Translating Shakespeare Assignment (Part I of Final Exam)

Translating Shakespeare (Part I of your Final Exam)

For this assignment, I want you to take 2-3 pages of Much Ado About Nothing and translate them into colloquial, modern American English.  The trick here is that (a) the meaning cannot change, (b) the characters and situations cannot change, and (c) your version should try, as close as possible, to use the same metaphors and allusions as the original, though you might need to find modern equivalents for some (ex: when Borachio talks about actors dressing as Pharaoh’s soldiers and Hercules in III.3, you could substitute a modern equivalent). 

When translating the pages, keep the following tips in mind:

·     You don’t have to translate it word-for-word; that is, you can translate 5 sentences into 1 modern sentence if it makes more sense to do so.  Try to be as literal as possible, but you don’t have to be too literal.

·     Keep it in play form, with characters speaking lines, etc.  We still want to read it like a performance.

·     However, you DO NOT have to use iambic pentameter.  Since we don’t use that anymore, you should translate everything into prose…but try to make passages of verse sound a little more “poetic” or “polished” than the rest.  Make us be able to hear or somehow sense that a different language is being spoken.  This could be the difference between slang and proper English, for example. 

·      As stated above, try to use make us ‘see’ the actual language through translation—update the metaphors, but try not to radically change them. 

For example, in Act II, scene 3, Benedick says: “Now divine air!  Now is his soul ravished!  Is it not strange that sheep’s guys should hale souls of out men’s bodies?  Well, a horn for my money, when all’s done.”  I might re-write this like so: “Ah, what beautiful music!  He’s desperately in love now!  It’s strange that just a few pieces of string and wood have the power to knock men’s souls right out of their bodies.  Well, if I were a betting man, I would put it all on music.” 

This assignment is an early part of your final exam (worth 25% of the final grade), so I want you to work on it early and have fun with it.  On Wednesday, December 3^rd (and on Friday, if necessary) I want to invite people to read their translations (or translations-in-progress) to the class.  You don’t have to, but those that do can win 5 points of extra credit toward their final grade.  So consider this a fun challenge and a way to end the semester in a lighthearted manner.