Quote:
Originally Posted by QuantumIguana
I've seen people who were turned off to Shakespeare by being made to read it in high school, but were turned on to it after seeing it performed as it was intended.
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Right -- because all plays are meant only to be seen, hence the wordplay and allusions that sometimes have to be unpacked in Shakespeare are unimportant. Audiences are always in perfect sync with whatever is easiest to follow and physically apparent, therefore the best aspect of the work is deemed not to be the writing itself.
The plays make emotional sense because the action allows confused listeners to
ignore the words, not because the words make sense only within the context of what's seen. You might as well argue that poetry should only be taught when read aloud. Hearing it is important, but reading it is as well.