This document provides a humorous overview of tips for reading Shakespeare, beginning with an absurd introduction about William Shakespeare inventing a kneelpogo stick and laser. It then briefly outlines some actual biographical details about Shakespeare's life and career as a playwright in 16th century England. The rest of the document parodies a Shakespeare reading lesson, emphasizing the importance of understanding each character's underlying thought or "thru-thought" in their lines, and paying attention to punctuation to properly convey meaning and emotion. It concludes by encouraging patience and persistence in mastering Shakespeare's works.

1. How to Read Shakespeare:
William and the Scone
A long and meandering
presentation that goes no
where in particular

2. This is William Shakespeare
I am a literary genius!
 He is the inventor of the
Kneelpogo stick fearsome
before my and designed
visage!high powered laser
a You! The nerdy
looking kid!he used toawrite
which Bring me
dirty words on the moon.
scone!
 JK!
 Actually, William
Shakespeare is a 16th
century playwright/actor
(allegedly) responsible
for 37 plays and 154
sonnets.

3. You should know a little about
Shakespeare’s life
For Instance… last words? They were
My
It is believed Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in a town
Good friend, for was there, forbear
called Stratford. Although his residenceJesus’ sake,William spent
To dig the in London.
most of his life living and working dust enclosed here;
Blest be the man that spares these stones
And curst he that moves my bones.
He was a playwright, actor, and poet– a triple threat!
Now where’s my scone?
He married an older woman for money (Anne Hathaway), and
spent most of his years away from her in London. Shakespeare’s
rather cold relationship with Anne later influenced his views on
romance and marriage.
He had three children. His only son, Hamnet, died at age 11
(no, that’s not a typo!).
Shakespeare was one of the founding members of the Globe
Theater in London, where he continued to work and perform almost
to the point of his death on April 23, 1616.

4. Shakespeare wrote three kind of
plays: Tragedies, Histories, and
Comedies
Some famous
Tragedies
Some famous
Hamlet
Henry V
Romeo and Juliet
Richard III
Macbeth
King John
Histories
Some famous
Comedies
The Merchant of
Venice
A Midsummer’s Night
Dream
The Taming of the
Shrew

5. Shakespeare’s legacy is formidable—he
wrote some of the most well known,
most admired works in Western literature
However, due to the
antiquity of his language
and the sophistication of
his techniques,
Shakespeare’s works
are often challenging for
modern audiences.
Before reading his work,
it behooves you to heed
a few tips

6. Lesson #1 (of 1)
Shakespeare’s work was
meant to be read aloud!

7. Somebody volunteer! Read this
out loud!
Romeo.
[JULIET appears above at a window]
But, soft! what light through yonder window
breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady; O! it is my love:
O! that she knew she were.

Each time a character is
speaking, they are
presenting a single
thought, also known as
the thru-thought. The first
task an actor/reader must
accomplish is figure out
what is the main idea of
the speech—why does it
exist?

Read the speech again.
In your own words, what is
the main thought Romeo
expresses?

8. Okay, so you figured out Romeo’s
overwhelmed with love– the next step is
to read it that way!!
Romeo.
[JULIET appears above at a window]
But, soft! what light through yonder window
breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady; O! it is my love:
O! that she knew she were.

Shakespeare would give each
actor their lines about three days
before the performance. The only
way his actors could memorize—
and make sense of—the parts was
to figure out the main idea—or thru
thought—of each line of dialogue.
Remember, just because a line
ends, does not mean the thru
thought is over! Keep going until
it’s done!

Read this with passion! Like you
are overcome! You will find that
even if you don’t understand the
words, you still understand the
point of the dialogue because you
recognize the underlying emotion.

9. Next, pay attention to all the little clues
William left you to help you figure out
how it should be read
Romeo.
[JULIET appears above at a window]
But, soft! what light through yonder window
breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady; O! it is my love:
O! that she knew she were.
When you see one of these—”O”– do not
say “oh!” This is meant to be a cry of
passion, and is known as Ecphonesis O.
End-stop punctuation like
periods (.), question marks (?), and
exclamation points (!) means the
thought is complete. In other
words, STOP and breathe!
Commas indicate an elaboration
of the main point—they continue
the thru-thought in greater detail.
When an actor encounters a
comma, they should usually
pause, but not long enough to
take a breath.
Colons and semi-colons indicate
the initial thought is complete, but
not the thru-thought. They should
be treated like a comma—pause,
but just for a moment!

10. Now! Try this one! With more
belly-fire! good show! I’m
I say, jolly
First, figure out what
the main point—the
thru-thought—is!
 Next, read it from the
actor’s perspective—
what are you
supposed to be
conveying in this
dialogue excerpt?
 Finally, pay attention
to punctuation! Stop
where it’s necessary
and pause where it’s
suggested!

Richard Burbage,
Juliet
William’s favorite actor,
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
and I proclaim your
Thou art thyself though, not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand,drawer,
performance top nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging old dog! O! be some other name:
to a man. A real cavalcade
What's in a name? that which we yes! rose
of whimsy, yes call a
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

11. Be patient! Mastering
Shakespeare takes time!

Of course, figuring out the
thru-thought in each line is
your main challenge. It will
vex you. You shall tug at
your hair, bang your pate
against the wall, and shout
obscenities to the heavens.

But if some witless, lowgrade, borderline illiterate of
a 16th century actor can
figure this out, then, by gum,
so can you!

12. The End!
But what about the scone?!?