|
Post by pottergirl on Sept 9, 2002 19:13:37 GMT -5
Yeah...I saw Titus. I liked it. And I have a morbid fascination with it. Because I did like it although it almost made me physically sick. Yuck! But it's very well done. Just icky. And I think Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is beautiful.
|
|
|
Post by aurora on Sept 16, 2002 17:37:41 GMT -5
I've never really been into poetry, but we've been reading some in English class recently ((yes, that's what it takes to make me read poetry )) and remarkably I'm finding that I don't mind it so much. And, well, since I do have this thing for Shakespeare I was begining to wonder if his sonnets was worth reading... I've only read 2 myself, but anyone who as read one or two or more of them - do you find them worth reading at all? Or should I find someone else to read for that department?
|
|
|
Post by pottergirl on Sept 25, 2002 15:38:32 GMT -5
Yes, they are definitely worth reading. They're Shakespeare, silly. The are very good, though. And easier to understand than the plays simply because they're shorter. I especially love 130...it's my favourite poem...
|
|
max
1st Year
"There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star." -- Thoureau
Posts: 63
|
Post by max on Oct 1, 2002 19:35:47 GMT -5
I've read quite a bit of Shakespeare, actually.... and i do agree that most of his plays and sonnets are awesome....but.... some are preety dumb..... Like "Julius Caesar".... have any of you read that one... if not, don't... it's totally pointless and boring, and, I think its a shame that "Romeo and Juliet" is his most well known one, because it's definitely not the best...
|
|
|
Post by aurora on Oct 2, 2002 17:32:03 GMT -5
I haven't read Julius Ceasar yet ((I prolly will anyways, despite your warning))... which is your favourite then?
Rory's Shakespeare List All's Well That Ends WellAnthony and CleopatraAs You Like ItThe Comedy of ErrorsCoriolanusCymbelineHamletHenry IV, part 1Henry IV, part 2Henry VHenry VI, part 1Henry VI, part 2Henry VI, part 3Henry VIIIJulius Caesar King JohnThe Tragedy of King LearLove's Labours LostMacbethMeasure for MeasureThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merchant of VeniceA Midsummer Night's DreamMuch Ado About NothingOthelloPericles of AthensRichard IIRichard IIIRomeo and JulietTaming of the ShrewThe TempestTimon of AthensTitus AndronicusTroilus and CressidaTwelfth NightTwo Gentlemen of VeronaWinter's Talehave yet to read read mid-way through
|
|
max
1st Year
"There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star." -- Thoureau
Posts: 63
|
Post by max on Oct 2, 2002 19:26:16 GMT -5
I'd have to say either Othello, Hamlet or Macbeth, but probably Othello... and I have to say you've read more of the plays than me.. but that's ok.. Shakespeare's not my favourite playwrite anyway... He was kind of stange, depressed man.. Obsessed with the his character, Hamlet.... He named his son Hamnet..... but most of those great arts guys were nutcases....
|
|
|
Post by aurora on Oct 2, 2002 21:47:36 GMT -5
Othello's next on my list then
And it's one of my quirks, I don't like to give up on things ((which would explain why I'm still taking chem )) and I decided that I was going to read all of Shakespeare's work so I am... though I don't think I can bring myself to finish Troilus and Cressida. Anyways, I haven't read all of those, I go to the theatre a lot so I counted those ones too.
But he did write Hamlet 15 years after he named Hamnet... anyways, he wouldn't be so interesting as a person if he was "normal," his plays wouldn't be the same either,
|
|
max
1st Year
"There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star." -- Thoureau
Posts: 63
|
Post by max on Oct 2, 2002 23:35:13 GMT -5
I agree.... insanity is what makes all those artists so great... If you look at any great artist, musician, writer, whatever, you'll find some quirks. Most suffered from depression- for wharever reason.. and most writers are obsessed with the main subject they write about- like Nathaniel Hawthorne and the puritans.. you kind of have to be... it's always been my dream to be considered one of the great writers of our century- preety far-fetched but.. you gotta have goals right? I've always wondered, especially since most of those guys, including Shakespeare, didn't really become popular until after they died, If they ever even dreamed how well known they'd become...
|
|
|
Post by pottergirl on Oct 3, 2002 22:27:43 GMT -5
Yeah... I read Julius Caesar. I didn't really care for it, either. And I agree about Romeo and Juliet, as well. But I think part of that is the fact that it is so well known. I mean, it all seems so... fake now, sure. But I think a lot of that is because you can't escape it in our culture. It's like Browning's "Sonnets from the Portuguese, 43". You know, 'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.' No one appreciates or even knows the rest of it because it's so out there and they've heard it so many times it's a joke. But it's really a beautiful poem.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of everyday's Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.
So, yeah. That's what I think about that.
|
|
|
Post by En on May 21, 2003 11:40:46 GMT -5
Huh... I think Julius Caesar is amazing, and especially relevant right now, because the idea of it is that someone might be doing something he believes is right, but if everyone thinks he's wrong, he's out of luck; and it's also a play about mob psychology, about the way that people can be made to choose a victim and hate the victim if you tell them the right wrong information.
And Romeo and Juliet -- well, you've all heard my rant on that one; I think the problem is that too many people think it's a play about young love. It's not. It's a play about two young people who haven't got hatred ingrained in their bones getting caught in the crossfire between two opposing gangs of vicious, vengeful adults who can't seem to figure out that the world is what you make it, so if you don't like violence, make peace already.
|
|
Calantha
Gryffindor Alumni
My name is Luck, this is my song, I happened by when you were gone
Posts: 4,493
|
Post by Calantha on May 21, 2003 17:36:10 GMT -5
Hah... I was in Julius Caeser a few years ago so I, ya know, of course read the play and although I don't know if for me it was amazing...by closing night I certainly had an appreciation for it. And I agree with you En about what you said and I've always been pretty interested in Brutus...he just really interests me, I don't know how to explain it...maybe it is the same way with how I'm interested in Voldemort/Riddle. But I can see it as being sort of boring because of the subject matter. I wouldn't consider it Shakespeare's best work, but then again, that's just me.
Romeo and Juliet usually ticks me off when I read it too often, and it upsets me even more when we used to read it in class...same with the movies, although I like how Lurhman did the movie, and I like "When Doves Cry" a lot, both the original and the cover in the movie. I also really like Mercutio's "grave" line. There was a poem I read once which used the word grave and so I wrote my exam on the usage of the word comparing it to Shakespeare's pun. I just like Mercutio (sp?) in general.
My favourite play is probably A Midsummer's Night Dream...well, by Shakespeare that is. I just like the whole mood and idea of the play and it's really the first play I read by Shakespeare and sort of has sentimental values to it.
But I like As You Like It a lot too, and Hamlet...but then again, don't most people like Hamlet? Actually, I read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern first (since I was on my Stoppard kick and after Arcadia that just seemed to come up) and I would get lost so I stopped half way through and decided to read Hamlet. I'm happy I did.
Anyways, I've read a few others, but I'm lazy and don't feel like listing them, but I still have a lot of the histories to go through. Shakespeare shouldn't be one of the forced things...so whenever I'm in the mood.
You know what I love? The Complete Works of William Shakespear (abridged) or the nonabriged version. I forgot who wrote it...you know...the three guys...they locked themselves up in a hotel room and wrote it over like a three...maybe five day span. It cracks me up...how they rap Othello, not to mention 60 second Hamlet...hahahahahaha... Anyways.
|
|
|
Post by En on May 21, 2003 20:35:17 GMT -5
Hmm... Julius is a very yellow play, I guess, in terms of the four-loves schema. It's about community in a good way, community in a bad way, and power within a community. So, that makes it kind of an oddball in the current literary canon, because so much of the literature we read right now is either about courage or romantic love. That, and we live in a culture where political movement is considered boring
As You Like It is one of my favourites just because there are so many funny contrasts: the forest people and city people, the relationships between the characters, and of course the Cesario/Rosalind contrast. Plus, Jaques is a scream.
Ohohoh! I love The Cmplt Wrks of Wllm Shkspr! It's so wacky. The cooking show is hilarious.
If I had to rate them, my favourite comedy would be The Twelfth Night, tragedy = Hamlet, history = Richard III, and romance... well... er... um... maybe A Winter's Tale. The romances are hard to get into, though. And then, my all-time favourite would have to be The Tempest. I love what it says about creativity and the creator.
|
|
Glint
1st Year
'Ne te quaesiveris extra.'
Posts: 60
|
Post by Glint on Aug 1, 2003 20:53:14 GMT -5
As You Like It: Brilliant! It has my favourite couplet in the world: Sweetest nut hath sourest rind Such a nut is Rosalind.
Coriolanus is a personal favourite because it was the first professionally done Shakespeare I ever saw. Wonderful.
I recently saw 'Tempest' with a woman as Prospero and her magic book a 50 foot peice of cloth with lots of writing. She would wear it or drape it or use it in magic. A most excellent prop.
Sidenote: I took a class once on speaking shakespeare. We learned different techniques of rhythm and phrasing. It was a great class. The funny thing is, on TV I see the Fraser Crane character using exactly those Shakespearean techniques to get that 'stuffy' personna. Makes a lot of sense. The guy who taught the class warned us only to use the techniques on shakespeare. Otherwise you'd sound really bad.
But one of the best plays has got to be Henry V. Branaugh did a good job with that one. It's got the great line:
We would not die in that man's company, That fears his fellowship to die with us.
It's in the middle of a speech of Henry's as he's rousing is way-overmatched army on against the French. The play is just teeming with great rhetoric.
Those are my votes.
g.
|
|
Martha
1st Year
Wishes come true, not free.
Posts: 54
|
Post by Martha on Aug 17, 2003 21:43:35 GMT -5
I am obsessed with Shakespear. I quote "Romeo and Juliet" constantly because I recently played the Nurse in a production of it, at my camp. Though I'm very upset because the direct had it modernized. We all dressed "street-goth-punk" and it had Ska music (well it had No Doubt which is "pop-ska"). It was a good show, but we only had 3 weeks to put it up, with about 1 and a half hours to rehearse a day. At my highschool they do a Shakespear every year, I'm hoping for "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream"as this years. Last year was "Romeo and Juliet" aswell. It was a great show and I can't wait to try out for it. Even though Freshman get crap parts in the big shows. Anyway, I know I sound a bit naive talking bout "R&J" so much, but I love "The Tempest", "MacBeth", "As You Like It", "All's Well That Ends Well", "Taming Of The Shrew", and more. *Sigh* Shakespear is amazing. Actually he'd be a really cheesy writer without the language, but that's okay. , Martha
|
|
|
Post by En on Aug 18, 2003 16:03:18 GMT -5
Cheesy? What would be cheesy?
Hm. I think I should take a class on acting Shakespeare just to see what's up with that. I get told that I'm very stuffy sometimes (it's the vocabulary and the little wire-rimmed specs... deadly combo) and I wonder how much of it I picked up during my acting years, many of which I devoted to the Bard.
So if your camp R&J was street-goth-punk, Martha, how did you do the Nurse? She's usually played as much older, maybe even grandmotherly...?
|
|