Shakespeare

I'm sure like most or all of you, I had to read Shakespeare in high school.  I hated it.  I didn't understand it and the teacher had us read the parts (which was a terrible, monotone, stumbling mess).  What could have made this better?  Possible ideas:

• watch a video (get to hear character voice inflections, tone, etc.)
• discuss the language and why it was used, not just analyze what it means
• explain why we're reading it, for reasons beyond it's "classic" or "timeless"

In Brit Lit I we just finished King Lear.  Okay, it's not much different than the ones I read in high school, I thought.  Then I get to HDEL later in the day and Dr. Pitard discusses the actual meanings of thee and thou, who used them, and why they were used.  Turns out, they were used to show class rank, and you may use thee or thou to talk to a person/people who were below you.  He gave us the example of Richard III (?) hitting on the widow at the funeral of her husband, who he murdered.  The entire conversation she refers to him with the th- words (like the king is below her) until the end of the conversation, where he realized he's "got her" because it changes to you/your (like he's an equal).  That's interesting!  Things like that would have made the story a lot more intriguing instead of just thinking it was funny language.

 

Ian Mckellen and Annette Benning in Richard III 1995