# Any good translations of "The Complete Works of Shakespeare" into modern English? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016 "2014-06-17T21:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/1 "2014-06-17T21:40:02Z")
I have several times tried to read Shakespeare plays. The feature most people enjoy about it; the flowery, archaic, poetic, indirect language is the thing I dislike most about it. So I slog through, realise I didn’t quite get what that last character said, try to analyse it, realise I _really_ am not enjoying it, and give up. I would like to read through them [http://nfs.sparknotes.com/antony-and-cleopatra/page\_6.html](http://nfs.sparknotes.com/antony-and-cleopatra/page_6.html) has kind of what I want, except each page is so tiny, there’s no way to read a large chunk at once, and reading it that way is also too irritating to try to continue with. It also has the original text on the page which I’m not really interested in. Does anybody know of a good source for a well translated version of Shakespeare’s plays? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/2 "2014-06-18T01:40:32Z")
My preferred modern English translation is the one written by William Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/3 "2014-06-18T01:50:47Z")
You need a good annotated version, not a translation. Personally, I find Shakespeare hard to follow when his verbs and conjunctions get especially convoluted and disordered by current standards, i.e. “The crow by night flies the moon’s glow eager to call’d would were it so, not.” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/4 "2014-06-18T01:58:07Z")
It’s still readable. English hasn’t changed all that much. Someone once gave me a “modern English” version (a fucking travesty, thank you!) of Milton’s Paradise Lost. Unreadable tripe. Nauseating. Beowulf? Yeah: needs to be interpreted for most of us. Chaucer…hm. I could argue either way. But Shakespeare? No need. Give it another couple of centuries and we’ll talk. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/5 "2014-06-18T02:34:22Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Someone once gave me a “modern English” version (a fucking travesty, thank you!) of Milton’s Paradise Lost. Unreadable tripe. Nauseating. Do I grab the low-hanging fruit and make another obvious and unfunny joke? No, I will restrain myself and simply ask, “modern English?” What about it is hard to understand? Or did they give up on its pointless blank verse and put it into paragraphs? Which doesn’t hurt Shakespeare, either, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/6 "2014-06-18T02:37:00Z")
If you’ve only tried reading them and have given up I’d recommend watching a few - you might be surprised how much easier to follow and more enjoyable they are when performed (as they’re intended to be, of course). Live actors are great, but filmed versions are fine too - Joss Whedon’s recent [Much Ado About Nothing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk5kkLNPg8g&feature=kp) is a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/7 "2014-06-18T02:53:56Z")
You might be missing some of the rhymes and puns according to this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s)on Shakespeare in the original pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/8 "2014-06-18T02:58:23Z")
The beauty of Shakespeare is in the language he used. I’m not sure what a modern English version has to offer. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/9 "2014-06-18T03:03:42Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > The beauty of Shakespeare is in the language he used. I’m not sure what a modern English version has to offer. Singing and dancing, i.e. _West Side Story_. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/10 "2014-06-18T03:05:15Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Singing and dancing, i.e. _West Side Story_. A musical adaptation, sure. But to read it in “modern” English, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/11 "2014-06-18T03:25:53Z")
I believe that in the 1980s, the English director Julian Fanshawe Pitt-Cartwright-Ponce produced a number of demotic versions of edgy experimental theatre for the National Vic, making Shakespeare relevant for modern youth. Setting _Macbeth_ in a secondhand car dealership in Sarf London; portraying Hamlet as a skinhead; Coriolanus as a returning squaddie in a Newcastle High-Rise slum; and placing _As You Like It_ in a dockland warehouse. Maybe some of his scripts are still available. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/12 "2014-06-18T04:02:58Z")
In the Graham Greene novel _Our Man in Havana_, characters have to communicate in coded messages. The code requires that the two people each have a copy of a book- the same book, same edition. When they receive a coded message, they decode it by matching up a passage from the book. The book that the characters used was [Charles Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_Shakespeare). The main character was embarrassed to be seen with his copy of the book, mortified that anyone might think he’d be reading Shakespeare in anything other than the original text. [Looks like it is still available](http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Shakespeare-Charles-Lamb/dp/1492152285/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403063629&sr=1-1&keywords=charles+lamb), although since it was first published in 1807 you may end up having to start a Thread titled “Any good translations of Charles Lamb’s ‘Tales from Shakespeare’ into modern English?” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/13 "2014-06-18T04:05:18Z")
You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon. That said, there have been a number of attempts to retell Shakespeare’s plays in the form of prose stories, often for the benefit of younger readers, including those by [Mary and Charles Lamb](http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Shakespeare-Mary-Lamb-ebook/dp/B0082Z1QQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403063973&sr=1-1), [Marchette Chute](http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Shakespeare-Marchette-Chute/dp/0452010616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403063997&sr=1-1), [Leon Garfield](http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Stories-Leon-Garfield/dp/0395563976/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1K71H967AE9K88YHGXGS), and [E. Nesbit](http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeares-Stories-Readers-Childrens-Classics/dp/0486447626/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1K71H967AE9K88YHGXGS). On preview, I see **Bienville** has also mentioned the Lamb. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/14 "2014-06-18T04:16:04Z")
I studied Shakespeare in college. The professor loved the Sparknotes setup and highly recommend it. They do have a print version available. > **[Amazon.com: Othello (No Fear Shakespeare) (Volume 9): 9781586638528: SparkNotes,...](https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Notes-Shakespeare-Othello-SparkNotes/dp/1586638521)** > > Amazon.com: Othello (No Fear Shakespeare) (Volume 9): 9781586638528: SparkNotes, SparkNotes: Books ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/15 "2014-06-18T06:16:18Z")
And while we are on the subject can anyone provide me with a version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” translated into modern music? You know, just a doof doof beat, a synth playing the chords and some guy shouting the lyrics in a monotone? I find the original arrangement too hard to enjoy. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/16 "2014-06-18T16:28:04Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > You need a good annotated version, not a translation… This. The language is Modern English. What you probably are having trouble with are cultural references that don’t make sense. You are also probably missing over half of his puns. Consider Hamlet speaking of “country matters” when laying his head in Ophelia’s lap. It’s a pun. Yes, it’s that. Shakespeare’s mind _was_ really in the gutter _that_ much. Romeo and Juliet is basically a constant stream of sex jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/17 "2014-06-18T16:33:51Z")
Watching a good performance can help a lot there, too. An actor can give a slight overemphasis on the first syllable of “country”, or include a few lewd glares at appropriate points. Even if you don’t necessarily get the joke, you should be at least able to get that something dirty is going on. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/18 "2014-06-18T16:43:46Z")
Shakespeare was meant to be performed, and a play or movie is much more interesting that just reading it. Also, after a scene or two everything “clicks” and you begin to understand the prose without effort. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/19 "2014-06-18T17:28:36Z")
Here’s what I did in college (admittedly back in the stone ages): The school library had LP recordings (“vinyl” for you youngsters) of stage performances of many Shakespeare plays. I would get a listening booth and play the 33 rpm LP at 78 rpm speed, while following along on the page. It wasn’t so fast that it sounded funny, and you would get the meaning of the text through the actors delivery. Because it was faster than normal it was closer to reading speed. That way I was able to get through most of Shakespeare and understand it! SOooooooo…I have no idea if something similar can be done with modern technology. Can you download a recording of a Shakespeare play? Can you play it back at an accelerated speed? ? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016/20 "2014-06-18T17:40:41Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > SOooooooo…I have no idea if something similar can be done with modern technology. Can you download a recording of a Shakespeare play? Can you play it back at an accelerated speed? ? Yes, and yes. You could download free versions of Shakespeare’s plays from [Librivox](https://librivox.org/author/37) (or, I’m guessing, find them on YouTube), or buy professionally done recordings from places that sell audiobooks (like [Audible.com](http://Audible.com)). And, some software/apps/devices have the capability to adjust playback speed (Windows Media Player does, for example). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-translations-of-the-complete-works-of-shakespeare-into-modern-english/691016.md?page=2)