Replies

I don’t know anyone my age who has studied Shakespeare, or even has had direct exposure to a Shakespeare play. Millennials are mostly illiterate. And even if they brushed against the Bard’s work in public school, it would have made no impression. I studied Shakespeare in homeschool. This took several years of hard attention, plus materials not to be found in the typical home, plus an excellent teacher. I had, at the time I was still learning basic math, a collection of recordings called Living Shakespeare, which my mother had acquired long before I came along.

I was into Shakespeare before we ever studied a play of his in school (we did Romeo & Juliet and Julius Caesar; can't remember which grades). I watched the 1953 film of Julius Caesar on the Late Show one night and became hooked on Shakespeare and his language. I was amazed that I was able to follow the language even though some of the words and phrases and are no longer in use. The key was that the brilliant cast (James Mason, Marlon Brando, John Gielgud, et al) knew how to read verse in such a way that it was easily understood. I followed that with a film version of Hamlet from 1969 starring Nicol Williamson and later Orson Welles' Macbeth.

I also had some of those Living Shakespeare records. There used to be a company called Publishers Central Bureau that sold closeouts of books and records. I bought a 10-disc set of those. While they were heavily truncated, they had many great Shakespearian actors of the day in some of the roles like Richard Burton as Henry V, Peter O'Toole as Petruchio, Michael Redgrave as Richard II and Hamlet, Donald Wolfit as King Lear, etc. I have since downloaded all of them from Youtube.

I wish we had watched some of the great Shakespeare films in school (early to mid 1970's) rather than trying to read them aloud. I doubt the students got anything out of reading them that way.

Shakespeare is such a joy to experience. I can't believe allegedly educated people bypass The Bard for the dreck being written these days.

Because we don't speak that way these days it's just a matter of reading enough Mr. S. to get used to that speech. It helps to understand iambic pentametar is just a beat, a rythem and say the lines in your head to that beat.

It also helps to watch some of the terrific movies that have been made like Kenneth Branagh's. "Once more unto the breach!" Words for our time.

There used to be a company called Publishers Central Bureau that sold closeouts of books and records.

I mentioned this to my mom the other day, and her eyes lit up. She estimates PCB sent her at least a thousand books over the years! I would enjoy getting a regular catalog featuring inexpensive books, will have to look around and see if there's anything like that now. Thanks for the idea!