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/lit/ - Literature

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[ERROR] No.2161274 [Reply] [Original]

is there a particular order anyone would recommend for working one's way through shakespeare's plays?

>> No.2161275

Start at the beginning, just like you would with any other band.

>> No.2161293

>>2161275
but his first few albums suck so Idunno why anyone would listen to them.

>> No.2161294

Read the one's you've heard of first.

>> No.2161313

Don't even bother reading them. You won't get as much out of them unless you see them as plays.

>> No.2161317

>>2161313
I disagree. While it's great to see the plays, you can get anything you want out of the text if you really love to read.

>> No.2161327

Alternate comedies with tragedies
then start adding histories

good starters:
- Measure for Measure
- Julius Caesar
- Much Ado about Nothing
- Titus Andronicus
- Henry V

>> No.2161329

>>2161327

this is pretty alright exxcept much ado sucks real bad

>> No.2161331

I don't really like artists doing covers but most of shakespears tracks can be found rewritten in modern english.

>> No.2161332

>>2161313
This is true, but if there are no good English-speaking theatres in your area, and there are very few good theatres anywhere anymore, try reading the text out loud. It might sound silly, but the phonology of Shakespeare is such that speaking the text with proper technique will assist greatly with understanding the emotional nuances of the language.

>> No.2161334

>>2161329
Much Ado lacks substance, but it's pretty thoroughly hilarious. I guess a better suggestion would have been Loves Labours Lost?

>> No.2161335

>>2161317
The form of the play is such that you can't treat it like a novel or some other written form of literature. It's just a totally different media.

It's not a matter of getting all the meaning out of the text, it's a matter of their being a lot of extraneous stuff on the page that makes no sense for written consumption, that only works when acted out.

If you really want to READ Shakespeare, read his sonnets.

>> No.2161337

>>2161335

not liking to read plays is 100% your persoional prefence and in no way is reflective of the play as a text

>> No.2161349

>>2161335
>The form of the play is such that you can't treat it like a novel or some other written form of literature.

Of course you can't treat it like a novel, because it is not a novel. But you can still get something out of reading it--perhaps something you wouldn't have gotten by watching the play.

I don't mean that someone who only watches the play is missing something or not totally comprehending the work. I mean that I don't see why you can't experience the work in a written form, like you can experience music via sheet music if you like, and see it form a different perspective.

Personally I like watching the plays, but there have been times while reading Shakespeare that my jaw drops and I fall in love with a turn of phrase and how it is written, I like to see it on the page. When I watch the play, I tend to focus on the acting--another thing that I love, but it's different.

>> No.2161353

>>2161337
>It's not a matter of getting all the meaning out of the text, it's a matter of their being a lot of extraneous stuff on the page that makes no sense for written consumption, that only works when acted out.

How is any of that an opinion or a statement on how much I enjoy reading plays?

I suppose it's also best to read song lyrics on a page, rather than listening to them sung?

>> No.2161360

>>2161349
That seems like a fine way to enjoy the play. Nothing wrong with reading the play's script to get deeper into it, but the play works best on stage, performed.

>> No.2161448

>>2161313
>Don't even bother reading them. You won't get as much out of them unless you see them as plays.

I'm just trying to build up my power-level. I think that some prior exposure will prove beneficial when I do, hopefully, see some of them in performance. I've hit upon a pretty good system for reading a Shakespeare play for the first time: I read it and listen to an audio performance at once. The audio clues me into tone and performative/interpretive aspects, and I have the annotations there to explain antiquated references and meanings. I can pause if I need a moment to process information or take notes, but I try to move at a brisk pace and pause infrequently so that it's closer to performance than reading.