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by e12e
1018 days ago
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If you've already determined the text is interesting to the modern reader, why rewrite? Wouldn't it make more sense to look for texts that are thematically relevant, but with inaccessible language - and rewrite those? I still shudder to think how this system will handle something like Shakespeare's sonnets... |
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Midsummer Night's Dream:
THESEUS Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour Draws on apace; four happy days bring in Another moon: but, O, methinks, how slow This old moon wanes! she lingers my desires, Like to a step-dame or a dowager Long withering out a young man revenue.
HIPPOLYTA Four days will quickly steep themselves in night; Four nights will quickly dream away the time; And then the moon, like to a silver bow New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night Of our solemnities.
Rewritten:
THESEUS Now, dear Hippolyta, our wedding day is approaching quickly. In just four more happy days, a new moon will arrive. But oh, it feels like this current moon is taking forever to disappear! It's holding back my excitement, like an old, slow stepmother or a widow who keeps a young man's money for far too long.
HIPPOLYTA Don't worry, Theseus. Four days will pass by in no time, and then four nights will also quickly slip away. After that, the new moon will shine brightly in the sky, like a freshly bent silver bow, and it will witness the night of our special celebration.
Hmm. Shakespeare is the extreme case. It does make it more accessible. The style is lost. shrug