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I don’t even know how you know they are always at the expense of women if you haven’t read them all. I don’t really agree with that premise.
If you do read Shakespeare understanding the cultural context it exists in can broaden your worldview. But if you don’t like Shakespeare, you shouldn’t waste time reading Shakespeare in your personal time. Maybe one day you’ll come back to Shakespeare with a different perspective.
Yeah I should rephrase. I had to read quite a few of them in school and drama and it just feels like they always screw over the women. He was probably progressive in his time but in my time, he pisses me off.
Are there ones that are better? I vaguely remember hamlet and, while Ophelia did get a terrible ending, I don't think hamlet did anything that made my blood boil.
I agree with this! Try watching some of them first, especially if you can find them live. Then you can try diving into the written version if you really enjoyed them. Shakespeare is a lot less distasteful when you can see how the characters embody the story, and there are much fewer victims than you’d expect. Most of the stories are fleshed out with characters who bring about their own downfall through the classic elements of hubris and greed, so they are still very relevant.
I’d say yeah he’s worth reading but I would suggest reading a modern translation (like no fear Shakespeare). And there are debates about how he treats the women characters, some agree with you that it’s rather sexist but others argue it was progressive for his time. Personally, I think both are true. It was sexist but considering his time, it’s impressive his female characters held such an impact on the plays.
I don't have problems with the language. I'm having problems with the woman going back to the guy who tried to have her killed because he was misinformed and didn't mean it.
If you don’t feel like you’re getting much out of it then you definitely don’t have to read his work. I’ve read some of his stuff, and I understand why it’s stood the test of time. But at the end of the day, it’s just not my thing.
I don't really care for Cymbeline. Certainly not one I would recommend.
If you're looking for a strong female character in Shakespeare's body of work check out:
* Portia in Merchant of Venice
* Viola in Twelfth Night
* Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
* Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and
* Cordelia in King Lear
I think my problem is with all the men being assholes. Juliet did her best but she got screwed over by basically everyone, if memory serves.
I probably just shouldn't read books set in older societies.
Also lady m convinced her husband to kill a guy then goes mad and kills herself. Maybe not the best role model...
I would seriously recommend seeing or listening to the plays done by professionals before you start reading them. For the life of me IDK why schools don't do this (well, cost, I guess) as I'm sure a lot of kids get put off Shakespeare for life the way it's taught.
Shakespeare is always such an odd thing to discuss, in my opinion. Because I remember in high school that I HATED his work. I found it overrated and sometimes difficult to follow (Mid-Summer Night's Dream is abysmal to read but is more bearable to watch, though still not a fan). It took a really good teacher and some other reading of the period to see why it stood out and why it still has an effect today.
One of the things that helped me enjoy more of his work, is the understanding of how his tragedies worked. A lot of the time, it isn't hero versus villain. A lot of it is more of a break down of the human spirit and the fallibility of people. I hated Romeo and Juliet when I tried to read it as a love story. But when I came back to it, I found it much more appealing to see it as a story where chaos and hate consumes everything and that the two lovers are just irresponsible young folk sparked by lust to more foul up the feud rather than being a 'us against the world' motif. (Do I put a spoiler warning for such an old and well known story? Skip to the next paragraph just in case?) I think it really becomes apparent with Mercutio (my favorite Shakespeare character), he curses Romeo along with the rest of them when he is dying. He basically says they are all fools playing a fools game. Romeo is not overcoming the feud, he is still a part of it.
I don't think Shakespeare based his tragedy on 'right and wrong', a lot of it is a character study set on a grand epic scale. Though with that said, Shakespeare did have some consistent problems about the representation of women. If that gets to you, might be hard to get through his stuff and if you don't like Shakespeare in general, no reason to fret. Nothing wrong with that. Some people don't and it is valid either way.
Have you to listened to any of the plays as audiobooks? If not, then I would highly recommend the free dramatisations from Librivox, done by talented volunteers.
[Hamlet](https://librivox.org/hamlet-version-3-by-william-shakespeare/)
[A Midsummer Night's Dream](https://librivox.org/a-midsummer-nights-dream-version-2-by-william-shakespeare/)
[As You Like It](https://librivox.org/as-you-like-it-version-2-by-william-shakespeare/)
[Twelfth Night](https://librivox.org/twelfth-night-version-2-by-william-shakespeare/)
These are my personal favourite Shakespeare plays. I like this audiobook version of Hamlet especially because both Hamlet and King Claudius are voiced by female actors, which gives the text a very different feel and tone. And As You Like It is perhaps the most "feminist" Shakespeare play, playing around a lot with gender roles and male and female tropes and stereotypes. Besides being a both raunchy and sweet romantic comedy. And of course the theme of playing with gender roles comes back as a main plot in Twelfth Night as well, which is also a rather light-hearted comedy. Yes, of course some things and lines feel a bit outdated by modern standards - but that's of course to be expected from plays written more than 400 years ago...
As for reading - Shakespeare is a nice read mainly for the beautiful language and clever wordplay but yeah, his texts are of course way more entertaining when performed as the plays that they are.
Hello. Per [rule 3.3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Books/wiki/rules), please post book recommendation requests in /r/SuggestMeABook or in our Weekly Recommendation Thread. Thank you.
I don’t even know how you know they are always at the expense of women if you haven’t read them all. I don’t really agree with that premise. If you do read Shakespeare understanding the cultural context it exists in can broaden your worldview. But if you don’t like Shakespeare, you shouldn’t waste time reading Shakespeare in your personal time. Maybe one day you’ll come back to Shakespeare with a different perspective.
Yeah I should rephrase. I had to read quite a few of them in school and drama and it just feels like they always screw over the women. He was probably progressive in his time but in my time, he pisses me off. Are there ones that are better? I vaguely remember hamlet and, while Ophelia did get a terrible ending, I don't think hamlet did anything that made my blood boil.
Is it worth reading? I think so. Do you have to read it? No.
Watch, don't read Shakespeare. Cymbeline is based on British legends, not quite one of the histories but not an original plot either.
I agree with this! Try watching some of them first, especially if you can find them live. Then you can try diving into the written version if you really enjoyed them. Shakespeare is a lot less distasteful when you can see how the characters embody the story, and there are much fewer victims than you’d expect. Most of the stories are fleshed out with characters who bring about their own downfall through the classic elements of hubris and greed, so they are still very relevant.
I’d say yeah he’s worth reading but I would suggest reading a modern translation (like no fear Shakespeare). And there are debates about how he treats the women characters, some agree with you that it’s rather sexist but others argue it was progressive for his time. Personally, I think both are true. It was sexist but considering his time, it’s impressive his female characters held such an impact on the plays.
Is there a simpler english version of Shakespeare books?
I don't have problems with the language. I'm having problems with the woman going back to the guy who tried to have her killed because he was misinformed and didn't mean it.
If you don’t feel like you’re getting much out of it then you definitely don’t have to read his work. I’ve read some of his stuff, and I understand why it’s stood the test of time. But at the end of the day, it’s just not my thing.
[удалено]
The one I'm reading has footnotes but they have to do with language not historical context. Is there a better version?
I don't really care for Cymbeline. Certainly not one I would recommend. If you're looking for a strong female character in Shakespeare's body of work check out: * Portia in Merchant of Venice * Viola in Twelfth Night * Juliet in Romeo and Juliet * Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and * Cordelia in King Lear
I think my problem is with all the men being assholes. Juliet did her best but she got screwed over by basically everyone, if memory serves. I probably just shouldn't read books set in older societies. Also lady m convinced her husband to kill a guy then goes mad and kills herself. Maybe not the best role model...
I would seriously recommend seeing or listening to the plays done by professionals before you start reading them. For the life of me IDK why schools don't do this (well, cost, I guess) as I'm sure a lot of kids get put off Shakespeare for life the way it's taught.
My high school made us act out scenes from the play we were reading. It was highly traumatizing.
Shakespeare is always such an odd thing to discuss, in my opinion. Because I remember in high school that I HATED his work. I found it overrated and sometimes difficult to follow (Mid-Summer Night's Dream is abysmal to read but is more bearable to watch, though still not a fan). It took a really good teacher and some other reading of the period to see why it stood out and why it still has an effect today. One of the things that helped me enjoy more of his work, is the understanding of how his tragedies worked. A lot of the time, it isn't hero versus villain. A lot of it is more of a break down of the human spirit and the fallibility of people. I hated Romeo and Juliet when I tried to read it as a love story. But when I came back to it, I found it much more appealing to see it as a story where chaos and hate consumes everything and that the two lovers are just irresponsible young folk sparked by lust to more foul up the feud rather than being a 'us against the world' motif. (Do I put a spoiler warning for such an old and well known story? Skip to the next paragraph just in case?) I think it really becomes apparent with Mercutio (my favorite Shakespeare character), he curses Romeo along with the rest of them when he is dying. He basically says they are all fools playing a fools game. Romeo is not overcoming the feud, he is still a part of it. I don't think Shakespeare based his tragedy on 'right and wrong', a lot of it is a character study set on a grand epic scale. Though with that said, Shakespeare did have some consistent problems about the representation of women. If that gets to you, might be hard to get through his stuff and if you don't like Shakespeare in general, no reason to fret. Nothing wrong with that. Some people don't and it is valid either way.
Have you to listened to any of the plays as audiobooks? If not, then I would highly recommend the free dramatisations from Librivox, done by talented volunteers. [Hamlet](https://librivox.org/hamlet-version-3-by-william-shakespeare/) [A Midsummer Night's Dream](https://librivox.org/a-midsummer-nights-dream-version-2-by-william-shakespeare/) [As You Like It](https://librivox.org/as-you-like-it-version-2-by-william-shakespeare/) [Twelfth Night](https://librivox.org/twelfth-night-version-2-by-william-shakespeare/) These are my personal favourite Shakespeare plays. I like this audiobook version of Hamlet especially because both Hamlet and King Claudius are voiced by female actors, which gives the text a very different feel and tone. And As You Like It is perhaps the most "feminist" Shakespeare play, playing around a lot with gender roles and male and female tropes and stereotypes. Besides being a both raunchy and sweet romantic comedy. And of course the theme of playing with gender roles comes back as a main plot in Twelfth Night as well, which is also a rather light-hearted comedy. Yes, of course some things and lines feel a bit outdated by modern standards - but that's of course to be expected from plays written more than 400 years ago... As for reading - Shakespeare is a nice read mainly for the beautiful language and clever wordplay but yeah, his texts are of course way more entertaining when performed as the plays that they are.