Reading the works of Shakespeare can be quite difficult, especially when trying to perceive the intended meanings. However, a myriad of methods exist to combat these difficulties: one is acting out the scenes of Shakespeare, just like we did in class. The process of acting, rather than simply reading, allows students to derive underlying concepts in the lines. The best way to read Shakespeare is to perform the lines and watch the plot transcend the limiting pages of a book. These limitations include misconceptions of an idea, and connections that should be evident are lost. Acting out the scenes permitted students to engage with the script and learn the importance of creating the play with the aid of their classmates. Our class was able to act their interpretation of the lines. In particular, I performed some actions with certain celerity, and other times, I enjoyed a leisurely moment without actions. Those were some ways that I had shown my analysis. The enigmatic puzzles of Shakespeare have a multitude of interpretations; thus entirely new aspects appear when the play is treated dramatically. Drama engages not only the mind, but also the body. Each performed action gives spoken words a stronger sense of conviction of what the student is trying to …show more content…
I had to rely on other students in my group to deliver their best performances. We learned to synchronize with one another. Even when we made mistakes, my group continued with the play and came up with a solution. For example, in the performance, I forgot to say one of my lines. The others sensed this and skipped the next line, moving straight to the next action to keep the play going. This happened a few times, but with this solution, it was a minor problem. Learning Shakespeare through drama helped strengthen the trust among us and ensured a compelling experience.The ending result was that my group and I learned to use the script to our
Shakespeare brings this story alive with exciting dramatic scenes that capture the audience’s attention.
Shakespeare’s plays show the complexity of human beings. Everyone is different in reactions, actions, and thought. Shakespeare explores various themes throughout his writing career. Each play is unique, and their themes are handled in a very distinct way as Shakespeare writes each work with great care. Two major themes are appearance versus reality and relationship between motive and will; Othello, Hamlet, and Henry IV, Part 1 all portray these two themes in similar and different ways.
These plays are presented as slightly distorted mirrors of reality, so by having audiences invest themselves so deeply in the understanding of the literature, they are likely to gain a greater understanding of themselves and the worlds they live in. By pushing the imaginative burden onto the audience, Shakespeare is able to make commentary on human nature and human history without being held responsible for its implications. Because the audience is encouraged to fully embrace their role in the production, any commentary and critique is aimed towards themselves and their inability to effectively understand, resulting in an increased appreciation for Shakespeare himself, and the complexity of literature as an art
Students who read Shakespeare are most likely not going to understand it for a while which is understandable. Even after they learn how to read it they still have to be able to comprehend it and this is where most students get lost. The language used throughout the writing is so old and nonsensical that the students can't understand it.
To start off, Shakespeare made his plays to entertain and not to study. According to Powell, Shakespeare’s “plays are not meant to be taught like this.” Shakespeare made his plays to entertain and let people escape reality. In addition, Powell stated, “ Shakespeare made students feel stupid and not
Dominic, C. Catherine. Shakespeare's Characters for Students. Detroit - New York -Toronto - London: Gale Research, 1997.
To conclude, reading the plays of Shakespeare is not only about an entertainment, there is more about learning manhood and the importance of the role that morality plays in everyday life. That is the reason of Shakespeare’s plays are so popular because through his work, he illustrates that: life is a play, which is performed on the earth stage, and his world stage will continue influences the past, modern and further.
Ludowyk, E. F. C. Understanding Shakespeare. London, N.W.: The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1962. Print.
Although through the reading of Shakespeare’s work someone may form a mental depiction of how each actor sounds, looks, and interacts with other characters, films bring to life, through visual representation, both the director and actors interpretations of the play. The ability to pick up on the actor’s subtle body language, the tone of voice, and visual interactions with other characters can lead to a better understanding for someone who is unable to internally visualize the intended meaning and characters of a written play. Such interpretations may slightly skew Shakespeare’s intended representation of each character, however, the overall connotation is not lost but some of his subtle innuendos translated to film are.
William Shakespeare’s plays are being made into box office film hits at an incredible rate. Films such as Much Ado About Nothing with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, Hamlet with Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, Othello with Laurence Fishbourne and Henry V with Kenneth Branagh have been seen by a surprising number of teenagers. Often they have not understood it all, or even half of it, but they have been affected by the powerful characters and by the Shakespearean magic which has affected audiences around the world for centuries. They want to know more, they want to understand, and what better motvation can any teacher ask for than that students WANT ? That alone is sufficient reason for any English teacher to start a course in Shakespeare.
Through comedy and tragedy Shakespeare reveals the vast expanses and profound depths of the character of life. For him they are not separate worlds of drama and romance, but poles of a continuum. The distinction between tragedy and comedy is called in question when we turn to Shakespeare. Though the characters differ in stature and power, and the events vary in weight and significance, the movements of life in all Shakespeare's plays are governed by the same universal principles which move events in our own lives. Through myriad images Shakespeare portrays not only the character of man and society but the character of life itself.
Shakespeare’s plays are a product of the Elizabethan theatrical context in which they were first performed. A lot of pressure was put on Shakespeare as he wrote his plays because he was not allowed to upset the royal family. His style would have been different than others in those times and a lot more thought has gone into his writing than people listening would think. Usually, the audience take for granted the cleverness and thought of Shakespeare’s writing, however, now we have studied and gone into great detail about Shakespeare’s writing, we can appreciate it more than they did:
The impeccable style and craft of Shakespeare’s writing has always been looked upon with great respect, and it continues to serve as an inspiration to writers and thinkers today even as it did when it was being first performed in London. Shakespeare’s modern audience, however, is far less diverse than the one for which he originally wrote. Due to the antiquity of his language, Shakespeare’s modern readership consists mostly of students and intellectuals, whereas in Shakespeare’s own time, his plays were performed in playhouses packed with everyone from royalty to peasants. Because of this, Shakespeare was forced to write on many different levels, the most sophisticated of which appealed to his more elite audience members, while the more straightforward and often more crude of which appealed to his less educated viewers, and the most universal of which still appeals to us.
The Necessary Shakespeare, Fourth Edition, by David Bevington. Published by Longman. Copyright 2014. Retrieved from https://www.betheluniversityonline.net
Shakespeare’s plays are written in dramatic verse and his use of imagery is very effective, as it engages the audiences’ attention, to give them a deeper meaning and reality to each and every character.