How to Enjoy Shakespeare

Readers and playgoers who are new to Shakespeare (and even more seasoned veterans who would like to appreciate him more than they do) often find themselves puzzled: what is going on? His characters speak in verse rather than in the patterns of everyday speech. They are figures that ordinary humans seldom encounter—kings, queens, dukes, cardinals, and generals. Some of the plays are set in places even the most seasoned traveler is unlikely to have visited—Bohemia, Illyria, and the ancient Greek cities of Asia Minor—and in times from the distant past—imperial Rome, medieval Venice, Homer's Troy. What's more, the plots pursue events that seemingly have little to do with the daily round of modern lives—contention for a royal crown, assassination, shipwreck, occult visitation. Robert Fallon's small book is designed to dispel some of this apparent strangeness. It shows readers that what may at first seem unfamiliar to them is in fact close to their own lives. Kings and queens emerge as recognizable fathers and mothers, dukes and earls as squabbling siblings of any era. Exotic locales might be any present-day village or city block. And the plots resemble stories to be found in the pages of our morning newspaper. Shakespeare's language takes some getting used to, but even a brief acquaintance with its cadence and imagery will offer a glimpse of its glories. In How to Enjoy Shakespeare, Mr. Fallon explores Shakespeare's familiarity in five sections dealing with language, theme, staging, character, and plot, each abundantly illustrated with episodes and quotations from the plays. He writes in easily accessible prose in a book designed to make modern readers and audiences feel comfortable with the Bard.

Overheard from a freshman study session: "Shakespeare would be OK, if there weren't so many words." Fallon (English emeritus, LaSalle U.) comes to the rescue by explaining Shakespearean language, themes, narrative, character, and even staging for those with little or no previous exposure. Fallon covers a wide range of plays and a lot of ground in relatively few words, and manages to make much of what motivates characters understandable in the Elizabethan world view by applying the basic emotions to modern concerns about such issues as love, war, death, and memory. This supplement would be particularly helpful to those who have a basic understanding of theater, but who have become phobic about Shakespeare's works through unfortunate experience. The separate indices by theme and other topics are particularly helpful. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Times Literary Supplement

It is also notably the only volume here that has anything substantial to say about iambic pentameter.

Robert Thomas Fallon's Theatergoer's Guides—to Shakespeare, to his characters, and to his themes—have been widely praised for their clarity and intelligence without dumbing down the material for the general reader. He has also written three books on John Milton. Mr. Fallon is professor emeritus of English at La Salle University and lives in Lumberville, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia.