Can we have a thread for Shakespeare scholarship, discussion, etc.?
I'm currently reading through all the plays roughly in order of composition, and reading Goddard's commentary from The Meaning of Shakespeare after each one (then sometimes rereading it), on the recommendation of a patrician friend. I want this Shake-a-speare nigga in my brain hardcore.
Anyone know any other interesting Shakespeare stuff to read? Should I read Harold Bloom masturbating about Hamlet for 900 pages or anything?
> I want this Shake-a-speare nigga in my brain hardcore.
This little one's not worth the effort
>>7507295
I said that from the deepest depths of my heart. It's what my soul feels.
Is Goddard's commentary any good?
>>7507314
Really enjoying it yeah. It's anti-historicist and very philosophical, to the point that it becomes "Goddardian," but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Though if you want historicist treatment of Shakespeare, definitely look elsewhere. I mean, there's value in historicism, but a lot of is dry and "so what?"-y, reducing Shakespeare to "some random Elizabethan guy with political opinions also maybe a gay oh and super good at wordplay." I was craving an organic approach to Shakespeare, and this is spot on.
Just the intro should convince you of whether or not you enjoy his method. He lays it out pretty cleanly in a handful of pages.
>>7507306
Your soul's a nigger?
>>7507370
Cool, thanks anon. Best of luck with your reading.
So, was he Bacon or not?
is the Norton Shakespeare worth getting?
I have it and it's pretty nice. Most idioms from the time are annotated with footnotes (far more convenient than endnotes) and words using irregular definitions are clarified. The paper is soft and very thin. The very beginning has 100 or 200 pages about shakespeare, the history, etc. and before each play is 5-10 pages on the play itself. This is all info from the 3rd edition of the Complete Works. You can ask me anything you're curious about if you want.
Pic somewhat related. Many people love Antony & Cleopatra, although Titus was a huge hit with the Elizabethans and Richard III is the big one today.
>>7507612
Do you have the huge hardcover or the also huge paperbacks? If you have the former did you have any difficulty reading such a thing?
>>7507861
I have the hardcover, and no, it's not really that hard to read. It's kind of awkward to carry around (I like to pace when I read sometimes) but apart from that it's easy. I imagine that the paperbacks would be a lot more difficult. I usually set the book in my lap or on the desk,
>>7507913
Thanks for answering, I'll probably get it next month
>>7507918
I dunno if you've looked at it in-store, but the ugly shakespeare portrait on the book that appears in all online stock-photos is just a dust jacket. The actual book is all black with gilt letters.
Read Plutarch & Montaigne.
Just watched the new Macbeth adaptation.
Was meh, desu
>tfw Comedy of Errors is actually funny as fuck
>tfw 50 puns per line
Ant. S. Now, as I am a Christian, answer me,
In what safe place you have bestow'd my money;
Or I shall break that merry sconce of yours
That stands on tricks when I am undispos'd.
Where is the thousand marks thou hadst of me?
Dro. E. I have some marks of yours upon my
pate,
Some of my mistress' marks upon my shoulders,
But not a thousand marks between you both.
If I should pay your worship those again,
Perchance you will not bear them patiently.
[Prospero]:
"As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free."
What did he mean by this?
>>7507506
Yes. Nice supplementary materials and footnotes. Norton knows what the fuck they are doing.
>>7507213
>Reading in order.
He can't determine which is most significant to him and his time.
After each play I also sought out Harold Bloom masturbating over Hamlet and Falstaff because I too hold the individual higher than the plot that entertains the individual.
The English monarch plays are all really good.
king lear > hamlet
>>7507213
Massive Faggot of a thread ..This guy never existed in the Hard on way that you want him to have ..Read Francis bacon Closer to the truth...
What's his best sonnet?
>>7508827
Read .. then still tell your so called Bard was just a playwright Protip you cant coz the fucker never existed
>>7508827
Who else were really Bacon? Some say Don Quixote is his work too? What else?
>>7508814
Meh. King Lear has better drama and worse poetry. They're aiming in different directions.
>>7508971
Please research into this and you will be very surprised ..Telling you my beliefs ..When really you should form your own opinion ..
>>7508851
55 60 73
30 107 116 are also good
A lot more are good those 6 sprang to mind first.
>>7507370
I really liked that collection of essays by Allan Bloom. He writes on Othello, Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, and some nigga named Jaffa does Lear. I read the play, loved it and then read the essay and loved it even more. What wonderful days. Bloom also wrote on Richard III and you can find that somewhere too.
I bought another book of essays on Shakespeare and thought of doing the same thing but I didn't enjoy the essays as much. This Goddard type looks right up my alley and in return I recommend Bloom. He was a political philosophy professor, started with the Greeks, was privately gay, the whole nine yards. Yet I never see him mentioned here, kind of a shame.
>>7509004
Probably because another, much more memable Bloom exists.
>>7509006
Kek, when I first saw a Bloom thread it didn't mention a first name and I had never heard of Harold before so I got really excited and then saw this egg looking old man and was disappointed.
I don't see the fuss with him, never read Harold but flipped through one of his books in a bookstore and saw a large amount of shitposting about him. Allan on the other hand, I have been going through all of his works.
This Goddard comentary looks like it would be great though.
>>7508827
I really don't understand why anyone cares about this shit. The point is that we have a bunch of plays that have the name Shakespeare on them. Why care any more than that?
>>7509018
Harold's great for reading, if you're into good old canon championing.
>>7509034
I am. What is a good book to start with of his?
I have heard that he talks like a sociologist though ie a lot of bullshitting. Still I'd give him a shot, just like I'll give DFW, Pynchon and Joyce a shot... even though I suspect they are quacks too.
>>7509044
The Western Canon and the Anxiety of Influence. They're his best known and should give you an idea of what to expect with his other works.
>>7509054
Kways, I'll will check them out soon. Thanks for the recommendations. I'm Muslim by the way.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EM98iFKu0ss
Just starting to get back into Shakespeare. I read R&J and JC in high school, and I just picked up Hamlet today. Pretty good so far
>>7509027
Because of the extent we like to accurately measure the greatness of an individual. Because without a goal for humanity to aim at we get science loving non-persona's checking under the covers and ensuring the public that bogeymen don't exist, all the while wanting to be most distinguished for this self-denying task.
>>7508697
"Applauding would end the play and free me from the island, allowing me to return to Milan."
>>7509101
Hamlet is incredible. Somehow, after a few readings, every other god damn line digs a foxhole into your head as if they were all the greatest pop hooks. The play is so sharply written.
>>7510271
There's certainly evidence for that. The Tempest was quite possibly his last solo work. Then you factor in Prosperos playwright-like role in the play and his speech about giving up his magic. It has a reason for being Prosperos popular interpretation
>>7507213
Samuel Johnson's notes to Shakespeare are great. Also the Arden editions with prefaces, supplementary materials, alternate versions, and great notes are like a genre all to themselves.
>>7510271
Read Prospero's speech in act 4. That's Shakespeare talking, not Prospero.
There's a lot of really funny dialogue about and allusions to Hamlet in Ulysses if you haven't read it yet.
>>7508571
Was it... Macmeh?
>>7511304
you're looking for >>>/reddit/
>>7508571
I liked it. Stands proudly among other noteworthy film adaptations, while still having several original ideas.
