Understanding older forms of English, from Dickens to Shakespeare

[Tasaio]

Greetings

As part of my own personal growth, I'm reading as much classic literature as I can. At the moment, I'm reading Shakespeare's plays.

I'm now on "The Tempest". Unfortunately, this play has the *most* archaic English I've encountered so far. I find it very difficult to understand what the characters are saying -- let alone maintain interest.

The truth is, I'm only reading these "classics" because they're identified as such -- I can't honestly say I'm enjoying all of them.

Besides Shakespeare, I'd also like to read Jules Verne, Sir Thomas Mallory, and the Canterbury Tales.

My understanding is that Photoreading works best for non-fiction books -- in particular, those written in modern English. I doubt it would help me here.

I think the main problem is that I'm unable to read this older English *quickly* -- I'm normally a fast reader of novels, and the crawling pace of translation is driving me insane.

For those who have read classics, how do you read -- and understand -- them in a manageable about of time?

Thanks in advance

Tasaio

[Angela]

The language is beautiful, and meant to be heard, not read silently. Try reading it out loud, especially with a partner. Watch a film version first. Have you seen John Cassavetes' modernized version of the Tempest? It's wild and fun, and you get to see Raul Julia as Kalibanos, trying to seduce a goat (it's a girl goat, he's not a pervert!) as well as an incredibly young and sexy Susan Sarandon. Then read the play. It's a celebration of life!

[RT Wolf]

I remember somewhere in the PR book, there was a mention of someone who wanted to understand shaekspeare, so he photoread books about shaekspeare and his writing. And then his plays made more sense to him. If you have copies which have explanations for tough words on the other side, you might consider photoreading your copy. Consider reading books about the works you're trying to read or photoread.

Enjoy!

[chopsaw]

Tasaio,

First off, any piece of literature is to be savored not gobbled. Slow down. Don't go into this like an accountant. Read a particular play, wrestle with the multiple meanings, enjoy the pagentry, the humor (and Shakespeare is very funny), the tragedy, and strategy, all of it. The previous poster was correct, Shakespeare was meant to be heard. The language is deliberately musical, a treat first for the ears, then for the mind. Read it, watch it, return to it. See many versions of Shakespeare's plays, read different critiques (Northrop Frye is splendid, and I love Harold Bloom for his sheer enthusiasm of Shakespeare) to give you some insights that history has cut from the modern reader. You can reread Shakespeare for the rest of your life and not be through with him. And, as I once heard said, Shakespeare is timeless as he will bury his undertakers. So have some fun. Read Cervantes, Dante, Chaucer, read them all, but don't rush. They've been around a long time. Literature is one of life's luxuries, relish it.

[John Wesley]

If you just want to read the Classics so you can say that you have read the classics, it isn't worth doing. The people who have said earlier that you need to take your time to enjoy it are absolutely right.

Shakespeare actually is modern English, the vocabulary is just a bit different. Try finding a copy of footnotes, or look up problem words online or in a dictionary. If you want to read some real Archaic stuff read the original Chaucer. Even that can be understood fairly easily with a good glossary and a bit of effort.

Don't even think about speed reading. This takes all the beauty and humanity out of the literature. All you get with speed reading are the hard facts, you miss the language which is the whole point. You shouldn't see reading as a race. Speed reading will only let you grasp the plot. If that's all you want to know, pick up some cliff notes.

[C33]

This is funny, my goal this year, is to study Shakespeare, and aproach it as an actor.

I wouldn t let the vocabulary frighten me,it is just a code. I suggest you watch the movie:Looking for Richard, it is a good entrance point into Shakespeare.

Do not let Shakespeare intimidate you, get into it and reap the rewards of it!

[Michelle]

I learned German, and then old English suddenly made perfect sense to me.

[dadeon]

Shakespeare's great! A lot of profound wisdom in his words. You can read some of it over and over again and keep seeing 'new' things.

I keep some Shakespeare quotes in the front of my diary. Here's my fav's:

“Nothing will come of nothing; we must dare mighty things.”

"Be great in act, as you have been in thought."

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness, thrust upon em."

[Scholar22]

What really makes Shakespeare come alive (especially his comedies) is getting a group together, assigning everyone a part and having everyone read their part aloud. Great fun--especially with lots of wine. One tends to miss a lot of the jokes entirely when the play is just read silently.

[Shaden]

Definitely. A lot of the humour is focused on the delivery of the line as opposed to the actual content. And trust me - steer clear of Chaucer. I mean come on - it's Middle English. That's like Scottish, Welsh, German and Latin all mixed together!

Scary stuff. Too bad I have to do an entire term of study and an exam on it . Oh well I have plenty of time to improve