Does Shakespeare require translation?
Lost in the unfamiliar territory of 16th century English, my 15-year-old sought help on the Internet and found it: a translation of Shakespeare into contemporary language.
At first, I scoffed, insisting that if I had to struggle through Shakespeare, so should she. But as I explored the website, "No Fear Shakespeare," from SparkNotes, I decided it was intelligent and effective.
Here is their translation for Hamlet's famous soliloquy ("To be or not to be, that is the question"): "The question is: is it better to be alive or dead? Is it nobler to put up with all the nasty things that luck throws your way, or to fight against all those troubles by simply putting an end to them once and for all?"
If they read only the translation, kids would never know where famous expressions like "To be or not to be" came from. Still, if they read it side by side, as they can on the website, they may find Shakespeare more approachable than they had expected.
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