Tristan, thank you, thank you thank you.. I did what you suggested and read the speech myself three times. This is the first time I have read out loud any of Shakespeare’s words. It felt good. I have been to see many Shakespeare plays over the past 40 years, but I have never really appreciated their brilliance. You have opened a window for me and I love it. I have watched your videos on Richard the third and Iambic pentameter and they have been so educational. I hope you do produce more videos in the future, they are so valuable. Thank you once again. Peter.
I say, Peter! This is one of the best comments I've ever received. SO pleased that you have found a new door to Shakespeare. He really is uniquely special.
Absolutely RIGHT! Read thrice and amazing things do happen! Tristan has, with this single video, proven himself a Masterful Teacher. Never in my entire 75 years of life have I been blessed with such wisdom! Upon my last reading, I found myself moved, understanding, appreciating (though admittedly only minimally at my current skill level), and LEARNING the true importance of Shakespeare to my English language and my personal educational growth. Bless Tristan and his marvelous work. My heartfelt thanks!
Tristan, you are a brilliant teacher! What I would greatly appreciate in a course would be a brief background discussion of the play, and then an analysis of just some of the more difficult speeches. Especially a play, like King Lear, which I found very difficult to understand. Thank you so much for all the hard. Work you have put in!
Started by reading a few sonnets which really resonated with me. Picked one, learned it by heart, read some analysis to understand but better. Then read and learnt by heart Soliloquies which really appealled to me. Then read Macbeth with a commentary on each line. Take it slowly, chew it, savour it.
Tristan I loved this video! Thank you! It really increased my understanding of this iconic speech I’ve always loved but didn’t understand at the level you explained. Please do more detailed analyses of Shakespeare monologues when you can. Also love the way you explained iambic pentameter as “flowing speech”. It’s lovely. Many thanks again. 👑
I'm a fan of this channel and binged a good amount of videos. My only suggestion for you is to keep the volume of your videos in mind. This one is quiet, I had to listen to it on headphones. It could be the result of how you recorded it. Not sure how audio 'mixing' works for youtube, but try to find a baseline video of the right audio volume and get the other videos to match it by editing it when needed to. Keep up the good videos and see if making some more shorts will help with subscriptions.
So pleased you enjoy my ramblings and thank you for the sound advice. I've tried to rectify the problem in my latest vid and have just learned something else I can do to improve the volume which I'll add to the next one.😁👍
Wow!!! Wow!!! Wow!!! Tristin, you are brilliant!!! I never thought I would ever enjoy Shakespeare, but your explanation and interpretation helps me finally see why Shakespeare is thought to be so brilliant!!! Thank you so much!!! I will be looking for your course!
You and your channel is the reason that I picked up Shakespeare again in new year of 2022, the last time I read them seriously was more than 5 years ago and now I am about 54 yeas old and very grateful to find someone like you to help a reader like me from Taiwan where Shakespeare resources had not been very accessible and now I live in HK and do have chance to watch actual plays and the world of youtube during pandemic period is really a blessing for people never get to see Shakespeares real plays. I really like the way you think, feel, and explore in a way to guide the reader to appreciate true classic and I have learned so much from you just watching a few episodes: your way of thinking about the criteria of classic and gothic novel are all really insightful. Even I have been reading classic for some decades but never really thought about the underlying reasons that I keep reading them on and off as if my essence of life can be reflected through my relationship with how I read these classic books that have been living in my shelfs......thank you Mr. Teed.
WOW! Thank you for this beautiful comment adyshih. It really made my day. Shakespeare is amazing and I'm pleased you enjoy him. Classic Literature is so good for exploring ideas, emotions etc. It also teaches patience which I think is important too. Once again, thank you for the encouraging words. 🙏😀
We Love You Tristan… These videos have definitely opened up my mind to Complicated Literature and have literally changed the way I view different types of Literature. Thank You.
Thank you for making this course! I read Richard II last year, following the programme of another RU-vidr. We were doing Shakespeare in chronological order, I read several plays but then I had too much on and had to put the Bard (and the bookclub) aside. This video has given me the motivation to resume the project by myself.
Tristan, This is a great video. I don't know how to send you a private message. So I will have to put it here and hope that you see it. I am not native to England and my pronunciation of vowel sound tends to be broader than that of most speakers of "Received Pronunciation". (i.e. The rather precise form of English spoken by many actors, BBC News Readers, etc) Over the past 50 years, I have noticed a trend which I find quire distressing. Vowels ate being minimised and schwa and schwer are rapidly gaining ground!! This means that distinct vowel sounds such as the short o as in "fox in sox and fox on box" and short u as in "some day, one day, come what may" and "fun in the sun" are all being neutralised. Short words with longer vowels such as "to" and "so" are minimised. "On", "in" and an" are all pronounce "'n". Any longish vowel that can conveniently be turned into "er" has been lost. Nowadays people blaspheme by declaring "Gerd Gerd!". Why does this concern me? Because I am a reader of poetry and a singer of songs. Along with the precise pronunciation of terminal consonants, the distinct use of vowel sounds is part of the beauty of spoken and sung English. This pronunciation may vary considerably and be beautiful in the diversity of regional accents. But in "received pronunciation" the beauty is being lost, rapidly. .... Girls like Hermione Grainger read "berks", rather than "books". I find this distressing. When we say, "This royal throne of Kings, This sceptered Isle ....", then every "this" has an "i" for "igloo" in it, (and so do the words "in" and "it") None of them are schwas. THIS is our beautiful language: "'Tis the last rose of summer, left blooming alone...." The moment that "of" is reduced to "erv" something is lost. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" .... loses its music when "other" becomes "erther" One of the ,most powerful lines in the English language is : "For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." ...... but "Fer ther Lerd Gerd Ermn'pert'nt reign'th" is the direction we are heading ..... in Received Pronunciation. Please retrieve the vowel sounds, great and small, not only in the lines of Shakespeare....... but in beautiful words like "become", "someone" , "understand" and "introduction", "cook book", "Number eleven bus stops here" and "Lines written upon Westminster Bridge."
Thanks Charmaine. 😊 I really want to help people learn to love Shakespeare so they can experience some of the most precious treasure that civilisation has ever produced.
Thank you for posting this video. It's taken me a bit to get through because I keep stopping and going back over the text. Strong work on showing how interesting Shakespeare is.
Thanks so much Libbylou! Shakespeare, if stuck with, is the finest reward anybody can have in literature. Accept me sincerest commendation for your tenacity. It was a long video and later videos I will try and make a bit more bitesized😅❤
I would love to hear a cd of a play read entirely by you. (with some exceptions to bring such awareness. Thank you,it’s the first time that I can say,yes indeed it’s absolutely amazing!
I thought your delivery was compelling. Thank you so much for this. At the age of 56, I am returning to Shakespeare for the first time in four decades, and I needed your instruction and encouragement. I so appreciate the time you take to share things with us.
Shakespeare can be tough reading. But they are plays after all. There have been many wonderful films and plays faithful to his scripts. If you watch a faithful well done play or film adaptation. The meaning of the script comes clear by the actors acting out their lines and the production itself and the capabilities of the director. Branaugh’s Henry V, Zefferelli’s Romeo and Juliet, Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet, Even Mel Gibson’s Hamlet among others. In a play or on the screen the language becomes clear. Thank you for the video:) you are well versed in the material and a good teacher. Your passion for the material comes through.
I’ve always wanted to read Shakespeare (I’m not a native English speaker), but never got around to till I read and enjoyed, though with a bit of difficulty, Much Ado About Nothing months ago. I just bought a beautiful copy of Hamlet but I’m afraid it’ll be a tougher read. I came across this video of yours, watched till after your explanation of the Richard III passage and downloaded it. I’m so excited to finish watching this. Excellent so far.
Thank you G G, I'm pleased you enjoyed it. My I also say how much I appreciate your kindness and support in taking the time to comment. It really means a lot. Thank you.
I was watching the life Of The Canadian Pianist Glenn Gould and one time he was asked that if he liked any Shakespeare play and he said That his favorite Play was Richard II and i watched The Film starring Wilem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh in The Film At The Eternity's End he was asked what was his favorite Shakespeare Play and he said Richard II
I give my 7th grade English teacher credit for making Shakespeare unintimidating. I can't say I always understand it, but I'm not afraid of Shakespeare so I can get into his works and enjoy them
Brilliant! Taking it in parts is fine. Be sure to get through it all though. The latter part deals with a specific technique which you might find interesting.
Tristan, love your videos. May I make a small suggestion? You should consider getting a mic. The sound on many of your videos is very low. I think it would help your presentation.
Hi, this is so brilliantly delivered,Tristan. Really enjoyed it! Very effective, this has definitely helped me to understand his works in a different light. So thank you!
Great play then on the etymology of prophet and the semantic level of meaning to expire But let us not forget the double entendre on profit and prophet
Patty- I read Katherine by Anya Seton. John of Gaunt is a major character in that story. Katherine's love interest. He was such a powerful figure in that novel. I could still feel his strength of character in that speech, even though he was on his deathbed. I really need to reread that speech. Thank you for walking us through it.
I think Shakespeare was meant for the ear as well as the eye. 😀Hence I read Shakespeare sort of like how I read a modern screenplay. I try to imagine how the words will appear if they were a film (or something similar). As such, it's helpful to watch great actors deliver lines from Shakespeare (e.g. Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen). Or to watch a great Shakespearean adaptation like Branagh's Hamlet.
"His rash, fierce blaze of riot cannot last..." Made me think of another tyrant, one living in the Kremlin. And comforts me to realize this is the way of all bullies... he'll be defeated, & sink into ignominy... you're the best, Tristan. Thanks.
I think the most important thing is to pick a work that interests you. Not all Shakespeare is created equal. I prefer the war stories way more than the comedies.👍
Also for those listening to your analysis will realize the royal road to the unconscious and its sceptered throne of the superego when socialized becomes totalizing for a nation and claims a need to separate which is the bane of all evil
Shakespeare: greatest use of the English language ever Milton: second greatest My favorite: Tolkien, for storytelling (not the same thing; Shakespeare is an amazing storyteller too; I'm a massive Tolkien nerd) My favorite for language: Shakespeare Second favorite for language: Milton The only reason that I put Tolkien above Shakespeare and Milton: Tolkien's works are both serious and happy Tragedy is not happy comedy is not serious Just my quirks But I love Shakespeare and Milton! Read them aloud! Read poetry aloud! Also: Dante I know no Italian Have heard Dante recited while reading translation If you speak Italian Good God: Dante If you know Sanskrit The Ramayana As good as Tolkien for this Tolkien nerd!
