I have never sought out Shakespeare’s works intentionally. In fact, I think it’s safe to say I avoid them. I know – as a writer, this is blasphemy! Though I love the time period and frequent the Renaissance Faire every summer, the language of the time has always left me frustrated. How can I appreciate a play if I don’t understand the plot’s intricacies? The nuances? The double meanings that echo throughout all of Shakespeare’s works?

I decided enough was enough. No longer would I shirk from Shakespeare. His works survived centuries for a reason, right? I enrolled in a Coursera free course entitled “Shakespeare in Community”, which can also be found on Facebook and on twitter at @hackshakespeare. I invite you to join the discussions in those forums. Perhaps we can all learn something from the Bard.

Anyway, I’ll be posting my observations here. Most will undoubtedly be in response to prompts given in the short course, but feel free to answer the questions yourself. I am bringing Shakespeare to you by way of UW-Madison’s purposely chaotic Coursera course, which encourages us that this is no one entrance into Shakespeare, and there is no ending to Shakespeare, as we continue to revisit his works and learn new things each time. This is not an attempt to “study” Shakespeare, as we would do in traditional courses, but to “discover” our own Shakespeare.