Shakespeare's Language

One of the most consistent complaints (& one of my biggest pet peeves) that I hear about Shakespeare is that the language is too obtuse. "I can't understand it." "Why does he have to use that old English?"

He doesn't. It's modern English and if you have ever sat through a pre-Renaissance English class, then you know right away that old English is almost incomprehensible. Granted Shakespeare's language may the beginnings of modern English, but it's still Modern English.

Obviously, it is poetic and the syntax is quite a bit different than today. That's where the real difficulty lies. Contemporary audiences aren't used to hearing poetry. They're not used to reading poetry for that matter. Then when the words are unfamiliar or not put in the "correct" order it warps our fragile little minds, and makes us feel ill towards Shakespeare.

Here are the remedies:

• Don't read Shakespeare. See Shakespeare.
• Listen to more rap music.

The greatest disservice we do to the Bard is to force kids to read him. I understand wanting to impart the brilliance of the work to impressionable minds; hell, I've built a career on it. But making kids read Shakespeare on a spring day when the sun is shining is just cruel.

Allowing them to read it aloud in a classroom setting is a step up, but a small step. It's only when it is being read or performed by people who know what they are saying and how to say it does it really stand a chance of being meaningful for an audience. Even the poetic passages, which I more often times than not refer to as "the poetry crap", can be meaningful in a capable actor's hands.

And let's not forget that it was always meant to be seen and not read. That it is some of the most brilliant dramatic and poetic work man has ever known is the reason that it had to be transcribed and kept for posterity.

As for rap music, isn't it just poetry that is meant to be performed not read?  To an untrained ear isn't it a bunch of unfamiliar words put together in unusual ways?  Dare I say that rap music is Shakespeare?  No, I wouldn't go that far, but fans of rap would.  And it honestly is not that different.  One of the most artistically successful Shakespeare adaptations I have seen was a production called The Bomb-itty of Errors, a 3 man (4 if you count the DJ) combination of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors and original rap beats.  It was funny, fun and a hit off-Broadway.  Here's the prologue; it starts with 48 seconds of darkness: