Shakespear?!

TLDR; this Victorian artist has covered some major human emotions such as guilt, love, fear, jealousy, etc through his various plays. They aren't easy to read, but, if you do...you'd find yourself one day.

We live in an age which has the internet. And on the internet we have something called Youtube. Further, in this modern day world we have AI like ChatGPT and gemini. I could use one of these and summarize a few points here. But I will refrain myself from doing so. For the rest of this post, I might sound like the agent of a 400+ year old bard and playwright. However, I am really doing this to diss a friend.

Sir/Madam, do you want to read Shakespear?

First off...DON'T

Shakespear isn't "Indian". He was a Victorian playwright that lived 400 years ago. The English language of that time might make your brain and ears bleed if you tried to comprehend it. Besides, "English", (never mind the Victorian cousin - old English), wasn't India's national language at all. The culture, customs, history, etc are all very different. For an Indian to appreciate it is foremost difficult. 

Shakespear's works are "plays". The play is meant to be enacted on stage by actors. The theatre audience is meant to experience this.

But do you think modern theatre audiences, especially Indian audiences, will listen? Or be glued to their phones? I wouldn't hold it against audiences from India. I am sure most audiences independent of their geographical profile will be glued to their phones inside the performance theatres.

It is hard to convince an Indian to read...

Oh, can you now imagine the plight of our poor Indian college students who pursue English literature? "Why learn Shakespear?!" they ask with such conviction as it doesn't make sense to them.

The irony however is that you might have already witnessed Shakespear!! Quite notably the plot of the animated movie The Lion King has similarities with Shakespear's famous play Hamlet. There are a few videos on Youtube which discuss this specific topic; hence I will refrain from mentioning anything more here.

A mirror onto thyself

I guess this is the one of the USPs (Up Selling Point) for Shakespear's works. I have read somewhere on the internet, (or even perhaps an AI generated answer that...) Shakespear is a mirror where we might recurringly find ourselves. Hence, I tried to find out who had first quoted that. It seems to have been adapted from one of Shakespear plays itself.

I don't think I have convinced anyone just about yet about reading the works of Shakespear. My professor friend probably already knows much about Shakespear more than I do. But try you must - youtube searches would get you there. There are a ton of documentaries on the playwright itself; perhaps that is a good place to start. As a post-note I shall add some tips on how to best experience Shakespear.

⚠️Warning: themes of suicide in Shakespear's works

You shouldn't ask small children or people at their low-point in life to read Shakespear works. 

I have recently understood the gravity of the above statement after struggling to understand what Shakespear's widely-known soliloquy actually means. 

To be or not to be...

To live or to die...

My current favorite lines come from the same verse however...

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause--

I hope these lines might appeal to the ethical agencies in your thoughts...and of course in doing so not lose the name of action.

PS: Apologies if I have not explained what "soliloquy" is...

PS: Shakespear bootcamp (-1)

1. Understand the history, the church in the time of England, Shakespear's life.

2. Watch a few plays enacted. This is readily available on youtube. 

3. Then read the play. 

4. Repeat steps 2,3 as many times needed.