shakespeare

[sanfran]

does anyone here think shakespeare is overrated?

[NoGood Boyo]

Possibly, but obviously a clever bloke and he taught the people of his time a lot about history and the ways humans behave and think through entertainment. His plays also reflected the attitudes of the time e.g anti-semitism in The Merchant of Venice. Also interesting because he actually invented, or gave first use to, a lot of English words that we use today. Worth the effort getting to understand in my opinion, but I agree not always easy.

[juicy]

I think he is a bit. There's no denying that he was a great poet/playwright, but other writers of the time, like Christpher Marlowe achieved just as much in their plays as well, but tend to get overlooked. Shakespeare's practically a god in this country!

[WoWo]

Depends what you think he's overrated at. If your looking at it from an enjoyment point of veiw then yes its likely, but he (or his works) are held in such high regard for its effect on the English Language.

[BenDToy]

While I do find his work rather difficult to understand (or even impossible!) I certainly don't think he can be over-rated. No other writer,or even individual has single handedly contributed so much to the English language. So many sayings and expressions which are in use today, were created by him. I bet that you will use at least one every day. But I agree with all other contributors that his work is not terribly "accessible".

[JustJanet]

YES!!!

[xxlizziexx]

i think he is, his work is good yes but i dont think its as amazing as people say.

[TommyC]

What annoys me much more about Shakespeare is that the fuddy-duddy Oxford and Cambridge academics resolutely refuse to address the many well-documented anomalies of Shakespeare's life which just don't fit on any level with his supposed literary genius (only six copies of his signature surviving from more than 30 plays, and all spelt differently, indicating not a great deal of personal interest in standardization of spelling; several daughters given no form of education whatever, indicating no personal value placed on the hugely wide historic, geographic, and folk-tale knowledge which he somehow repeatedly exhibited himself over 40 years, etc, etc). Most importantly, there are in fact a number of very succint arguments that the majority of the plays, if not all of them, were actually written by the educated, learned, travelled and highly respected courtier Francis Bacon, who may have had political reasons of his own to avoid publishing plays for the masses under his own name. For me, most of the plays are utterly wonderful, especially where they belong - on the stage. But the academic side of Shakespeare research still leaves much to be desired.

[EssJay1]

Oh yes! Why do The Arts always get promoted as proof of man's civilisation when science has offered so much more?

[TT]

No.

[kitsch]

i don't think anyone can ever claim that any particular author is 'overrated'. the masses loved him in his time and that's no easy feat. plus, the comments on his personal life have absolutely nothing to do with how his work is regarded. he gave us a LOT of the classics, and seriously, with proper understanding (set his stories in modern times..and understand the message of each..contextualize!), you'll see how forward-thinking and universal this man was.