Twelve Tips for Reading Shakespeare, Part 1

When it comes to English literature, Shakespeare is the GOAT. He wrote his plays more than four hundred years ago, and they are still being performed all over the world today. Not one or two either—dozens of them. They are still being made into major motion pictures. And the number of novels, plays, and films that are based on his plays or derive their names from his works are too many to count. He changed for all time the way writers tell stories, create characters, and write poetry. He gave us some of the most original and unforgettable characters ever: Hamlet, Lady Macbeth, Falstaff, Beatrice, Puck, Iago, King Lear, and dozens of others. And no one in history has affected everyday English like Shakespeare. He coined scores of common expressions and hundreds of words still in use.  

And that’s why you shouldn’t ignore his works. Any approach to literature study that leaves out Shakespeare is seriously lacking. It’s like studying American history and leaving out George Washington.  

But Shakespeare is hard. There’s no getting around it. He wrote beautiful but difficult poetry. And our language has changed a lot since he did it, which adds to the challenge. 

So, don’t feel bad if you struggle to understand Shakespeare. Everyone does. One characteristic of all great literature is that it requires work. Great literature tends to be difficult and and complex but inevitably rewards the work it demands of the reader.  

And of course, the work of Shakespeare is tough simply because it’s old. Our culture is different. Our concept of art and drama is different. And though Shakespeare wrote in English, the language has been through lots of change in the four centuries since he wrote his plays and poems. All that means that his work is a bit alien to us modern readers.  

So, don’t feel bad. Everyone has to work to understand Shakespeare. Especially in the beginning. It does get easier. Once you get familiar with the syntax and vocabulary of Elizabethan English and the dramatic conventions of Shakespeare’s plays, you’ll find them easier to read and comprehend. Not easy, mind you—just easier. 

I’m far from a Shakespeare scholar, but I’ve been teaching his plays to high schoolers for three decades. Let me give you ten trusty tips that have helped students get the hang of Shakespeare.  

1. Read a plot summary first.

Will this ruin the story? Maybe a little. But honestly, Shakespeare’s plays are not great because their conclusions are unpredictable. Just the opposite really. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare pretty much gives away the whole story in the first few lines.  

Shakespeare follows the conventions of drama laid out by Aristotle. He wrote histories—and people who know history know how those stories end. He wrote comedies, and comedies always end happily—by definition. The handsome dude always ends up with the pretty girl. He wrote tragedies, and we know how they end too. The protagonist and most of the important characters always end up dying. Tragically, of course.  

So, don’t worry about the end getting spoiled. It’s more important that you are able to follow along with the story. Trust me. You’ll find that these plays are worth reading over and over. You’ll get more out of them long after you already know the basic plot.  

So, summaries. You migh try the versions of Shakespeare plays written for children by Charles and Mary Lamb. It’s a collection called Tales from Shakespeare. 

But if you don’t have easy access to that book, there are plenty of free summaries on the internet. My two favorite sites for quick overviews are SparkNotes and Lit Charts. Both of these sites offer way more than just summaries too. You might find them really useful as you work your way through Shakespeare.  

Here’s one sort of tip within a tip for you too. If you feel like it’s cheating to read a summary first, then try this. Read a scene without a summary; see how much you can understand, then go to Spark Notes or Lit Charts and see how close you were. This is a great way to do it if you want to challenge yourself.  

2. Watch a film or stage production.

Let me make this clear. Watching a film or live production of a Shakespeare play is not cheating. In fact, it’s actually more appropriate than just reading it. Remember, these are plays. Shakespeare didn’t write them to be read, he wrote them to be performed on stage. Simply reading them is not the way they were intended to be experienced.  

A good production will help you follow the story. Just listening to an actor who understands what he’s saying speak the lines will make all the difference. And facial expressions, physical gestures, even props and sets will all help the story make more sense to you.  

When I took my first Shakespeare class in college, the first assignment was to read one of Shakespeare’s less-well-known plays. I think it was Coriolanus. I got about three pages in and started to panic. I had no idea what was going on. Shakespeare was too hard for me! I was convinced I wasn’t smart enough to take a college class on Shakespeare!  

Then a friend suggested I go to the library where they had recordings of stage productions of all Shakespeare’s plays. I took the book with me. I watched the production and followed along in the book. It was amazing—I was able to get the story much better that way.  

So, do that. Shakespeare’s plays are filmed and performed everywhere over and over. Watch a good one and read along in the book. Or, if it’s possible, turn on the captioning so you can read along.

For Hamlet, I recommend a version starring and directed by Kenneth Branaugh. As I recall, it includes a brief, gratuitous nude scene, but it’s excellent.  

You can also watch the one starring Mel Gibson and Glen Close. It’s good, but heavily abridged. They take out various lines and scenes. The Branaugh version, on the other hand, sticks to the original script. There are other options to choose from though—Hamlet has been filmed dozens of times. In fact, Shakespeare plays are made and remade over the years.

It’s also easy to find live performances of his plays almost anywhere. High schools and colleges love doing Shakespeare. Local theater companies perform them. Many communities have annual Shakespeare festivals, Shakespeare in the park traditions, or Shakespearian theater companies.

Whenever possible, enjoy the experience of a live show.

3. Listen to an audio version.

If you can’t or don’t want to watch a production, listening to a recorded audio version is the next best thing. You get the same benefit if knowledgeable actors reading the lines, and you’ll find that this can make a world of difference. If you decide to listen to an audio recording, I suggest reading along as you listen.  

4. Read a modern translation.

Don’t do this unless you have to, or at least only do it for particularly difficult parts.  Sparknotes.com has a good modern translation called No Fear Shakespeare. It’s free on their website (sparknotes.com/Shakespeare).  They include the original text, with the modern translation running parallel right beside.  

The modern version takes all the beauty out of the language though. It helps with comprehending the story, but it wrecks the poetry. If you’ve watched a production or listened to a recording and still feel lost, use something like this as a last resort.  

5. Read out loud.

If you want to take on Shakespeare without the help of a translation, read it aloud, or at least “silently aloud,” where you hear the words in your head. But literally aloud is better. I love doing this, and I usually do it in an English accent. It’s probably a bad English accent, but it’s just more fun. If you don’t do the accent, at least try to be dramatic as you read. This IS drama after all.  

The benefits of reading aloud are at least twofold. First, it allows you to focus on the beauty of the language. I was attracted to Shakespeare before I was able to understand much just because the sound of his poetry is so beautiful. Read his plays aloud and really listen.  

Second, reading Shakespeare out loud helps with comprehension. I don’t really understand why but forcing yourself to sound out the words will help you make sense of it. I’m sure there’s some scientific explanation for this, but I can’t back it up. I just know it from experience. As you grow more comfortable with Shakespeare’s language, you’ll enjoy reading aloud more and more.  

Oh, one quick tip for reading aloud: when syllables have an accent mark on the last syllable (usually on the -ed suffix), it means you are to pronounce it as an accented syllable. So, usually we’d pronounce offered with two syllables (off-erd). But if it looks like this: offerèd, that means you pronounce that last syllable separately and the whole word as three syllables (off-er-ed). This is done for purposes of rhythm and meter in poetry.  

6. Don’t get distracted by footnotes.

Most editions of Shakespeare’s plays include lots of annotations. They can be extremely helpful, but I’ve also found that they can be distracting. Constantly interrupting your reading to read notes in the margins or footer is generally a frustrating way to read anything. I find it’s better to skip the footnotes altogether or at least only when a passage or word is particularly hard to understand.