Why is Shakespeare so confusing?

Elated. I found some free poetry books on the Kindle (which probably sounds really nerdy….but hey! Whatever!)  I used to be really into reading but as I got older I stopped reading as much. One of my resolutions is to read more so this is me trying. Anyways, I got one book with some of Emily Dickinson's works, a Shakespeare book, and one that has a variety of poems from American poets. I read two pages of the Shakespeare book last night before my Kindle froze. I found it a little ironic. It was as if the poor Kindle couldn't even handle the complexity of Mr.Speare. Those two pages were so confusing, to say the least. The guy's writing is so beautiful and witty but utterly confusing. I wonder if he even understood what he was writing! Anyways, because my Kindle froze, I had to Google how to reset it and, long story short, I fell asleep. I eventually fixed it the next day. I'm a little scared of approaching Shakespeare again (for me and my Kindle's sake). I don't completely dislike him. I can handle him if I have an interpreter by my side.  If you're thinking about reading Shakespeare here are some tips:

• You might want to keep a dictionary by your side or a list of Shakespearean terms
• Read it before you go to sleep so that you fall asleep faster.
• Read. It. Slowly.
• Be prepared to spend more time reading it than you would on a regular book.

Reading Shakespeare also gets me thinking about how much speech has changed since then. Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet, says “Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.” when his eyes fall on the beautiful Juliet. People obviously do not speak like that anymore. Today's version of what that would have sounded like goes something like this... "That girl's so hot!!!!"

Wow….how lovely. Don't you think?

 Overall, Shakespeare isn't horrible, but his writing sure is confusing. Well, wish me luck and pray that my Kindle doesn't breakdown again.

~Amanda