I don't enjoy Shakespeare

[Kathryn]

I was Brutus and then Julius Caesar in my class. I had to say "Et tu, Brutay?" LOL

I had to say that as the female Brutus stabbed me.

 

[PureX]

I don't enjoy any of Shakespeare's works

They bore me

Maybe I would like it more if was in the latest most up-to-date version of English

Why do people like his stuff so much?

I think a big factor is that we are told from an early age that it is totally ace

I hate people who think their cultural tastes make them superior to others and I think there is a lot of that going on in the Shakespeare fandom and that many people only say they like it to sound more cultured

There is an enormous pressure on people to like it and I resent that

I have seen some of his plays "updated" and they were actually quite good. But I suppose that mostly rests on the skill of those updating them.

I also like some of his classic original "turns of phrase". He really was an excellent writer.

 

[Eddi]

He really was an excellent writer.

He was

Shame I have such difficulty following the action!

 

[Mock Turtle]

I was Brutus and then Julius Caesar in my class. I had to say "Et tu, Brutay?" LOL

I think I only had one line - shame I didn't know the 'h' was silent - and a Freudian Slip presumably:

Trebonius. 'Tis time to p(h)art.

 

[Revoltingest]

Shakespeare has competition for monologues / speeches.
R Lee Ermy ad libbed much of this in Full Metal Jacket....

Spoiler: Profanity, abuse, & bigotry of the most eloquent kind

 

[Guitar's Cry]

But I can say with confidence that Percy Shelley is the absolute greatest writer who ever lived.

Whoever disagrees with me is a racist.

I am a Shelley fan myself.

 

[Kathryn]

Shakespeare has competition for monologues / speeches.
R Lee Ermy ad libbed this in Full Metal Jacket....

Spoiler: Profanity, abuse, & bigotry of the most eloquent kind

I love that scene! But Pulp Fiction is one of my all time favorites so that's not saying much. (Full Metal Jacket is right up there too, along with The Sound of Music.)

 

[Revoltingest]

I love that scene!

It's not fancy like Shakespeare.
But it's powerful in how it conveys
so much about what's happening
between him & the recruits.
And it portends their future.

 

[Eddi]

Shakespeare has competition for monologues / speeches.
R Lee Ermy ad libbed much of this in Full Metal Jacket....

Spoiler: Profanity, abuse, & bigotry of the most eloquent kind

Classic movie

 

[Kathryn]

It's not fancy like Shakespeare.
But it's powerful in how it conveys
so much about what's happening
between him & the recruits.
And it portends their future.

It does. I also love the scene in A Few Good Men where Jack Nickolson is in the courtroom.

 

[Revoltingest]

I wonder if there's an analog between
early literature & early music?
Music has come a long way since then.
I say literature has too.

 

[Eddi]

Shakespeare has competition for monologues / speeches.
R Lee Ermy ad libbed much of this in Full Metal Jacket....

Spoiler: Profanity, abuse, & bigotry of the most eloquent kind

I get immeasurably more enjoyment out of watching Full Metal Jacket than I do from watching anything by Shakespeare

Some snobs may look down at this but as far as I care those people can go and do one

 

[Revoltingest]

Another soliloquy that I like (mild profanity)....

 

[RestlessSoul]

But I can say with confidence that Percy Shelley is the absolute greatest writer who ever lived.

Whoever disagrees with me is a racist.

Shelley wasn’t even as good a poet as Keats; and his wife probably had more effect on the culture than he did.

But I rate Keats very highly indeed, so coming second to him as a poet ain’t bad.

Re the OP, it’s fine not to like Shakespeare, or any other great artist. To resent people who do, is churlish and silly. People don’t quote Shakespeare because it makes them look clever (well some might I suppose). They do it because his words have endured across centuries, and still resonate today.

 

[JustGeorge]

Another soliloquy that I like (mild profanity)....

One of the very few movies I enjoy.

And that part in particular is amazing.

 

[Revoltingest]

Shelley wasn’t even as good a poet as Keats; and his wife probably had more effect on the culture than he did.

But I rate Keats very highly indeed, so coming second to him as a poet ain’t bad.

Re the OP, it’s fine not to like Shakespeare, or any other great artist. To resent people who do, is churlish and silly. People don’t quote Shakespeare centuries because it makes them look clever (well some might I suppose). They do it because his words have endured across centuries, and still resonate today.

None can hold a candle to William Topaz McGonagall.
He's no mere Scot. He's the world's worst poet.
A friend & I used to give recitations of The Tay Bridge Disaster.

The Tay Bridge Disaster

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay!Alas! I am very sorry to sayThat ninety lives have been taken awayOn the last Sabbath day of 1879,Which will be remember’d for a very long time.

poets.org

 

[Valjean]

I have seen some of his plays "updated" and they were actually quite good. But I suppose that mostly rests on the skill of those updating them.

I also like some of his classic original "turns of phrase". He really was an excellent writer.

Much of my enjoyment of Shakespeare comes from the word play, which doesn't readily translate into the novel treatments of his works.
To appreciate how things are said does rely on knowing what's being said, though. and this may take some study.
Of course appreciation of anything; chess, football, art, music, architecture, requires acquiring some knowledge about them.

 

[Quagmire]

For those who love theater, Shakespeare's tragedies are a cornerstone, for world literature.
Someone even defined his tragedies treaties of psychology: and it was the 17th century.

This^. Shakespeare's insight into what makes human beings tick is timeless and well worth slogging through the archaic language.

 

[Revoltingest]

This^. Shakespeare's insight into what makes human beings tick is timeless and well worth slogging through the archaic language.

No singular historical figure has a monopoly
on understanding the human condition.
Those who love & vaunt Shakespeare are
free to do so. But it's not worthwhile to
impose it upon the uninterested. There is
other greater literature to read, & without all
that tedious slogging.

 

[crossfire]

Reading through this thread makes me want to watch The Tempest again!