I was like this too. I had no interest in ol' Bill. Then I read his 'best' works. And then I read them again. It takes a bit to get really used to iambic pentameter, to the old words, to the places and people he was writing for, to his limitations of candlelight and lack of amps, etc.
Reader, it is totally worth it.
There are very many very good reasons that he is still produced and studied. I encourage you in this new year to give him a solid try. Not just a play or two. Read him and watch the plays at the same time. There are hundreds of productions on YT for every play of his, all free, most very good.
To add to this, Shakespeare might sound dry, but it's the same as if you read a screenplay instead of watching a movie; plays are meant to be seen, not (only) read.
Something else that might impact our current understanding is that we are not in their time period, so many things we don't understand might be specific to their time, even if we get the broad strokes and very human themes, such as love or revenge. It's the same as if someone 400 years from now saw the movies we put out, some things are just very specific to the time and place.
There's also the change in English and pronunciation too, of course.
I was like this too. I had no interest in ol' Bill. Then I read his 'best' works. And then I read them again. It takes a bit to get really used to iambic pentameter, to the old words, to the places and people he was writing for, to his limitations of candlelight and lack of amps, etc.
Reader, it is totally worth it.
There are very many very good reasons that he is still produced and studied. I encourage you in this new year to give him a solid try. Not just a play or two. Read him and watch the plays at the same time. There are hundreds of productions on YT for every play of his, all free, most very good.