Lesson 55 Assignment – “Is it easier to read Shakespeare or the King James Bible?”

In my opinion, after reading the works of Shakespeare and various excerpts from the King James Bible, I have come to the conclusion that I find the King James Bible more intelligible and familiar in terms of how it was written compared to how Shakespeare’s works were. While I do understand Shakespeare’s style of writing, the King James Bible seems to use a more familiar yet eloquent and poetic vocabulary. One of the reasons for this I assume is because the King James Bible is one of the most popular versions of the Bible, and if often used and quoted during mass in different sects of Christianity which I was exposed to from a very young age. Both of these works use Early Modern English, which is very similar to contemporary English, so both of them feel familiar. We also must take into account that Shakespeare’s works are plays, and are written in a way to convey a story to an audience in a dramatized manner. There is a lot of vocabulary in both works that we hardly use in contemporary English, but a reason we understand Shakespeare to a certain extent is that of the story progression that lets us decipher the meaning of certain words through reason. On the other hand, the King James Bible uses very specific words that, if we do not know the meaning, it will confuse us and leave us confused as to what the statement meant. The King James Bible is the most important book in the English language and was translated by various scholars from a number of esteemed academic institutions, therefore it is bound to be rich and powerful in terms of the language used. As I’ve stated above, the reason the King James Bible is more familiar to me is that of the exposure I had to it during my younger years, so it is subjective for each person.