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Why do Shakespeare's plays are considered difficult for modern students to understan?

User Dilettant
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Answer:

It is because of these semantic changes that we have difficulty understanding Shakespeare. As speakers of modern English, sometimes we even misunderstand Shakespeare because the words or phrases that he used have different meanings in the English of our age. For example, the word silly originally meant blessed, but now it means foolish.

Even educated people, though it’s hard for them to admit, have a difficult time grasping the meaning of Shakespeare’s language. If someone has to process the language of Shakespeare at a different pace from their everyday normal English, it is not because they are ignorant or do not have a proficient grasp of their mother tongue.

User Alpesh
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Shakespeare twists the language.

User Olya
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