Why Tolkien Hated Shakespeare

To be fair, Tolkien probably thought it was all downhill for English literature from the Norman conquest onwards.

Should be retitled "why Tolkien sorta disliked Shakespear a bit sometimes".

He didnt hate Shakespeare. He may have taken issue with how the prophecy played out in Hamlet, not the same thing as hating Shakespeare.

"I don't like this, it should be like this" is pretty much the basis for anyone to create something new or interesting.

I think it's mostly sour grapes because Shakespeare wrote a terrible review of The Lord of the Rings.

Overwriting the whimsical view on Elves and Dwarfs in our culture is probably one of his biggest archievements.

My feed is flooded with videos about all the writers Tolkien hated. I wouldn't think too much about it.

"To Ring or not to Ring, that is the question" - Sauron Probably

If you write literature, poetry or theater in English, whether you know it or not you were influenced by William Shakespeare. Literally; when Shakespeare started writing English grammar & spelling still weren’t standardized and his use of language helped shape our vocabulary, spelling, grammar and manner of speaking. This is in addition to creating what we think of as modern plot structure and character archetypes, pioneering many of the techniques that are now essential to theater and creating new poetic styles. Tolkien was a once in a generation literary mind, but Shakespeare was truly a once in a millennium sort of storyteller if not rarer.

I think the loophole prophecies in Macbeth work because we get to see Macbeth's arrogance beforehand. He is undone and undone cruelly and cheaply by fate. In contrast, we never look inside the Witch King's mind like we Macbeth, so cheap loopholes would carry no sting and would just look, well, cheap. Both prophecies work in both stories because they fit the essence of either story.

Tolkien about Shakespeare: needed more trees and less people

To paraphrase Cunk on Shakespeare, Shakespeare had it much easier in school because he didn’t have to learn Shakespeare. But it is interesting to learn about Tolkien’s take on Shakespeare. I would love to know what he thought of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus because that is sooooooo dark and messed up.

It’s incredible to consider that Tolkien’s influence has been so great that his versions of Elves and Dwarves have supplanted both Shakespeare’s and Disney’s respective interpretations in the public imagination. No mean feat!

Tolkien thought that Shakespeare's plays work better as performed than as just read? I doubt that Shakespeare himself would have disputed that! Shakespeare never intended for his plays to be read as literature, he wrote them to be performed on stage!

As always, Tolkein articulated his opinions clearly

“Why Tolkien had a reasonable and thoughtful critique about Shakespeare’s way of handling fantasy, and a few of the resolutions to his stories.” I guess that title would be a little too long, but what would’ve been more accurate and less inflammatory is “Tolkien’s Problem with Shakespeare”

The great Tolkiens objection to the trees of Burnham Woods being cut down and moved is silly. The whole point of MacBeth not taking that prophecy serious was the common view that trees are fixed in place and can not walk. If MacBeth lived in a world where trees could move then there would be no reason for him to let his guard down regarding that prophecy.

If Shakespeare didn’t make the cut then it makes a little more sense why he didn’t like Narnia

Tolkien seems to have hated everyone who wasn't him

What didn't Tolkien hate?