To think Shakespeare is boring and crap !

[Lardlizard]

Bloody hate it

My 15 year old would agree with you, my 11 year old however would not, she loves it and DH usually takes her to the Globe 3 or 4 times a year to see it live. She likes the tragedies the best.

Do you like kiss me Kate? Ot ten things I hate about you, or Westside story? They would not exist with out Shakespear.

Also read the Sonnets,

YABU. Have you ever seen a decent production of Macbeth?

Marlowe, is that you?

I don't really understand most of the language unless it's explained to me, I think it's one of those things that people pretend to enjoy

Sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're stupid than to open and prove them right.

You might be bored by it. YABU to describe it as crap.

No GreyGardens88

Plenty of people do genuinely enjoy it.

I'm sure it wouldn't have endured so long if it was crap, but I totally agree OP. I think I'm just a bit stupid because I have never understood it at all. I studied A level English lit for a year before giving up because I hated all the Shakespeare. Now DD is doing Othello at school and she keeps asking for help because she doesn't understand it, so it's come back to haunt me. She loves reading and is an amazing creative writer but Shakespeare is making her hate it.

Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

I've seen some fantastic Shakespeare productions over the years. The most memorable one was The Tempest in kent and the actors playing Trinculo and Caliban did this rotation thing on their hands and feet under a net and blanket. They had their feet resting on the others shoulders to do so.

I love Shakespeare but YANBU to find it boring and crap because we're all different.

A lot of people will tell you that you only don't like it because you don't understand it, which quite frankly is bollocks.

You don't have to like everything.

mashedspud blimey yes, got it all hasn't it, murder, intrigue, sex, jealousy, Royal scandal, greed, ambition, witchcraft, madness, retribution, bloody awful weather........

It always amazes me how very up to date the Shakespeare plot themes actually are. Misunderstanding, sex, lust, jealousy, miscommunication, sex , murder, rivalry, sex, greed, sex, rude jokes. If he was writing today he'd be a shoo in for Eastenders or Emmerdale. Perhaps it's more that he understood more about the human condition than we give him credit for.

OP, It's fine not to like things, especially if they need a bit of thinking to get into, but to stop yourself looking totally ignorant it's a good idea to think of slightly more constructive reasons than " boring and crap" .

I wasn't keen until I saw a brilliant production of Julius Caesar. I was convinced it had been modernised. No, it was just so well done that it was easy to understand and absolutely mesmerising.

I saw Derek Jacobi in The Tempest.

He was electifying.

Go to Stratford and see the RSC perform The Tempest and then come back and say that. I'll bet my bottom dollar that you won't.

The history plays are dull really because plot wise and relationship wise it doesn’t feel relevant but most of his plays are about all the angst of relationships that are exactly the same in 2020 as the 1500’s.
Unrequited love, jealousy, desire, revenge, the struggles of interracial relationships, falling in and out of love, misunderstandings, death, murder.
Any storyline in Eastenders was probably told in some form by Shakespeare.
Some of the comedy esp bawdy Elizabethan humour hasn’t aged well as it were but poor old Malvolio with his yellow stockings in 12th Night and Titania falling in love with Bottom with his asses head is still funny. Actually most of Midsummer’s is hilarious (if you look past how unhealthy and slightly misogynistic those relationships are now 🤷🏽‍♀️)

I can't be as innovative as Shakespeare in my disdain so help yourself to a few of these:

www.literarygenius.info/a1-shakespearean-insults-generator.htm

I like some of it, but it's really frustrating that it's almost like listening to a foreign language. Without studying it line-by-line, with notes to interpret it, you miss half of what is in the language.

Not my thing either always dread having to help the dc with it for homework.

I studied Shakespeare and wrote my dissertation about him. But yes some parts are crap. Most are amazing. You have to see them rather than just read them. And you need to see a good production. Macbeth is an amazing tragedy and much ado is a great comedy. Histories aren't my cup of tea.

Reading it? You have to read it aloud and ham it up. Go full thespian. They are amazeballs. Live productions are obviously the best, but it makes sense when you hear it however that happens. My DCs love it too. I actually prefer Stratford to the Globe, but dd1 LOVES the globe, so her aunt takes her.

That's a very common complaint among people who don't understand Shakespeare

That's not particularly surprising, is it? If a Hollywood film is too difficult for the audience to understand, it justifiably gets criticised.

I read books to entertain myself. Reading Shakespeare is not very entertaining (for me, obviously it's all subjective etc.).

I think if you’ve seen a good production then no, it’s brilliant and still relevant today. The themes are universal and the language is strong.

I think you really need to see them performed to appreciate just how good they are. I’ve seen a few live, and A Comedy of Errors (not the Leary Henry production) was absolutely hilarious.

I have seen some bloody fantastic productions of Shakespeare plays but overall I prefer Ben Jonson.