It's the age of carefully curated posturing. Gut reactions are hard to come by. But mention Shakespeare and two camps immediately emerge: #TeamHolyGrail and #TeamWhatTheF*ck. You either love him or hate him. If you love for him, no doubt you had a great teacher who taught you how to enjoy the juiciness of his language. If you hate him, you probably couldn't get past the pomposity of #TeamHolyGrail and their uppity/non-approachable attitude. As a lover of language and a student of theater, I should fall into the first camp. For the most part I do.
But let's keep it all the way 100. Shakespeare was a badass and he probably hated all BS and any holier-than-thou tomfoolery. His characters critique the elite while uplifting the sensibility of the working class. Still, he was an artist and he was likely very sensitive about his sh*t. Yes, even us badasses thirst for the approval of our peers and the tastemakers of our day.
Luckily, during his time, he got the co-sign from the tastemakers of his time. To the point where in 2017, if an actor "incorrectly" stresses a line of his text, they'll be met with the shadiest of side-eyes.
I call shade. Shakespeare invented new words. Just. Because. He. Felt. Like. It. And with that example, you know what I say? When learning Shakespeare, bastardize it.
Definition: Bastardize - to change by making alterations. (Admittedly, I'm playing it fast and loose with this definition.) If he made new words, take those words and play with them. Find fluidity within form. The dictionary must reflect the culture it catalogs and so you too can catalog your culture, your reality. When attempting to discover meaning in the text, let the imagery connect to *your* truth.
My first experiment in this bastardization will be Hamlet. I'm gonna have some FFFFUUUUHHHHNNNN henny!
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| Bastardize it henny! |