A idiot's guide to Shakespeare?

[mummybookworm]

Didn't do any Shakespeare at all at school. Advice welcome as to where I can start? . . .

I would start with Much Ado or Romeo and Juliet. Watch the films, pick out your favourite speeches/scenes. Are you wanting to study or just enjoy?

Othello is quite fun, as well.

Lambs Tales from Shakespeare - gives you the stories in narrative form. Then choose the ones you like to read the full texts, or get the good film versions. BBC schools versions are excellent - can they be had on DVD?

Is one of your dcs studying it or is it for your own entertainment?
I used to teach English and would always start Shakespeare with an abbreviated cartoon of the play we were going to study. That gave the dcs a rough idea of characters and the basics of the storyline.
Then as we read we discussed it in detail. You could do the same for yourself by buying an edition of the play with study notes alongside each page or by borrowing a study guide from the library.
I would then show a chunk of a good dvd of the play that we had just read and discuss it again. You could support your reading by watching a dvd in sections to back up what you have read.
Once we had finished we would watch one of the really exciting versions of the play and discuss what worked and what we felt was lacking etc.
It all sounds a bit laborious but once we were finished the dcs really felt they knew and understood the plays. I loved how animated they got discussing the dvds and why certain directorial choices didn't do the plays justice etc.
Usually once we had done this they could reread the play more fluently for themselves and enjoy it more fluently.

I would start with Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet as they are the more entertaining and exciting reads.

Thank you all for your replies. It is mainly for my enjoyment (I will hopefully enjoy them!). It would be good to have a knowledge of them that I can then share with DD when she is older.

Not sure how old your kids are but we listened to 'Shakespeare's Stories' on CD in the car! A nice intro. Then agree with progression to films/theatre. Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing and Othello good starting points!

A visit to Stratford is well worth it - also Globe Theatre in London.

I hope you enjoy Shakespeare too!

walker books does a great book with cartoon Shakespeare plays in by Marcia Williams - from 0.01p on amazon. Aimed at children but I like as introduction to a play I don't know!

Thanks Nelleh, I hadn't thought about a cd in the car. I live about 12 miles from Stratford and know it well (but never been to the RSC oddly!).

Just found that book on Amazon, Clarice. Will order, perhaps with Lambs tales too. Thanks again.

I agree, unless you are used to reading very wordy twisty speeches of the period, it helps to be familiar with the plot first.

Hamlet is brill (great for moody teenagers...) and watching Kenneth Branagh's film will give you a great start with what's going on.

The OU do good literature courses, you can just buy the textbooks off Amazon if you don't want to do the essays. Will help you to make sense of the incomprehensible jokes, some of which are filthy!

I am doing an English degree and was petrified of Shakespeare. I found Othello really easy to understand and bought the York Advanced notes which I didn't actually need. I would also second Romeo and Juliet as you already know the story outline.

Try some Chaucer next

Have you heard of all his works at TOP speed.

Don't forget - you can borrow all of these from your local library - if it's still open!!!

There is some American website that I didnt use for my essay called no fear shakespeare. It translates the original work, line by line into modern day english.

Wow! Just had a quick look - thanks for that!

Good innit.

And when you've got a few under your belt, watch Shakespeare in Love to spot all the text-based asides.

I really like annotated versions, I got a set of ten Oxford School Shalespeare books for a tenner on the Book People last year. The notes are really useful.