play, instead of trudginng along and trying to figure it out.
We start King Lear at the end of March( the 31st), and we can totally have mini book/play club, you may be able to clear up some things for me, and i of course can provide confusion galor.
Shakespeare and falling asleep tend to go hand in hand... ^0^
I love Shakespeare--but it isn't always pleasurable to read him; in fact, it's work, and I often end up writing as much in the margins as there is typed in the text. I have, in effect, "re-written" King Lear at least once. I'm trying to stop doing that... I swear one loses something valuable from a reading when he or she can't keep the pen out of hand.
I'm at a distinct advantage these days. I have my undergrad degree finished, a teaching position, and a little time to read what I like. I'm taking some time off before heading to grad school. And, like you, I'm writing as much as possible, often in manic fits.
So--I can afford to break up the apparent monontony of Shakespeare with something apparently interesting from Dale Bailey or Anne Rice (guilty pleasure)--I take Hamlet in small doses.
I have, however, with the help of Harold Bloom, found that there is no greater writer in the western canon than WS if you're seeking wisdom in literature.
And what wisdom is there to be gained from Hamlet, or Lear?
We learn, at least in part, what it means to be human: it hurts. We don't know why tragedies happen. We can't fully understand ourselves or the universe in which we live. Sometimes life brings us to our knees. Sometimes that's the best place we can be. I on my knees more than I would like.
What I found in Hamlet was myself looking back at myself. And Lear? Lear is the ghost of Christmas future--and so much more. There is something powerful to be understood in all of the death.
I understand your personal situation. Being forced to read anything is an immediate turn-off.
I don't know you, but I've been in your shoes. I made the best of what I had to do--skimmed much--used summaries from on-line sources--and acted--quite spectacularly I might add--that I knew what the hell was going on.
You don't have to look for insights and epiphanies in Shakespeare--they will find you--if you ever have time to really "read" the text.
I'm currently mining Hamlet for all it's worth--albiet slowly; you're welcome to visit the blog sometime to see if I've posted anything concerning the prince or King Lear. No promises. If the two make an appearance, it's likely to be in passing.
Don't just give Shakespeare a chance. Give yourself a chance with Shakespeare. You deserve it. I get the feeling, though, that you're already doing all of that.
One more thing: if you ever get the opportunity, read T.S. Eliot's essay, "Hamlet and His Problems"--especially the part about "the objective correlative." I've found nothing more fascinating in western lit.
I apologize for the length; like I said--I write in sincere fits.
Night.
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