Can anyone help me? I'm reading Lear and Othello for English lit and am just having trouble getting into it!

Any enthusiastic peeps re this subject, I would like to hear from you!

Try SparkNotes or something like that - they give you chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis so you know what's going on...

I got through my GCSE's and A-Levels with this site although obviously I'm not suggesting that you don't read your set texts ;)

Is there any chance you can rent these plays on video.......i found when learning macbeth that it was easier when i watched it on video

amber/x

Othello Sparknotes (http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello)

also. bit random but you could try renting the film O (It does have Josh Harknett in it but it doesn't suck!) which is a modern interpretation of the story.

abode full study guide (http://www.ums.org/pdfs/Studyguide/othello-sg.pdf)

sparknotes Lear (http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear)

Watching a film is a good way to inspire you to actually read the book / play, but please dont JUST watch the film - very often they can be loose interpritations, but may get you more interested in the book

You could also try Ran (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089881/) - apparently based on Lear!

There are some texts that you can buy now which have the original text on the left hand page and a modern translation on the right hand page so if you're getting a bit bogged down with it you can put it into perspective by reading the meaning in a more digestible way. Helped me through a few of Shakespeare's finest in school.

I will find out the people that do them this weekend when i go home and dig out my books and post it here for you.