Why You Should Fear No Fear Shakespeare

Written by Rose Helsinger

July 23, 2017

We’ve all been there. You’re assigned in class, or cast in a production of, a Shakespeare play you’re not familiar with. It’s incredibly easy to hop on the Internet and order yourself a copy of the No Fear Shakespeare version of the text. It has a side-by-side translation of every line. It does the work for you…and that’s exactly the problem.

In order to perform Shakespeare fully, text work is a necessity. Shakespearean text work involves an analysis of scansion, punctuation, and paraphrasing.



Paraphrasing is by nature, taking the text and putting it into your own words. It’s the most important part of text work as you understand and connect to the piece. This is what No-Fear Shakespeare claims to do for you. However, they never could because paraphrasing is about your own words. In using a No-Fear Shakespeare, you’re using someone else’s connection to your character.



An easy example of why No-Fear Shakespeare isn’t reliable is to look at the two types of paraphrasing. Literal paraphrasing is what the text is saying translated into modern English or “how the dictionary would say it.” Figurative paraphrasing is what the text means to you, the overall emotional ideas and figurative language or “how you would say it.”

Here’s an example of the original text to read out loud. Always practice Shakespeare out loud, it’s meant to be read that way. In Shakespeare’s time people were more auditory than visual. They would say that they’re going to listen to a play, rather than see a play. Try reading this out loud and see how it fits in your voice.

PHOEBE:
I would not be thy executioner;
I fly thee, for I would not injure thee.
Thou tell’st me there is murder in mine eye:
‘Now I do frown on thee with all my heart;
And if mine eyes can wound, now let them kill thee:
Now counterfeit to swoon; why, now fall down;
Or if thou canst not, O, for shame, for shame,
Lie not, to say mine eyes are murderers!
Now show the wound mine eye hath made in thee:
Scratch thee but with a pin, and there remains
Some scar of it; but now mine eyes,
Which I have darted at thee, hurt thee not,
Nor, I am sure, there is no force in eyes
That can do hurt.



Confusing and a little clunky right? That’s the challenge of Shakespearean text. In most contemporary plays the text does half the work for you communicating the story to the audience, however with classical text an actor has to work twice as hard to tell the story.

Now, try reading this literal translation of the monologue from No-Fear Shakespeare:

PHOEBE:
I don’t want to be your executioner: I’m trying to avoid you so that I won’t hurt you. You tell me my eyes are murderous. I’m frowning at you with all my might right now. If my eyes can injure, let them kill you now. Go ahead. Faint, fall down—if you don’t, then you’re lying about my eyes being murderers. Come on, show me the wound that my eyes have caused. If you get scratched with a pin, it leaves a scar; but my eyes, which I’ve darted at you, haven’t even left a mark. Now I am sure that eyes can’t hurt a person.

It’s less confusing than the original text. It’s a way to quickly understand the surface level and explain the metaphors. But, would anyone really speak like that? Phoebe is confronting the man who is so desperately in love with her, he’s pursued her endlessly, despite her shutting him down over, and over, and over again, but he always comes back relentlessly infatuated and after all this he calls her his executioner. The thing that’s missing from No-Fear Shakespeare’s version is the visceral quality of the emotions and stakes in the text. Phoebe is filleting this man’s hopes and dreams alive with her speech and the translation misses all the fire and passion in the text.



Below is the figurative translation I used for the show. Everyone will have their own paraphrase and that’s important. The way I’d say something isn’t the way you would say something. That’s the point, it’s forging a connection between you and the text. Try reading the paraphrase below out loud.

PHOEBE:
I am not your damn murderer; I’m avoiding you so I won’t rip out your throat. You think my eyes can kill: I despise you from the bottom of my entire soul; so if my looks can kill, then die: seriously, are you going to faint; then faint like the little baby you are; oh you can’t even faint for me, you get an L, you good for nothing loser. Don’t you dare lie and say my resting bitch face could kill a man! Show me then where did I hurt you: Oh God, I touch you, and you bruise: but jeez if my looks, didn’t try to kill you, and fail. So, clearly, looks can’t kill.

It’s clearer than the original text, easy to understand, and contains all the emotion and fire the character is feeling. The whole point of paraphrasing is getting out of your head and putting the text into your heart and body. You should feel something when you read it as it’s made to get you in touch with your emotions. Using modern day references and swear words are completely acceptable in paraphrase. The line “Fie upon thee! Draw thy rapier,” might mean nothing to you, but “Damn you! Catch these hands,” gives you something you can work with. One of my directors always said that paraphrasing was about hunting for the juiciest words that mean the most to you. It’s the difference between “I won’t hurt you,” and “I won’t rip out your throat.” The image of ripping out someone’s throat gives so much more for an actor to play with onstage and it’s everything a paraphrase should be, specific and juicy.



I challenge you to make your own paraphrase before re-reading the text below out loud. Read the Shakespearean text with all the inflections and energy you’d read a paraphrase with.

PHOEBE:
I would not be thy executioner;
I fly thee, for I would not injure thee.
Thou tell’st me there is murder in mine eye:
‘Now I do frown on thee with all my heart;
And if mine eyes can wound, now let them kill thee:
Now counterfeit to swoon; why, now fall down;
Or if thou canst not, O, for shame, for shame,
Lie not, to say mine eyes are murderers!
Now show the wound mine eye hath made in thee:
Scratch thee but with a pin, and there remains
Some scar of it; but now mine eyes,
Which I have darted at thee, hurt thee not,
Nor, I am sure, there is no force in eyes
That can do hurt.

Do you feel a difference from the first time you read this text? At least a slight connection to your interpretation of Phoebe’s emotions and carrying them through line readings is the entire point of paraphrasing.



I always say that Shakespeare is like a foreign language. The audience generally doesn’t understand the text itself, however they can understand what’s going on through the acting. Just like watching a soap opera, you don’t have to understand what they’re saying to understand what’s going on, because the actors understand their text and through their emotion, inflection, and action everything becomes clear.

That’s the problem with No Fear Shakespeare, it can give you a shallow understanding of the text, but not the emotional connection needed both to perform Shakespeare and communicate the story to a modern day audience. Before you buy a copy of No-Fear Shakespeare, at least give the work of paraphrasing a try. Whether you’re performing a Shakespeare show or just doing a class project, I guarantee you, if you don’t know what your character is saying, then no one else does either.

More Shakespeare? Yes, please!

Rose Helsinger is an eighteen year old writer from Florida. She’s majoring in Creative Writing at Florida State University and is on the way to her dream career of being a collegiate professor. She loves reading, Shakespeare, cheesy ’80s music, and her dog.