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Charles Lamb (1775-1834), friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge, and protector of his mentally unstable sister, Mary, is now best known for Tales From Shakespeare (1807). Written as a children's book, Tales From Shakespeare has long been praised for its clear style; however, because of the passage of time, the style may not appear very clear at all, particularly for children. The sentences are long and many of the words have become obsolete. Furthermore, the fairy-tale simplicity of approach can be a weakness. For example, this is how Lamb renders Lady Macbeth's death and Macbeth's reaction to it: While these things were acting, the queen, who had been the sole partner in his wickedness, in whose bosom he could sometimes seek a momentary repose from those terrible dreams which afflicted them both nightly, died, it is supposed, by her own hands, unable to bear the remorse of guilt, and public hate; by which event he was left alone, without a soul to love or care for him, or a friend to whom he could confide his wicked purposes.There's no mention of Lady Macbeth's sleep-walking scene or of the speech by Macbeth about life being "a tale told by an idiot." The sense of spiritual terror is almost entirely missing. Bottom Line: Might be helpful to read before you read the play. |
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