Let's talk some Shakespeare, shall we?

[Mysterious F.]

I got inspired to start this conversation because of this conversation I had in school today that basically went like this:

Me: Look, our English book has all of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, I wonder if we'll get around to reading it this year.
Matt: I hope not, I hate Shakespeare.
Me: Why?
Matt: All of his plays are only about love.
Me: ...You're kidding, right?
Matt: No.
Me: Matt, name any of his plays besides Romeo and Juliet and tell me what it's about.
Matt: Well... umm... I don't know...
Me: You don't know anything about Shakespeare besides Romeo and Juliet, do you?
Matt: No.

Besides, he got Romeo and Juliet all wrong. Sure, the love story is unrealistic crap, but that is besides the point. Romeo and Juliet is far more concerned with the inner workings of the rivalry of two powerful families than with any love story. The romance was merely a MacGuffin.

So, if I had to choose which of The Bard's plays I liked the most, I would probably choose Hamlet, though Anthony and Cleopatra, King Lear, and Othello shouldn't be forgotten.

[Pyrgusfinn]

I'm not personally that fond of Shakespeare. I've read several of his works and seen  a few adaptations of said plays.

[MagmarFire]

Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite so far. That is all.

[Uximadesk]

The guy was a pervert, had a macabre way of leading his stories to an end, liked to see everyone die and invented words. Basically, a teenager.

[Gamefreak]

The romance was merely a MacGuffin.

You read TV Tropes too?

Anyways, I've been through similar conversations with people during high school.  They only knew the one story and they knew very little about it at that.

[Mysterious F.]

Actually, I got the term from Hitchcock. 

The guy was a pervert, had a macabre way of leading his stories to an end, liked to see everyone die and invented words. Basically, a teenager.

He kept suspense all the way to the end of the story, and most of his plays are tragedies, so of course it is melodramatic and everyone died. Inventing words is a bad thing? The words he invented are spoken right out of your mouth every day, you know.

[Uximadesk]

Well, you can't help speaking them when they have set deep roots in the language (I give lol about 30 years until everyone forgets it was once invented in the internet).
Also, he invented them because he presented his plays to illiterates, and Shakespeare himself wasn't the best read man out there.

[DW]

You know, they didn't have uniform spelling back then. There weren't really any 'words'. He spelled his own name several different ways. He invented thousands of words and enriched the language--it's not a bad thing in the slightest, he just realized there was no way to say what he wanted, so he made one.

And really, the ignorant hatred of Shakespeare gets on my nerves. Romeo and Juliet is a good play, yes, but it's not his best, it's just the one that's become 'THE play' because of the media.

And yes, he was a pervert, but honestly, how many comedies today aren't far worse? His plays were dark, but think about the times he lived in.

[Keaton]

I've never much enjoyed his plays, but his sonnets stir my soul to this day.

[alical]

I love Shakespeare's plays, I've only read a couple of his sonnets though.
My favourite play would have to be A Midsummer Night's Dream, although that probably has something to do with the fact I learnt it when I was about 7.

[Mysterious F.]

One thing that is also remarkable of Shakespeare is that his plays are written mostly in iambic pantometer. This is when a soft syllable is followed by a hard syllable, and there is a total of five per verse.

[DW]

I'm pretty sure that's the one thing about Shakespeare everyone actually knows. It's beat into you in high school.

[Mysterious F.]

You mean like my English teacher is doing currently? Of course, I most likely won't ever really use iambic pantometer, though knowing about Shakespeare's heavy use of it does help me appreciate him more.

[DarkZelda]

My father was an english major.
We have freakin Shakespeare bobbleheads at my house. Shakespeare is and always will be his favorite.
My favorite plays were The Tempest and A Winter's Tale.

[xarlote]

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