Shakespeare

[Ernil]

"The Odyssey"

 

Greek for

 

 

"Hi. I'm stupid and long. Kill me."

[thejane]

I haven't seen the film version of Twelfth Night yet... but I will if you guys recommend it. I don't usually like the film versions of Shakespeare's work (with the acceptation of Kenneth Branagh's versions of Hamlet and Othello), which is odd, me being a film student. I think it's because I'm very fixed with my interpretations of the plays that anyone else's tends to irritate me beyond belief. I'm not saying this is a good thing, it's just the way I am.

 

Comedies and tragedies are actually not that different. It's just that a comedy is what would normally be a tragedy turned completely upside down, and a tragedy is what would normally be a comedy turned completely upside down. Just look at Much Adu vs Othello.

 

EDITED: grammar are annoying.

[Alia]

Well, I personally think that the Twelfth Night was very well done, of course you might not like it. Brannagh's Much Ado was merely ok, despite the all-star cast....

 

One has to remember though, that these being plays, they were really meant to be seen and listened to, not just read. The poetry and the interaction and all that are just begging to be heard from a good actor's lips, to be really appreciated that way. Through decent acting, mind ye.

Originally posted be thejane

Comedies and tragedies are actually not that different. It's just that a comedy is what would normally be a tragedy turned completely upside down, and a tragedy is what would normally be a comedy turned completely upside down. Just look at Much Adu vs Othello.

I've heard people say that there's not much difference between deep love and deep hate, but I don't know if that applies here. Maybe. But I do prefer heros and heroines that, umm, live. And sing happy songs.

 

*smacks forehead, despairing of ever being an "intellectual"*

 

I like the tragedies well enough. But they don't make me laugh out loud in the doctor's waiting room.

[Shivermetimbers]

Ernil:

 

Be happy. The Odessey is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than Beowulf. At least there are some COOL monsters, instead of ones who there is no decription of.

 

The Odessey is a bit long. Scylla and Charybdis are cool though. I got all excited when I read the description of them.

 

Be happy, no Beowulf. I wanted to hit myself with something large and spiky the whole time I was reading it.

[Tahnee]

Hey, The Odyssey isn't so bad. Especially not if you read the Robert Fitzgerald translation (which is the one I read back in 10th grade). In that one, the only weird thing you have to look out for is the incessant repetition of "rosy-fingertips of Dawn" everytime day breaks. Good lord, I read that phrase so many times I nearly went INSANE. But other than that it's good. (It also helps if you're a mythos geek, like me.)

 

Though, I seem to have picked up on my father's names for The Odyssey and it's companion, The Iliad (which I actually haven't read yet...):

 

The Idiot and The Oddity.

[Shivermetimbers]

Originally posted by TyraaRane

Hey, The Odyssey isn't so bad. Especially not if you read the Robert Fitzgerald translation (which is the one I read back in 10th grade). In that one, the only weird thing you have to look out for is the incessant repetition of "rosy-fingertips of Dawn" everytime day breaks.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA

*laughs hysterically

 

When I told my Mom I had to read the Odessey, she told me that all she remembered from reading it was "the rosy fingertips of dawn". The version I read never used that exact phrase, instead used, "dawns rosy fingers" or other variations. But I guess you read teh same version that she did. Im sorry, I can't get over how funny it is that that is what you both remember the most. I think I may even show her this thread. Heeheehee

 

*continues laughing hysterically

[Philocleon]

Originally posted by Alia

Well, I personally think that the Twelfth Night was very well done, of course you might not like it. Brannagh's Much Ado was merely ok, despite the all-star cast....

 

One has to remember though, that these being plays, they were really meant to be seen and listened to, not just read. The poetry and the interaction and all that are just begging to be heard from a good actor's lips, to be really appreciated that way. Through decent acting, mind ye.

 

I like the tragedies well enough. But they don't make me laugh out loud in the doctor's waiting room.

 

 

I heard the case was similar with a few plays that the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca wrote. He intended the plays to be for recitation, but people misunderstood them to be actual plays and so quite a few playwrights were inspired by Seneca's form. In Seneca's case, the one act of shocking violence was the climax point of the play, but in the cases of people borrowing from Seneca's model, the violence was used for shock value, drama, and what not. Also, about the Odyssey. I read it on my own, and it's a great read. That's the thing about great literature. Teachers totally ruin it when they make you do the literary equivalent of swallowing a horse tranquilizer pill down your throat.