The Bard of Avon

[WiseWizard]

So here it is. A thread dedicated entirely to the works of William Shakespeare. I allow anything to be discussed here, as long as it has something to do with Shakespeare (ie. not just his plays but also theories on who he was, recent adaptations you've seen, how much he's better than Poe , and etc.) I'm probably making a mistake in leaving it so open, but so be it. Let the glorification of the Bard begin! *trumpets sound, fanfare begins*

[azalea]

I once heard a theory that Shakespeare wrote part of the Bible.

[Galenavar]

I once heard a theory that Shakespeare wrote part of the Bible.

Really? I hadn't heard that. That is really cool. I once went to Stratford-upon-Avon. It is a really nice place. I love Shakespeare, but unfortunately, I don't get too many chances to read his works.
Ah, well. I'm taking a course this upcoming school year on British Literature, so I'm sure I'll be reading a lot more of him.

[azalea]

The theory has to do with in Psalms, I think, there is a psalm where the ?nth word form the beginning is shake, and the exact same number of words when counting from the end is "speare", spelled that way I believe, and the number is some number relevant to Shakespeare himself, such as birthdate or something. It was said that it would have been in his nature to hide such a "clue" in his work. But of course it all seems pretty far fetched.
I'd love to visit Stratford-upon-Avon sometime, whenever I get back to GB.

[sun-star]

My school has a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon in a year or so... I'm counting down the days already.

Does anyone have any theories on who 'really' wrote the works of Shakespeare? I have no idea, but I would like to think it was Shakespeare as we've come to know about him.

[WiseWizard]

Shakespeare writing part of the Bible? Well, farfetched as it is, I'm willing to believe Shakespeare heard God calling and decided to do some religious work!
I once entered a "Shakespeare Competition" where 20 students from 20 different schools performed a sonnet and a one minute monologue. If you won, the prize was $400 and a trip to England for summer acting classes . Unfortunately, my rival school ended up winning, and I walked home with a nice certificate and a pissed off attitude .....but that's another story.
The thing that kills me is that I didn't get to go to England (where I most definately would've gone to Stratford). Our school never provides any opportunity for students to go anywhere outside of the U.S., meaning I'm stuck until the Shakespeare Competition comes around once again.

[WiseWizard]

Well, there are many theories out there of who actually wrote the plays, for Shakespeare never used the same signature twice. I don't quite know who people suspect now, for all of the theories I've heard have been shot down. You could probably look on the internet for the newest theories.

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

Has anyone seen the play "The Beard of Avon?"
I haven't, but I think it was about theories on Shakespeare and who wrote those plays, etc.

Also, has anyone read the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman? In the tenth and final book, there is a theory of sorts... And Will Shakespeare makes an appearance in another of the Sandman books; it's about A Midsummer Night's Dream.

[azalea]

I have a book of A Midsummer Night's Dream -- it is a picture book and the story has been put into prose. It's basically for children to introduce them to Shakespeare, but the pictures are the reason I bought the book. They are wonderful.

[Khamûl]

There's an article in this month's Biography magazine that speculates on who really wrote Shakespeare. There are theories ranging from some Earl of Oxford to Marlowe. I can't put my finger on my mom's copy of it right now, but when I find it, I'll give you a basic summary of the article.

[WiseWizard]

Originally posted by azalea
I have a book of A Midsummer Night's Dream -- it is a picture book and the story has been put into prose. It's basically for children to introduce them to Shakespeare, but the pictures are the reason I bought the book. They are wonderful.

Would it happen to be part of a series called "Tales From Shakespeare" by Charles Lamb?

[azalea]

No, it's retold by Bruce Coville, pictures by Dennis Nolan. The publisher is Dial Books.

[WiseWizard]

Darn. I have a book called "Tales From Shakespeare" by Charles Lamb. It takes some of the more famous plays and does shame to them by making them so simple that any idiot could understand it. However, they do have some cool pictures.
I just remembered seeing a copy of Macbeth which disturbed me. It had the normal lines on one page, and then a "translation" of sorts on the page next to it! Oh great! Give people a chance to completely overlook the Bard's works and just "get the gist" of it!
Now that I have expressed my opinion....what do you all think of this......"translation" thing?

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

'Translations?' Arr! Similiar opinion...what's the point of reading it if you don't read the actual play? I had a copy of Macbeth (chosen by the school, not me!) with that...or something like that, it had notes that on one page that translated some of the more archaic, less known words. Still annoying! Argh. That was the 'New Folger Library' if you know that one.

[azalea]

I would like for people to just read them as they are, but you must admit a lot of the language is too archaic for the average modern reader, so I don't object to
1.) using footnotes to give the definition of archaic terms, thus enabling the reader to grasp what is being said (otherwise they cannot understand the story, so how could they enjoy it?)
2.)putting the plays into prose form as a retelling of the classic stories. Shakespeare's works are such a part of the history western culture that I don't think doing a retelling does it an injustice, as long as it is done well, as in the case of my book, being done to intro very young readers to the story of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
But just having a translation like that dumbs it down, and doing a poor retelling does injustice to the story.

[Eruviel Greenleaf]

I often find if there's an archaic word, I can figure it out from the context, or at least still understand the idea of the sentence. The notes in that copy of Macbeth I have seem really dumbed-down to me. Most of what they 'translate' are pretty easy to figure out.

[WiseWizard]

I believe that the only words translated should be the ones that:
a) People these days simply wouldn't understand (even in context) or
b) Words which had a different meaning in Shakespeare's time than they do today. For example, "an" meant "if" in his time.
Other than that, let the reader figure it out.

[Carafin]

I think I may disagree about some of what you say about *translations* for my (gr 9) english I read Julius Ceaser and I would have become extremly frustrated if I hadn't had so many helps and footnotes. Likewise I wouldn't read any Shakespeare if it hadn't been introduced to me in *very* simple form (Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb) and even now it is still handy to be able to read a summary of the play. Yes everyone should read original stuff but introduce it to them slowly(baby steps)

*please no one hit me*

[WiseWizard]

Don't worry Carafin, no one's going to hit you. *trying to control rage* On this thread we respect all opinions, *fighting losing battle with self* even those that might be *eye begins twitching* contrary to what most people think.......*punches self to regain control* Okay, I'm better now.
BUT A SUMMARY?!?!? *punches self again* Really, i'm okay now. I'm fine. I can deal with that.
Well, now that the opposing side of the issue has finally appeared, who wants to respond? I need to control the voices right now. *wanders off, mumbling incoherently*

On another note, THIS IS MY 100th POST!!!!!!!! *trumpets sound, cheers are heard from audience, then everyone runs away in fear as he begins foaming at mouth*

[Willow Oran]

To tell the truth I can't stand reading shakespearian plays. I've tried and it just doesn't work for me. I find that I get a far better understanding and apreciation of the story from performing the plays rather than reading them. Something about having to memorize the lines and then having your director pound the meanings into your brain by walking you through the translation process makes it a far more entertaining story than reading off the page does. Of course, the last time I tried reading through a full version of a shakesperian play was when I was reading Macbeth while listening to the soundtrack of My Fair Lady which probably isn't the best thing to listen to when you're trying to read a tragedy written in archaic english.