“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” Romeo proclaims in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. So, all things being equal, is Shakespeare without the words still Shakespeare? Take a look at this:
“Et tu, Brutè?” Not anymore. “And you too, Brutus?” is what students read in a new genre of study guides that modernize the Elizabethan English found in Julius Caesar and other plays by William Shakespeare.
These guides move beyond the plot summaries found in other study aides by providing line-by-line translations in modern-day English. Once barred from school, the new translations now are being used in classes across metro Atlanta.
Check out the full article on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s web site.
What do you think? Is modernized Shakespeare still Shakespeare, or is it something else entirely? Leave some comments!