Nope -- that's not what I meant. Jews read the Torah with close reading, poring over the meaning of every single word, every construction, every tiny detail.
Shakespeare, on the other hand, was writing under deadline pressure, re-writing on the fly, and chosing words for metrical value as much as meaning. That means that spending days arguing why Shakespeare used THIS spelling instead of THAT one is basically pointless.
It may be pointless with the Torah, too, but, at least, for that, we have the belief that it's G-d's Inspired Word, in which every word IS holy. Thinking that every word of Shakespeare's is Divinely Inspired is just a form of idolatry, specifically, Bardolatry. Which doesn't add anything to the plays, and makes it harder to perform them.
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Re: huh?
Date: 2008-11-19 05:11 am (UTC)Shakespeare, on the other hand, was writing under deadline pressure, re-writing on the fly, and chosing words for metrical value as much as meaning. That means that spending days arguing why Shakespeare used THIS spelling instead of THAT one is basically pointless.
It may be pointless with the Torah, too, but, at least, for that, we have the belief that it's G-d's Inspired Word, in which every word IS holy. Thinking that every word of Shakespeare's is Divinely Inspired is just a form of idolatry, specifically, Bardolatry. Which doesn't add anything to the plays, and makes it harder to perform them.