What's the appeal of Shakespeare? I'm on the fence on this one as I haven't delved deeply into Shakespeare's works (read a few sonnets, Macbeth, and Henry V). There are people like Harold Bloom who maintain that Shakespeare was the greatest writer whose complete works include every single human emotion and claim that he "invented the Human" while others, like Tolstoy, consider him an overrated gimmick. Unfortunately all of the online arguments I've read on Shakespeare consist of one side simply asserting that he's the greatest and anyone who dislikes him is a low IQ philistine, while the detractors rattle off words like "overrated", "only liked by pseuds and college professors". So, quite verbosely, I'm asking you, why is Shakespeare considered the greatest writer? Could you give me some segments from his works you think stand out above the rest of literature? And, lastly, how does one into Shakespeare?
What's the appeal of Shakespeare...
>And, lastly, how does one into Shakespeare?
watch some of his plays performed, but try and avoid the pozzed one's where everyone is a black person. or at least read his plays aloud and speak them.
>why is Shakespeare considered the greatest writer?
Really good poet AND playwright, produced a LARGE NUMBER of grreat works and a few master peices, shakespeares got over a dozen great plays and less than 10 mediocre ones. Shakespeares average is most writers best work
>Could you give me some segments from his works you think stand out above the rest of literature?
>Could you give me some segments from his works you think stand out above the rest of literature?
THESEUS:
Go, one of you, find out the forester;
For now our observation is perform'd;
And since we have the vaward of the day,
My love shall hear the music of my hounds.
Uncouple in the western valley; let them go:
Dispatch, I say, and find the forester.
[Exit an Attendant]
We will, fair queen, up to the mountain's top,
And mark the musical confusion
Of hounds and echo in conjunction.
HIPPOLYTA:
I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,
When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear
With hounds of Sparta: never did I hear
Such gallant chiding: for, besides the groves,
The skies, the fountains, every region near
Seem'd all one mutual cry: I never heard
So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.
THESEUS:
My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind,
So flew'd, so sanded, and their heads are hung
With ears that sweep away the morning dew;
Crook-knee'd, and dew-lapp'd like Thessalian bulls;
Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells,
Each under each. A cry more tuneable
Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn,
In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly:
Judge when you hear. But, soft! what nymphs are these?
>why is Shakespeare considered the greatest?
He's one the greats, not the greatest. The GOAT is Dante.
>Could you give me some segments from his works you think stand out above the rest of literature?
The dialogue with the gravedigger in Hamlet was kino. Also most of Macbeth
>And, lastly, how does one into Shakespeare?
I'm an ESL person and I started with Macbeth because I've always liked anything related to witches and witchcraft and dark stories. Then I read Hamlet, then Romeo and Juliet, etc. His writing seems to me to be almost divine-inspired (English peaked in Shakespeare's time). The writers who believed in God were greater than the ones that didn't, even if it's just an illusion that justifies the means. There will never be another Shakespeare I'm sad to admit.
hamlet is overated desu, takes over 7 hours to perform unabridged. Way too much of some incel crying and monologuing
>whose complete works include every single human emotion and claim that he "invented the Human" while others
Bloom is being overdramatic, although he's right in that Shakespeare's most innovative work has to do with the depiction of his characters' psychologies. He created some of the first characters in literature who were introspective, self-conscious, and contradictory. His use of language was masterful, but is easily parodied. What matters is his use of language towards creating memorable personas who have a wide variety of voices and personalities.
I have no idea why you think this is great nor do I think I even understand what is going on. I guess I'm just not smart enough for it.
try reading macbeth, pretty simple but also good
It's great poetry. If Shakespeare only wrote that, he would still be one of the greatest English poets ever.
Ifs from a midsummers night dream. Theseus and hyppolyta are going to go listen to his dogs barking in the valley.
Could you explain specifically what you like about it?
The melody which starts out with such spirit in theseus's 5th line has already reached the complexity of counterpoint in his 8th and 9th; hyppolyta carries it to a similar limit in her last line; and theseus, taking it back from her, greatly increases its volume -- first by reminding us of the hounds muscles and form, and then by daring the grand dissonance, the mixed thunder of bulls and bells. The passage sets the forest ringing and supplies the play with the music it has deserved.
Fair enough. I think I understand, though I'm not sure I would pick any of that up while reading it.
What melody???? Nigga this is no music.
Fuck this is dope. Based Spartan hounds. I feel like hunting down some bloke and eating his heart out now.
>It's great poetry. If Shakespeare only wrote that, he would still be one of the greatest English poets ever.
Mark Van Doren ;)
My favorite Shakespeare scholar
Mine too. I started to recommend him on Yea Forums already in 2011-2012. Made several Anons read and take an interest in him.
It's amazing how he says a whole Babylon in such a short volume, while Harold Bloom uses four times the space and gives us only a tundra-covered plain full of wind.
Bump
>Hamlet
>incel
muh buzzword boogeyman
It will come with practice. It's easy to appreciate the poetry, but harder to articulate why.
not gonna make it
If you want to explain it, explain it. If you're just going to replace an unexplainable thing with an another unexplainable thing that isn't nearly as beautiful, you might as well shut your filthy mug.
It’s not a buzzword, incels are a real threat to society
they're not lmao stop watching CNN and Hamlet isn't even an incel.
The uses of well selected words will make the sound of a poem smooth or rough, soft or strong, open or closed. English is notoriously less easy to create 'music' in its poetry than Italian or French, which makes the achievements of those poets who have created it successfully even more remarkable and admirable
>how does one into Shakespeare?
Go see some of his plays performed in person. It's a great experience.
I almost got kicked out of an outdoor performance of Richard III for being drunk and reciting lines too loudly. I regret nothing.
Do you know Italian or French?
If you liked Henry V, go back and read Henry IV 1 & 2. Great history and comedy with my favorite character Falstaff. He’s briefly alluded to in Henry V and you’ll see why the French assumed Henry was such a loser. Fathers and sons, and the evolution of a spoiled rich kid into the ultimate warrior chad.
Pseud detected. French is a notoriously unmusical language; France has produced little good poetry, as any Frenchman will admit
>French is a notoriously unmusical language
True, at least for Northern dialects
>France has produced little good poetry
Demonstrably false, French poetry is among the richest and more influential in the past 300 years of the Western tradition.