Shakespeare's plays are notoriously challenging due to their dense wordplay, archaic language, and complex poetic meter. A recent study has identified "Antony and Cleopatra" as the most difficult play to comprehend, while "The Tempest" emerged as the most straightforward.
The research, conducted by scientists at ETH Zurich, analyzed over 3,000 European plays, including 37 by Shakespeare, written between 472 and 2017. The complexity of each play was determined by examining the relationship networks between characters.
"Antony and Cleopatra" received a complexity score of 83 out of 100, largely due to its more than 40 short, fragmented scenes spanning multiple locations and historical periods, coupled with a large cast. The study found that this play was 5.9 times more complex than "The Tempest," which scored 14.
Following "Antony and Cleopatra" in complexity were "Henry VI Part Two" and "Henry VI Part One," both featuring intricate political power struggles and numerous noble characters. In contrast, popular plays such as "Macbeth," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Hamlet" were found to fall in the middle of the complexity rankings.
On average, the plays analyzed had a complexity score of 11.20 out of 100. Shakespeare's works, however, tended to be on the more complex end of the spectrum, with an average score of 41.22. The study noted that complexity varies substantially across Shakespeare's oeuvre, with "Antony and Cleopatra" being significantly more intricate than most other plays, including those with even larger numbers of characters, such as Georg Büchner's "Danton's Death" (103 characters) and Ludwig Tieck's "The Land of Upside Down" (74 characters).
Researchers suggested that plays with fewer characters are often easier and less expensive to produce, appealing to theaters focused on practicality and profitability. However, many of Shakespeare's plays, which often feature numerous characters and complex character relationships, demand more from audiences and performers without necessarily hindering their success.
The study also proposed that quantifying narrative difficulty could offer insights into human cognitive capacity. The findings were published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
In related news, "The Arden Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's Language," a recently published two-volume, 900-page compendium, offers insights into the over 20,000 words and phrases used by Shakespeare. The encyclopedia highlights words that have fallen out of common use and those whose meanings have significantly shifted since the 16th and 17th centuries, such as 'dotage,' 'nag,' and 'adamant.'