Paraphrasing Shakespeare

Within one of our first sessions, we were also given an insight into how to paraphrase Shakespeare lines to achieve greater clarity as actors.

What I learnt is that paraphrasing shouldn't be generalised and should take into account the meaning of every word within the line.

Here are some examples of speeches and lines that we paraphrased within the session:

Here are a few examples of my lines from the script that I paraphrased:

What I have learnt from the session and paraphrasing independently is that paraphrasing is just the first layer and step towards bringing Shakespeare's lines to life as an actor. It has been crucial towards my greater understanding of the text and what's going on, and has actually opened my eyes to some of the beauty of Shakespeare's language, but now I will focus on finding the intention within the lines, the rhythm/iambic pentameter and honing down the language, vowels and consonants when I act to give more colour to the lines.