Wow. I was hoping I wouldn't have to admit this, but I'm kind of a nerd for Shakespeare right now. I bought Merchant of Venice tickets today and got pretty excited.
Also, I read Merchant of Venice with NoFear Shakespeare in hand. Don't tell Professor. I know I may be disqualified for reading Sparknotes.....but it was actually a REALLY cool experience for me. :) Don't judge me. I'm not a slacker! Haha I read the original text too!!! Here's the thing: my interpretation was different than their interpretation. And it wasn't like either of us were wrong...they both worked....for me at least. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Shakespeare is so awesome that his works can be interpreted so many different ways, and yet they all make sense.
....well.....they make sense in my mind at least. :)
Shakespeare does it again. Like I said, he knows his stuff.
So, how did you interpret it, compared to them? Just wondering! :)
ReplyDeleteI always read the Sparknotes of Shakespeare to introduce myself to the play. I couldn't read Shakespeare without them! :) No Fear Shakespeare is something I used all the time in high school and it makes the reading SO much easier.
ReplyDeleteI always view those helps as a launching pad for my own interpretation. I think as long as you do that and don't just regurgitate your research I've never had a professor get too upset with me.
Ps- I actually read Merchant of Venice with an audiobook. That was a really cool experience you might try. Gave me a completely different emotion and experience behind my reading.
Thanks for the comments, guys!
ReplyDeleteTo Andrew: Umm....here's a kind of random example: IN Act 1 Scene 3, there is a line by Bassanio that says: "I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind."
I took this to mean that Shylock was actually lying and Bassanio could tell. But then I read the Sparknotes version that interpreted it as "I don’t like it when a villain acts nice." Which I thought was interesting. So I guess we'll see. I dunno........what do you think? Was I too far off?
To Alicia: THANKS for the empathy. I'm glad I"m not alone in finding Sparknotes useful! And thanks for the idea about audio. I'm gunna try that!