What do you remember about your Shakespeare studies? In spite of the plays I read in high school and taking a college class on Shakespeare, I honestly don’t remember a whole lot. I tried to remedy some of that by tackling Hamlet in our Classics Bookclub, but ended up mostly resorting to movie versions of Hamlet to complete my quest. Perhaps I would have done better if I had access to Hamlet (No Fear Shakespeare).
My daughter is a freshman in high school. This fall, she read her first Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, and enjoyed it, thanks to a great teacher who helped make it clear. She’s about to embark on her second play, and thanks to an offer I just got from SparkNotes, she’ll be using A Midsummer Night’s Dream (No Fear Shakespeare). Initially, that was the version recommended on the freshman reading list sheet at the beginning of the year, because many teachers have them try to read it on their own (without the scene by scene handholding and interpretation). As it turns out, her teacher is still guiding them through it, but I think that the No Fear approach, with the original play text on one side and a modern translation on the other side, will prove helpful. There is also a list of characters at the front of the play, to help you keep the names straight, and which I will also encourage my daughter to use as a study guide.
The other thing I like about the series is the packaging is sort of cool. Just look at this cover on Julius Caesar (No Fear Shakespeare)
I was offered three copies of No Fear, Shakespeare titles in honor of Shakespeare’s birthday, the two listed above plus Macbeth (No Fear Shakespeare), which I’ve always wanted to read (and also has a cool cover).
I’ll review it here if I read it, but let’s celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday today by honoring him in the comments. Tell me what your favorite Shakespeare play is, or perhaps your most memorable Shakespeare experience: Have you toured the Globe theater? Seen a live play that brought it to life? Read along with your children?
Go ahead! Jump in and leave a comment, or respond in agreement or with a friendly differing opinion to someone else’s comment.
I saw Jude LW as Hamlet on Broadway a couple of year’s ago.
I was living in CT when he was on and seriously thought about it! Sounds great.
I remember being in a Shakespeare tutorial and being asked who is the main character in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. We went through all the characters “no”, “no”, “no” and finally were told “why it’s the dog of course!” Crab, the dog, steals the stage every time. It was the first time we really understood that Shakespeare needs to be read in the context of the stage and not just as a storybook.
I haven’t read that one either, but if I do, I’ll pay attention to the dog!