OMG Shakespeare
by Brett Wright and William Shakespeare
It’s nearly impossible to escape grade school without being force-fed Shakespeare. The sonnets, the plays, the iambic pentameter, it defined our English education. While Shakespeare is taught as the epitome of fluidity, beauty, and poetry in language, have you ever missed the actual plot of the story because of this unique style? I know I have. I could read an entire scene between just two characters and have no idea what had transpired. It made the tests impossible without the frank and easy to read Sparknote’s "No Fear Shakespeare". However, now you can buy the most popular Shakespeare plays written in the contemporary language of the land; text.
You can buy such adaptions as YOLO Juliet and Srsly Hamlet at your local bookstores. It was a fantastic day when I found this hidden gem and I couldn’t resist buying it. I have no guilt because I have never before understood Romeo and Juliet so well. The book has group texts, abundant emojis, relationship statuses, Facebook posts, slang, and plenty of LOLs. For those familiar with social media, a book has never been so readable and entertaining. The whole series of OMG Shakespeare will help you understand the stories unburdened by the tricky Elizabethan language. Even if you have no trouble with the Shakespearian language it is still a very hilarious experience to see this adaptation in action.
Something to note is that with this cyber version of this text is that these books lose some of their power in translation. Language is a powerful tool and an emoji heart can never capture the full spectrum of one of the most powerful emotions had by humans everywhere. By moving Shakespeare to text the emotions and literary genius of the original text is subtracted. It is said that you never should break up through text, and the reason becomes viciously clear by examining the differences of language in the same story. When Romeo describes his love in the language of Shakespeare it bleeds through the pages while in text it comes across as superficial. It is a fascinating phenomenon that reveals the importance of language.
Even the most tragic of the Shakespeare plays becomes comedy in this format. Other than YOLO Juliet there is also Srsly Hamlet, Macbeth #killing it, A Midsummers night #nofilter. If the titles themselves don’t crack you up already, then I can assure you that the highly relatable characteristics of social media as used by Hamlet, Romeo, Mercutio, and more will. If the humor isn’t enough for you to give this book a try then I recommend reading it for the candid snapshot of one of the worlds newest languages. But remember this book isn’t evidence that social media is destroying language and romance because no matter what happens Shakespeare will still be forced upon future generations for centuries to come. #Fo reals
