Introduction to Shakespeare

I decided that instead of simply diving right into A Midsummer Night's Dream I would first give you a little introduction to Shakespeare. First let's define what types of plays he wrote. The Shakespearian definition of a type of play is different from our modern definitions. A Shakespearian comedy doesn't necessarily mean that it's funny, technically all it means is that it ends in marriage. A Shakespearian tragedy means that it ends in death, and lastly a Shakespearian romance is what we today would call fantasy. Therefore A Midsummer Night's Dream would be classified as a romantic comedy. Now that you have those basic definitions let's move on to discuss more about what makes Shakespeare Shakespeare. Shakespeare was very careful when he wrote his plays. You know those incredibly long sentences he's famous for? Those are there for a reason; it's meant to make an actor read the line faster so that he/she can get the whole sentence in without taking a breath. This is a reason Shakespeare is not meant to be read; you can miss a lot of the meaning when you simply read it instead of seeing it in action. Shakespeare did not write his plays with the intention that people would read them, he wrote with the intention that people would watch and listen to them. If watching the play is not an option I would recommend reading it aloud, since that is also a way to help you grasp exactly what it is he's saying. Another strategy towards understanding Shakespeare is to simply read the last words of each line. After you've read a page and then gone "what the heck did he just say?" go back and read the last words of each line, it could help you grasp the meaning. I know that I've only skimmed the surface of a Shakespeare play, but that's all the introduction I'm going to give you for now. If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment or email me at peacelayi@gmail.com.