Shakespeare in the Bush

Sidney Rogers 3^rd

Shakespeare In The Bush

Laura Bohannan

The general argument made by Laura Bohannan in her work Shakespeare In The Bush is that Hamlet is something that everyone can understand, but may need special interpretations for any specific group of people. Yet this can bring about a different interpretation from its original context. More specifically, Bohannan suggests that the concepts of Shakespeare’s Hamlet are concepts all cutlers experience. Such as their views on death and  the afterlife.  She writes, “My audience looked as confused as I sounded .” (page 31) Shows that not only did she not know how to explain Hamlet, many were confused by the story. In this passage, Bohannan is suggesting that with the right interpretations to a complex writing style such as Hamlet, even people unfamiliar with it can begin to understand. In conclusion, it is Bohannan’s belief that even when trying to make something complex, easy to understand, it can still be misinterpreted.

In my View, Bohannan is wrong because not everyone picks up on the same meaning from a story, especially one as confusing as Hamlet. For example I speak English and have a hard time myself interpreting Shakespeare. Even when given word substitutions, the meaning can sometimes be lost or simply viewed differently. Although Bohannan might object that people can eventually begin to understand, I maintain that being able to pin point the underlying meaning of a story such as this one is a hard skill to acquire and not just anyone can understand it. Therefore, I conclude that it is a little unreasonable to get so frustrated when people who speak a foreign language do not understand something you are trying to explain, when many English speaking people themselves do not fully understand.