Shakespeare’s writing contains many passages where the phrasing and language is obscure or incomprehensible to modern ears. When he is translated into other languages, do the translators reproduce the obscurities or smooth out the difficulties? For instance, when Ophelia talks of someone who “recks not his own rede” or Enobarbus says of Cleopatra that the priests bless her when she is “riggish”, do translators pick equally archaic words to convey the sense or choose modern equivalents? And does this mean Shakespeare is easier to read if you’re not an English speaker?
Tig Thomas
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