Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Book of the month

Find reading inspiration on our Book of the Month forum.

Is Shakespeare actually impossible, or am I just a total idiot?

68 replies

Reasonablemary · 11/04/2026 18:50

I’ve been speaking English for over 20 years, yet every time I open one of his plays, my brain just leaves the chat. I know it’s 'Old English' (technically Early Modern, but who’s counting?), but since everyone acts like it’s the greatest thing ever, I assumed the language barrier wasn't that bad. To the native speakers out there: do you guys actually get this stuff, or am I the only one reading 'thee' and 'thou' and feeling like a complete moron?

OP posts:
Ribbonwort · 11/04/2026 23:26

Well, if you’re not a native speaker, how enjoyable and/or comprehensible would you find works written in the 1590s and early 1600s in your own language?

imbolic · 11/04/2026 23:53

If you hear it read out as if by a country yokel or comic pirate it makes a lot more sense, the puns work and so do the rhymes that just don't make sense at all in modern English. Look at David and Ben Crystal eg.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s

GoldenCupsatHarvestTime · 12/04/2026 00:08

You have to switch into it. For some reason it clicked for me in Sixth Form and it somehow became as transparent as plain English.

MantelpieceClutter · 12/04/2026 00:14

On streaming, the National Theatre at Home channel has many of its amazing Shakespeare productions available to stream. I saw Hamlet, which is available now, live with a friend who was really concerned about understanding the language. She loved it and was totally gripped.

HotRootsAndNaughtyToots · 12/04/2026 00:24

Reading the plays can be heavy going if you're unused to the language.
Think of it like old poetry.

Not every native speaker gets it - some of my friends don't, but with the exception of one or two for whom it really does sound like a foreign language, most of them can still enjoy it. Don't stress about understanding all of it first time, there might be sentences which go over your head but through more exposure you'll pick them up.

What edition(s) are you using? It can be really helpful to read the plays alongside a school study guide if you're new to it, like Sparknotes (do they still have that? Used to be able to access for free online). Or there are editions with notes and which will offer summaries and explains words/phrases.

Remember Shakespeare mostly wrote in iambic pentameter too, which is the rhythm of 5 syllables (see here: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-iambic-pentameter-definition-literature/)
One of the ways this is brilliant in his plays is because if you were to recite the lines according to the pentameter, the emotion and emphasis naturally falls where it should.

As well as watching the plays, following them along with the text can really help, as can looking up the plot to understand who's who and what happens before you get started.

Go into your local Waterstones - or even email the Globe or the RSC shop - to ask for advice on editions of the plays with good notes, but there is also loads online explaining the language simply.

Once you start picking it up, it'll get much easier and gcse study guides are really helpful if you're going into it new. A good guide will also explain cultural references that we don't have/use any more (like classical references or the use of 'Sir' vs 'Sirrah'...'Sir' was an address of respect, 'Sirrah' was used to talk down to someone of a lower class - Shakespeare often uses it in humorous lines or to indicate status). The BBC's GCSE Bitesize website might have some good guides to some of the plays, if they do that will be free to access.

For watching the plays, there are usually some available free on streaming (eg iplayer), or cheaply on Prime, or you can watch via the BFI player, Globe player or National Theatre. Your library might have some of the older ones too, like with Laurence Olivier. Baz Luhrmann's R+J was always brilliant for bringing Romeo and Juliet to life - it's pretty faithful to the text and makes it easy to understand what's going on. Great film actually, I need to rewatch.

Like others have mentioned, the RSC's 2008 Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart was brilliant but Andrew Scott more recently gave the best To Be Or Not To Be soliloquy that I've ever seen. And yes, the Original Pronunciation performances are excellent.

I've a soft spot for the 1999 Midsummer Night's Dream, Hollywood cast but very good - Kevin Kline was excellent as Bottom.

Do you live near London? If you get the opportunity to see Shakespeare performed at The Globe you must go!

Don't forget the Sonnets too, they're short and beautiful.

It really doesn't matter what form you enjoy Shakespeare in, you might not ever get into reading the plays and that's fine, they were meant to be performed not read. But you also might find that you prefer watching performances which aren't such sticklers to the text too, that's fine as well :)

EBearhug · 12/04/2026 00:44

UnaOfStormhold · 11/04/2026 21:49

Oh, I love that site! I can read quite far back,but in my time, I have learnt Latin, French, German, Dutch and Welsh (and Spanish) as well as reading historical texts and the King James Bible, and done some linguistics. I could get some of all of them, but 1300 and earlier, I miss a lot, though iteasy to see the Getman connections, especially in the verbs.

I went to Stratford recently and realised that over the years, I have seen quite a lot of the plays on stage. But I think if it were not my native language, it would be like me trying to read 16th century French or German - I'd probably get there in the end, but it would be a slow process. The one thing about Shakespeare though is that there are about a million versions and interpretations available, so in that sense, it's probably all more accessible than many other playwrights, because you can find stuff online. And even if you see it live, you might get a production which is crap, like the Macbeth I once saw, where Lady Macbeth did actual whispers, not stage whispers.

But also, we all have different tastes. It would be weird if everyone liked his stuff, just as it'd be weird if everyone liked the Beatles or Grayson Perry or Thomas Hardy. And even if you like some of it, you might not like it all. If you've given it a good shot, that's fine.

nocoolnamesleft · 12/04/2026 01:17

UnaOfStormhold · 11/04/2026 21:49

Oh, that is fascinating. Thank you! I got most of the gist of 1100, though only about half the words, but 1000 was impossible.

Friendlygingercat · 12/04/2026 02:47

Reading Shakespeare and seeing Shakespeare performed are two fundamentally different experiences.

Reading gives you a control which a performance cannot. For example control over pace. You can stop, reread and consider different interpretations. The poertry of the language becomes more vivid when you are not attending to action. You can invent multiple interpretations, motives, and settings. In short reading is the best way to understand how the play works,

Performance is the best way to understand what the play feels like. Shakespearian plays contain few stage directions and therefore give actors and directors interpretive freedom. Performance reveals the intended dynamics of the action.
.

Schoolchoicesucks · 12/04/2026 09:48

ohyesido · 11/04/2026 20:50

This is why the film version of Romeo and Juliet set in modern day didn’t work

If you mean the Baz Luhrman film, this is blasphemy. And utterly incorrect.

Echobelly · 12/04/2026 09:53

I think it is best to see Shakespeare on stage. It can be hard to read - I have a degree in Philosophy & Literature and studied loads of Shakespeare, but sometimes trying to help DS with GCSE homework and revision I find myself befuddled by some of the language on the page!

Most people will find it difficult to read, it doesn't make them stupid - but most people, as has been said, can follow it well on stage as well.

eggandonion · 12/04/2026 10:52

Watch things like West Side Story and 10 things I hate about you then read or go to the play which inspired it!

Eclipser · 12/04/2026 11:05

I’d recommend starting with the comedy series Upstart Crow - it’s parody but it will get your ear into the basic rhythms, the tropes, the convoluted insults, the plots and the bawdy humour. I got my teens into this before they started on Shakespeare in school and they were much less intimidated.

There’s a couple of tricks to remember -

the English is simpler than modern day because there’s no is-ing and am-ing. It’s not “I am going” it’s just “I go”

He generally uses iambic pentameter so the lines skip along nicely, until they don’t. A skipped beat or an extra beat is almost always significant.

thee and you are different forms of politeness. In the Merchant of Venice, Shylock is “you” while the lads are trying to inveigle a loan, and “thee” when they start insulting him.

The National Theatre Productions are regularly filmed for Event Cinema. You can also subscribe to watch them at home. Highly recommend.

thecomedyofterrors · 12/04/2026 11:09

I love how positive everyone is about Shakespeare. If you want to access it yourself- read it aloud. Walk around and add expression, and read to the punctuation rather than the 10 syllable lines. Preferably though, watch or listen!

HamBap · 12/04/2026 11:10

Seeing these comments I finally feel justified that I was thoroughly put off Shakespeare for years thanks to reading and studying it word by word for GCSE English. Talk about sucking the joy out of it!

I've seen a few films and plays since and they are much more palatable and quite enjoyable.

The Romeo and Juliette film a pp mentioned was groundbreaking when that came out. Watch that!

PersephonePomegranate · 12/04/2026 11:14

Whilst I agree they are meant to be performed, the actors themselves understand it and obviously read the play, so no, it's not impossible. Do you not have an inner voice when you read?

It's one of those things that gets easier the more of it you read. You come to know the language and certain words so you speed ip when not constantly referring to the notes.

The thing to remember, is that it's poetry and poetry is often more difficult to understand than prose and sometimes certain parts need more than one read over to grasp.

likelysuspect · 12/04/2026 12:16

Some of them understand it I reckon

Others might be of the Roger Moore school of acting 'remember your lines and dont bump into the furniture'

Or was that Sean Connery

merryhouse · 12/04/2026 15:09

I am reminded of Adrian Mole's diary entry:
Got three pages of Macbeth to translate into English.

WutheringHighlights · 12/04/2026 17:16

No, you’re not at all.

Half of the battle I find, quite honestly, is deciphering setting and context, which - as others have highlighted - is remedied by watching.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page