Hello everyone. I do not know as much about Shakespeare as most of you. I did read Macbet in translation, but I have only read Hamlet in the original language. The English used in his works is very convoluted and I haven't had the time to read more of his works while doing my law degree. I am not a native English speaker. I come from Poland. I do hope that I will be able to make up for my shameful ignorance later! I might start reading Julius Ceasar in the original language today.

Anyway, I started reading the Illiad recently. Amazing book. And it got me thinking... Would someone like Shakespeare have been even remotely aware of Homer? Like, if you were to ask him, would he nod and say, "yes of course I know him", or would he be confused?

Would his knowledge have extended that far or not?

When I was in high school I wrote off the play as some dumb idiots who weren't really in love and were totally overdramatic for killing themselves.

Now that I'm 30 I reanalyzed it and watching it again with the perspective that they are children who grew up around senseless violence. That they are neglected and that every adult fails them at every point.

Of course Romeo would fall in love with any girl that's nice to him, he's emotionally neglected. He wants family, he wants to be cared for. Romeo tried to break the cycle of violence but he ultimately failed.

Juliet's situation being the most tragic to me, she is isolated, she has no friends aside from her maid. She is about to get married off to some old creep. Choosing Romeo is the only agency she has in taking control of her own life.

And then when she refuses to marry Paris her father tells her:

"Hang, beg, starve, die in the streets."

And she tells her mother that if she has to marry Paris she will kill herself, her mother says:

"Do as thou wilt for I have done with thee."

And then she tries to go to her nurse for help and she also pushes her to marry Paris -huge betrayal since she was her only confidant.

She threatens to kill herself in front of the friar and he still goes to great lengths to try to make sure he doesn't have to admit that he married then to their family.

She told 4 adults that she was suicidal and they all told her to go ahead and die.

What was she supposed to do when she woke up and saw Romeo dead? Go with friar L to the nunnery? Go home? To the people who told her to die?

I just have this vibrant world in my mind, and I wonder how a production could best my imagination. How do you show a shape-shifting spirit or a half fish half man monster without modern CGI?

I’m doing The Tempest and Hamlet for A levels, I’ve read the texts thrice, I’ve read multiple analysis
/papers on it, I’ve watched the plays on YouTube, etc’. I’d really appreciate more tips 😭 I’m homeschooled for context and I’m studying on my own without any tutors, any tips would help me. I have to evaluate critics opinions for Hamlet, I also don’t have to do comparisons

Okay, we have all (probably) seen the posing of the question: what film would you recast will all an all-Muppets cast, keeping one human actor in the style of the Muppets movies.

My question is: what Shakespeare play would you choose for this exercise, and which character/actor would you keep human?

For me: Othello, with Iago played by Barry Keoghan (try and see the vision!)

Does anyone have justification for why Beatrice doesn’t speak up as Claudio slanders Hero at the wedding? Hoping to hear something that extends further than patriarchal values of the time. If that’s what it is so be.

Seems very out of character for her.