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/lit/ - Literature

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16908093 No.16908093 [Reply] [Original]

What makes Shakespeare's work 'timeless'? I have read that Shakespeare wrote beyond the 'janglings and bickerings' in which he lived, beyond the local shocks of his own time, almost independent of historical circumstance.

>> No.16908096

Strong Anglo propaganda

>> No.16908110

>>16908093
Read Hamlet's graveyard scene. You'll see what they mean.

>>16908096
Cringe, Shakespeare is the GOAT, we're all competing for second place.

>> No.16908123

>>16908110
Ok, Sir Nigel Smith.

>> No.16908198
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16908198

Anyone have this? I know where I can get it for $5 and I'm thinking of going for it

>> No.16908268

It's his poetry and insight

>> No.16908284

>>16908093
He has defined the English language which came after him.

>> No.16908291

>>16908198
I have a collection of Shakespeare's works (not that one), and it's great. If it's just $5, why not get it?

>> No.16908304
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16908304

One big thing is that Shakespeare has this tendency to create characters that "feel" like real people. So many of his major characters feel like people we would meet in everyday life. They have this sense that they are, actually, real humans.

This is why Coleridge can discuss the "motives" of characters like Hamlet, Lear, and Othello. Why would fictional characters need to have their personalities analyzed? Because Shakespeare makes us feel that they are full human beings, alive, and so we feel compelled to treat them like living, breathing humans, even though they are just words on a page.

Samuel Johnson remarks on this as well, in the preface to his famous edition of Shakespeare. This idea that Shakespeare's characters, once you cut through the poetry, are characters that we feel we could converse freely with, sit down and have a chat with, because they are real humans, as opposed to inventions for the purpose of storytelling.

>> No.16908346

>>16908304
This + their problems are relatable. The main reason Hamlet's soliloquies are famous is because anyone who's ever been in a hopeless situation between choices has felt exactly like he did.

>> No.16908366

>>16908291
Yeah I own several of his works on random cheap paperbacks but it is really nice just being able to access all of his stuff for free online. At the same time I have considered buying a physical Complete Shakespeare collection before and didn't know if there was a particularly great version out there or something. Was just looking to see if anyone knew about this one

>> No.16908417

>>16908093

Shakespeare has a quality in his writings.

When he says a thing, try and find a way to say it better.

You'll realize you can't.

When Shakespeare writes, he says things the way the are.

To be or not to be that is the question.