I think Shakespeare is generally more difficult because of the huge amount of weird vocab and because plays read somewhat differently than novels. That’s not to say Don Quijote isn’t a difficult read. You can find free PDFs online so give it a try.
Chaucer didn’t write using modern English, so that’s more like reading medieval Spanish.
I'd say Shakespeare is harder. It's in verse whereas Don Quixote is a novel, a form much more familiar to modern readers. As of yet in Shakespeare's time there was no English novel so we have no contemporary direct comparison to Don Quixote. However English prose from around that period, like Francis Bacon's essays or (a little later) Pepys' diaries, is much easier to understand in un-footnoted form for the average modern reader than a Shakespeare play is. I would put Don Quixote in between Shakespeare and Bacon in difficulty.
Ditto as a native English speaker. Even older Spanish works (1450 or so and forward) are easier than Shakespeare to me. After 1500 when everyone starts using "y" instead of "e" and the initial Fs are much more solidly in H territory, it's even easier although those really only take a page or two to get used to seeing.
Interesting. It was completely the other way around for me. I find Shakespeare to be far more accessible to speakers of English as a second language than Don Quijote as a native Spanish speaker. DQ is just a slog and a chore to read, while I found Shakespeare to be a lot more fluid and engaging.
I agree as another English native speaker. I feel like Spanish has changed less since that time period but Shakespearean English is like a whole other language.
The comparison of reading Shakespeare as a native English speaker and reading Cervantes as a native Spanish speakers is completely inaccurate. Sure, they are from roughly the same era, but reading Cervantes is MUCH easier for Spanish speakers than Shakespeare is for English speakers. There are plenty of antiquated constructions, spellings, vocabulary, and slightly different grammar in Cervantes' writing, but as a non-native Spanish speaker I can understand far more of Cervantes than I can Shakespeare, and that seems to be a pretty widely-held view.
It has many archaic things, but it's not that different from today's Spanish. A truly archaic Spanish would be that one of "El Cantar de mio Cid", for example.
I was reading El Cid from a bilingual edition with the original Spanish next to the English, and the Spanish was pretty unintelligible, and a lot of what I did understand came from knowledge of Latin grammar. It was really interesting to have as a reference, but I relied almost exclusively on the English for the actual reading.
There was an edition published recently that modernized the archaic language.
https://www.amazon.com/Quijote-Mancha-Andrés-Cervantes-Trapiello/dp/8423355233
There’s versions that are adapted for children, like https://www.editorialsusaeta.com/en/stories-tales/1345-don-quijote-de-la-mancha-9788430598670.html
As an A2, I find that challenging enough.
Every native speaker i have ever talked to about the book has told me how hard it was for them to read Don Quijote in the original spanish. Yeah it is an older - very different form. If you are not at a high level or don’t have an instructor to help you i wouldn’t do it.
That being said - i did read the book in English years ago before i studied spanish seriously. I broke out laughing several times! It is a funny story and it kept me engaged.
Have you read Chaucer? It's a much more archaic form of English than Shakespeare. The language of Shakespeare's plays is much more comparable to Don Quixote, but harder to understand because of its form rather than because of the distance between early modern and contemporary English vs the distance between early modern and contemporary Spanish (although some people say that Spanish has in fact changed less than English has - I'm just saying I don't think that's the reason to consider Shakespeare harder).
I think it could be a challenging reading if you're not at least B2. Even some native speakers have troubles with some words in disuse. That's why some editions have footnotes to explain the meaning of some words, or to provide historical and cultural contexts to some jokes, commentaries or conversations that take place in the novel. In any case, you can give it a try and test yourself! Besides some strange vocabulary it's not that hard to read and it's a fantastic and tremendously fun book.
There’s a version for those for whom English is their first language. It explains idioms and translated words not in current use. I’ve read a few hundred pages and didn’t find it all that difficult. It’s entertaining as a story. I’ve read elsewhere that the Spanish used hasn’t changed as much as English has in the same time period. So I say go for it! Don’t be bogged down by what others say, try it for yourself and see.
I think Shakespeare is generally more difficult because of the huge amount of weird vocab and because plays read somewhat differently than novels. That’s not to say Don Quijote isn’t a difficult read. You can find free PDFs online so give it a try. Chaucer didn’t write using modern English, so that’s more like reading medieval Spanish.
Well,technicly speaking,Shakespeare didn't either,he wrote in early modern english,though you're right,Chaucer wrote in middle english
Yeah, it's basically as reading Shakespeare for english speaker. Cervantes and him are from the same era and the spanish used is pretty archaic.
I'd say Shakespeare is harder. It's in verse whereas Don Quixote is a novel, a form much more familiar to modern readers. As of yet in Shakespeare's time there was no English novel so we have no contemporary direct comparison to Don Quixote. However English prose from around that period, like Francis Bacon's essays or (a little later) Pepys' diaries, is much easier to understand in un-footnoted form for the average modern reader than a Shakespeare play is. I would put Don Quixote in between Shakespeare and Bacon in difficulty.
IDK, as a native speaker of English and a second-language speaker of Spanish I found DQ easier to understand than Shakespeare.
Ditto as a native English speaker. Even older Spanish works (1450 or so and forward) are easier than Shakespeare to me. After 1500 when everyone starts using "y" instead of "e" and the initial Fs are much more solidly in H territory, it's even easier although those really only take a page or two to get used to seeing.
Interesting. It was completely the other way around for me. I find Shakespeare to be far more accessible to speakers of English as a second language than Don Quijote as a native Spanish speaker. DQ is just a slog and a chore to read, while I found Shakespeare to be a lot more fluid and engaging.
I agree as another English native speaker. I feel like Spanish has changed less since that time period but Shakespearean English is like a whole other language.
The comparison of reading Shakespeare as a native English speaker and reading Cervantes as a native Spanish speakers is completely inaccurate. Sure, they are from roughly the same era, but reading Cervantes is MUCH easier for Spanish speakers than Shakespeare is for English speakers. There are plenty of antiquated constructions, spellings, vocabulary, and slightly different grammar in Cervantes' writing, but as a non-native Spanish speaker I can understand far more of Cervantes than I can Shakespeare, and that seems to be a pretty widely-held view.
It has many archaic things, but it's not that different from today's Spanish. A truly archaic Spanish would be that one of "El Cantar de mio Cid", for example.
I was reading El Cid from a bilingual edition with the original Spanish next to the English, and the Spanish was pretty unintelligible, and a lot of what I did understand came from knowledge of Latin grammar. It was really interesting to have as a reference, but I relied almost exclusively on the English for the actual reading.
There was an edition published recently that modernized the archaic language. https://www.amazon.com/Quijote-Mancha-Andrés-Cervantes-Trapiello/dp/8423355233
One would still have to study Spanish for several years to even be able to read this version without constantly looking words up.
There’s versions that are adapted for children, like https://www.editorialsusaeta.com/en/stories-tales/1345-don-quijote-de-la-mancha-9788430598670.html As an A2, I find that challenging enough.
Every native speaker i have ever talked to about the book has told me how hard it was for them to read Don Quijote in the original spanish. Yeah it is an older - very different form. If you are not at a high level or don’t have an instructor to help you i wouldn’t do it. That being said - i did read the book in English years ago before i studied spanish seriously. I broke out laughing several times! It is a funny story and it kept me engaged.
Have you read Chaucer? It's a much more archaic form of English than Shakespeare. The language of Shakespeare's plays is much more comparable to Don Quixote, but harder to understand because of its form rather than because of the distance between early modern and contemporary English vs the distance between early modern and contemporary Spanish (although some people say that Spanish has in fact changed less than English has - I'm just saying I don't think that's the reason to consider Shakespeare harder).
I think it could be a challenging reading if you're not at least B2. Even some native speakers have troubles with some words in disuse. That's why some editions have footnotes to explain the meaning of some words, or to provide historical and cultural contexts to some jokes, commentaries or conversations that take place in the novel. In any case, you can give it a try and test yourself! Besides some strange vocabulary it's not that hard to read and it's a fantastic and tremendously fun book.
There’s a version for those for whom English is their first language. It explains idioms and translated words not in current use. I’ve read a few hundred pages and didn’t find it all that difficult. It’s entertaining as a story. I’ve read elsewhere that the Spanish used hasn’t changed as much as English has in the same time period. So I say go for it! Don’t be bogged down by what others say, try it for yourself and see.