"With
the single exception of Homer, there is no eminent
writer, not even Sir Walter Scott, whom I can despise so
entirely as I despise Shakespeare when I measure my mind
against his.... It would positively be a relief to me to
dig him up and throw stones at him.”
George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950)
≈
“I
have good reason to be content, for thank God I can read
and perhaps understand Shakespeare to his depths.”
John Keats
(1795-1821)
≈
“I
believe Shakespeare was not a whit more intelligible in
his own day than he is now to an educated man, except
for a few local allusions of no consequence. He is of
no age—nor of any religion, or party or profession. The
body and substance of his works come out of the
unfathomable depths of his own oceanic mind: his
observation and reading, which was considerable,
supplied him with the drapery of his figures.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834)
≈
“I
have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it so
intolerably dull that it nauseated me.”
Charles Darwin
(1809-1882)
≈
While opinions
on Shakespeare vary, each of these important historical
figures finds his works worthy of comment.
Shakespeare’s predominance in the literary canon is
rarely questioned and his drama continues to have
widespread popular and scholarly appeal. His rich and
multi-faceted language, his vivid and complex
characters, and his nuanced understanding of the human
condition have earned him a predominant place in Western
culture. Shakespeare’s work speaks across cultures
and across history--across space and time--like no other.
Those of us
who approach Shakespeare’s works as literary texts often
neglect their essential performance aspect other than
the basic historical facts. We will be watching
films and the Blackfriars' production to supplement our literary
studies, and students will create short digital video
clips of themes and/or scenes.
