Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 79 posts

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#31

Post by hackuser »

ams6110 wrote: post #13

Sadly (?) the only memories I have of Shakespeare are the forced readings in my sophomore (Julius Caesar) and junior (King Lear) years in high school, both of which I hated and for which Cliff's Notes were my crutch to get through.

Much of what he writes about requires, I think, experience in the 'real world' in order to understand and relate to te play. In high school I couldn't understand why Hamlet dithers; what kind of hero feigns insanity and procrastinates? Heroes, everyone knows, charge right at the Death Star and the only question is whether he'll use the battle computer or the Force.

Sometimes I wondered, are these just random ravings of a lunatic? I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.

Now I understand it and his genius is a a pleasure, an education in humanity, and a wonder to behold. But perhaps it's wasted in high school. Another problem is that there are so few good films of his plays, so people don't have a chance to see well-done versions of them. Some of the films are so poorly produced and such wooden film-making that I'm afraid they will scare people away.

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#35

Post by davidgay »

themartorana wrote: post #6
icebraining wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of the six signatures, three are abbreviations, and the other three don't coincide among themselves. Besides, he did use the modern form when he wrote his name in print, just not in his signature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_of_Shakespeare's_name

Oh be quiet with your logic and evidence. In the Romantic and Victorian eras the spelling "Shakspere", as used in the poet's own signature, became more widely adopted in the belief that this was the most authentic version. I guess I lean this way. (I do acknowledge what you said about the man himself spelling his own name differently, makes me wonder why...) But I have always been perplexed about different spellings…

> My name is Dave in every language, I assure you.

My name is David in English and French. Which brings up the awkward question of whether it's Дъйвид or Давид in Bulgarian.

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#36

Post by hudibras »

jrapdx3 wrote: post #26
mewse wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone new to Shakespeare, you should definitely start out by watching performances, rather than reading scripts. Until you've absorbed the rhythm and the literary style, it can be very difficult to follow their plots just from a cold reading of the text; particularly for the histories. (And while King Lear is classed as a tragedy, I've personally always felt that it reads more like one of the histories) If you d…

Over the years I've seen (heard) a lot of Shakespeare plays, and I mostly agree with you. Yes, just reading the play is inadequate because the written form is so bare. Attending a live performance is a much better experience. The dialog is meant to be spoken and to be heard. What I do recommend, and is my own practice, is reading the play before going to the performance. We are especially blessed to read Shakespeare…

>What I do recommend, and is my own practice, is reading the play before going to the performance.

But what about the spoilers?

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#37

Post by danellis »

themartorana wrote: post #3

"Shakespeare was the most commonly used spelling in his day, but by the 18th century, the version most favored was Shakespear, and only in the 20th century did Shakespeare become the standard. Interestingly, of the six surviving signatures the great man himself left behind, not one is spelled Shakespeare." He must have gotten it wrong. Thank goodness we've corrected it for him. Not like he was particularly good at En…

Judging by those spellings, we've also been pronouncing it wrongly. A pronunciation like "shax pear" does seem to have more of a early modern English ring to it.

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

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#38

Post by MonadQueen »

themartorana wrote: post #6
icebraining wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of the six signatures, three are abbreviations, and the other three don't coincide among themselves. Besides, he did use the modern form when he wrote his name in print, just not in his signature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_of_Shakespeare's_name

Oh be quiet with your logic and evidence. In the Romantic and Victorian eras the spelling "Shakspere", as used in the poet's own signature, became more widely adopted in the belief that this was the most authentic version. I guess I lean this way. (I do acknowledge what you said about the man himself spelling his own name differently, makes me wonder why...) But I have always been perplexed about different spellings…

Here in Israel, your name is דוד.

Re: William Shakespeare, Playwright and Poet, Is Dead at 52

#39

Post by tempestn »

userbinator wrote: post #33

Am I the only one who finds the tense in the title a bit confusing? For a moment I was wondering whether he was actually born in 1964...

The entire article is written in present tense, as if it's a current news event; makes for a more interesting read. I don't think they're too concerned about people thinking William Shakespeare just now died.
Post reply on HN