I want the Bees to be acquainted with his plays and the main themes associated with some of them. Perhaps not with the complex language that they probably would not be able to understand now. But definitely with him and some of his signature plays.
And the beautiful element of this book is that the writers simplified his old 15 century English into easy language just for children - complete with such enchanting illustrations that captivated the Bees! There are, however, pockets of legendary Shakespearean verses highlighted within the illustrations, and I do read those to them, much to their bafflement. However, I just asked them to enjoy the bewitching rhymes in his lilting iambic pentameters. And they did.
An example (let me indulge myself!):
But soft! What light through
Yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
To which Big Bee gave me a bewildered look and uttered, "I don't understand what you are reading!". Haha!
On Friday night, I started reading my favourite Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, to the Bees, uncertain of their reaction to archaic character portrayals and plots. To my pleasant surprise, they were both transfixed. Last night, as I continued my readings, they would not allow me to stop even after I had read a few chapters, until I had to coax them to hold on to their anticipation and wait for tonight.
There was another key reason why I stopped reading Romeo and Juliet last night too. For those of you familiar with the particular play, you would know its tragic ending. I suddenly realised that the ending may not be suitable for little kids, and now I am wrecking my brain on how to address the ending tonight! Do I make up an alternative ending for the Bees (not a wise choice)? Do I gloss over the ending quickly (still tragic)? Do I skip through the final chapters? Do I proceed to another happier play like A Midsummer Night's Dream? Incidentally, there is also Macbeth in the same book! Anyway, the Bees are now hooked to Romeo's and Juliet's story, and had explicitly persuaded me to read tonight.
What do you think?
In the meanwhile, I had better go hide the book. Big Bee had jovially expressed that she would be sneaking out the book to read herself!
5 comments:
Heh expose them to the cruelty early keke. Anyway, girls mature earlier than boys. Maybe still a wee bit early for Annette ; (
I would keep to the original ending and take the opportunity to explain the lessons to learn. If I were to read to M, I know he would cry buckets at the tragic ending. :>
I would keep the ending too. Had read some stories with sad endings like The little Match Girl and The little Mermaid (where the mermaid killed herself out of love in the end) and strangely enough, Mandy was captivated by these stories with tragic endings and would ask me to read over and over.
read the original ending...then watch Gnomeo & Juliet with them :) http://www.gnomeoandjuliet.com/ i think the movie simplified the story a little. And its rather cute too!
viv: Thanks - yes, I had been reinforcing to them last night that these days, we practise free love, and I emphasised to them - do not run away and get married secretly these days, must always tell Mummy and Papa and we will approve of their choices, haha!
Shirley: Thanks! Yes, Nicole will also cry buckets and will have trouble sleeping. She read a book with a tragic ending last week and could not sleep till midnight, so I am trying not to add onto her "sadness". Sigh, why did I choose this play to start with!? But yes, I will definitely explain the lessons learned :)
K: Mandy is like a Victorian heroine who likes tragic endings! She will love Shakespeare too, with all his sad endings ;)
wan: Thanks for popping by and leaving a comment :) And your suggestion of watching Gnomeo and Juliet after that is wonderful - kinds of lighten up the sombriety of the plot! I heard it is a good show :)
All: I generally do not have problems telling sad tales. But the ending of 2 young lovers killing themselves for love in Romeo and Juliet is what bothered me. And when I checked on the ending of the story, they illustrated the knife they used to stab themselves on top of blood flowing out. Yikes, a little too graphic for kids, don't you think so? But I will gloss over the last 2 pages swiftly tonight :)
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