Quote:
Originally Posted by Sirtel
It's Shakespeare translated, retold, vandalized, brutalized, and outright demolished to suit the language of the times.
Why? Because we can.][/SIZE]
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Ben Crystal and his father David have done good work"replebeianizing" Shakespeare with their productions presented in the "original" English, or a very well-researched and documented facsimile thereof. No plummy RADA accents, just English as she was spoke, and the impact is quite surprising.
Shakespeare fits as a classic from the point of view of breadth of appeal, too.
A LOT of posts in these threads apparently define "classics" as "books mandated by the US educational system". Shakespeare otoh has been adopted the world over, in many different cultures and languages. Zeffirelli, Kurosawa and Bhardwaj all represent very different literary and cultural traditions, but all three have produced interpretations of Shakespeare's work. That sort of universality suggests a true "classic" for me.