Yes, another Shakespeare play down. I can add it to my list which brings my total to, sadly, four. (I really must read "Hamlet". I feel like I am such a waste for not have read it by now. And I call myself an English major...)
A lot of people complain about Shakespeare and how difficult it is to read. I was one of those people until recently in fact. Yet now, for some reason, his words just "clicked", old English and all. In other plays I would have to read (sorry Dr. Jerz) the Sparknotes or a translated version just to understand the story. Now though, I am proud to say I completed it all without the aid of an outside source, except for the footnotes.
"The Tempest" wasn't my favorite play out of the four I have read however. I agree with the comments of Kristen and Chris that the play did seem to end suddenly. What surprised me the most was the lack of death in the play. Not that I exactly was looking forward to it, but in his other works Shakespeare always kills off half the cast before the last act. Perhaps since it was his (supposed) last work Shakespeare decided to change things a little and keep everyone alive.
I must give credit to Foster here that everything either comes from Shakespeare or the Bible. When I read Miranda's "O brave new world/ That has such people in't!" (184-185) I said to myself "I know that line! I didn't know where I knew it from, but I know that it is Shakespeare!" It is just a common quote that now I finally have the context for. That's how Shakespeare is- you know his works, you know the famous lines, yet you have no idea where they come from until you read the play.
I really like Shakespeare too. The only thing about his plays, are that you have to see them once you read them, sometimes it makes it all seem to make even more sense. For example, if you would see As You Like It, you really get to see how funny certain characters really are
Posted by: Sue at February 21, 2005 01:59 PMOhhh, you definitely have to read Hamlet. It's fantastic, one of his best works. I read it for my AP English course my senior year of high school, and I still talk about it sometimes.
Posted by: ChrisU at February 22, 2005 12:27 AM