The Tempest Compare And Contrast Essay

William Shakespeare, the author of many famous plays and sonnets, once said, “Have more than you show, speak less than you than you know.” If this is the case then many people won’t be saying anything after trying to understand original Shakespearean writings. Thankfully for those people, there have been many more modern adaptations that are easier to read and understand. The English III class read through “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare. The three different version that were analyzed were the original text, the movie version, and the modern adaptation It was easy to tell by the way the class acted that the movie was most preferred, the modern translation was preferred next, and the original text was the least preferred. Each had some …show more content…
This adaptation was made at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 2011. Generally the video seems to be the best version as far as understanding goes. It was easier to understand how the characters are feeling and what they are supposed to look like. The actors in the play had practiced for weeks and most likely had a lot of prior experience with Shakespeare’s other works. Also the various visual and lighting effects help add to the mood of the play. The fact that Ariel was able to ‘fly’ in certain parts helped differentiate her from the other humans. One part that seemed extremely helpful was the opening floor. It was used well and often helped give a better sense of how Shakespeare imagined the scene looking. While there are many positives to the film there are still some downsides to it. One was that sometimes the sound effects would be too loud and cover up talking or other important points. Another issue was the fact that it used the Shakespearean words that are difficult to understand, though with the practice the actors had they were able to recite it fast enough and clearly enough that you could more easily use context clues to figure out what it meant. If the people in class would have had their lines memorized and had practiced them in advance the language might not have been so much of an …show more content…
It isn’t much of a surprise that the film version is preferred, originally Shakespeare was presented in a similar fashion. There are some who will believe that reading original is a better option than a modern version. There is merit in that opinion seeing as that Shakespeare was very selective with his word choice. If you take the time to read enough original it will most likely be the best every time, but for a group of highschoolers who have very little experience with Shakespeare the more modern version will be better for