>>In a message dated 2/17/2004 5:08:27 AM Pacific Standard Time, > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > >>Yes, every once in a while a third rate > > critic who hopes to get his name in the paper disparages the bard or > even attributes his work to someone else. But among true scholars of > English literature, good Will has been revered for four centuries. > > It took me a long, long time to "get" Shakespeare. Only in rereading stuff as > an older adult, did I finally realize how poetic his language was. Not > always, but often. Sheer poetry -- unbelievable. > > It's a shame kids are forced to read him in high school (US) -- turns them > right off. Or maybe if they picked better plays, or just concentrated on one > play. The difficulty of the archaic language makes it very hard to understand for > teenagers. So most completely miss the poetry. (And sure, some of the plot > contrivances are a bit hackneyed, mainly in the comedies). > > One of these days I will sit down and read as many plays as I can. Or find a > Shakespeare reading group. Or start one. > > Marnie aka Doe :-) Still sort of a Shakespeare ignoramus, but now I > understand (much, much later in life) why his plays have endured. > Sometimes, it's the quality of the teacher that brings people to earlier enlightenment. I was truly fortunate. In highschool (Brooklyn), I had a junior year English class with kids who weren't expecting to go on to any further education. Our teacher was a Shakespeare fanatic. She turned all of us into Shakespeare enthusiasts. That semester, we read two dramas and saw at least three others performed.
I was lucky. When I asked to take her next class, Shakespeare, in my senior year, I got in. That class read half a dozen more plays and saw still another six or seven. The highlight was when we saw a pre-release of Olivier's Richard III film. She told us that when the film was over, we would be able to ask questions of an expert. We went to a Manhattan screening room, and at the end, out came Olivier to answer our questions. I was all of 16 and totally turned on to Shakespeare. It was later that I learned that one of her much earlier students that she had turned on to drama was a kid named Arthur Miller. I think she also played a part in the education of Lou Gossett Jr (who broke his leg and couldn't be on the basketball team one year - so he went into acting). To bring this sort of back onto topic. I have an acquaintance here in Dallas who really wanted to be a portrait photographer. He put all his energy into getting the right apprenticeship, and spent two years of his life as Karsh's assistant. He's never regretted the indentured servitude. Larry in Dallas
