Shakespeare. Yea, or nonny-nonny-no?
Rolly Dollar has asked the question - based on recent the recent experience of his son - of whether Shakespeare is outdated and needs to be replaced in the classroom. As he himself mentions, it is a subject that comes up quite often, with many voices on each side of the argument.
Having done English Literature at ‘O’ and ‘A’ level, I’d have to say that I’d take Shakespeare any day over the likes of Milton or Chaucer. Even over ‘modern’ authors like Austen or the Brontes - even Dickens. Even over a lot of comtemporary authors. I agree though that Shakespeare can be hard to get used to when you’re first confronted with him; for me Shakespeare didn’t come alive until after reading a play in class - and getting the historical background to it - we then went and saw it performed. There is nothing to beat a theatrical performance of Hamlet or Macbeth.
And seeing the plays performed (or, better still, performing them yourself) is an important part of understanding them. They are, after all, plays - originally written to be performed, not read. When you marry the words to the actions, however minimalist the production may be in terms of set design, etc, you really get an emotional understanding of the material. OK, the odd word may be unfamiliar - I never knew what a ‘bodkin’ was until I read Hamlet - but the context makes understanding easier. I remember seeing Merchant of Venice in a Globe-style theatre that had no set dressing, with an audience full of 12 to 14 year old schoolkids, all of whom were totally enraptured by the performance, and not having any difficulty following the action.
The films that have been made from his work tend not to work so well for me, in comparison to a live performance. They often are very truncated (understandably so, some of the plays are very long which doesn’t work for movie audiences) and I’m not a big fan of the modernised versions, although I agree they can be a good way to give someone a ‘gentle’ introduction to Shakespeare. Even Branagh’s full-text film of Hamlet (which I love) is not as good as seeing it in a theatre with real live actors.
Shakespeare has stood the test of time; part of that is the language he uses (once you understand the basic structure, it opens the door for you and shows you its beauty) but the larger part is story. He’s one of the originals, forging a path for those that came after him. I think It would be a mistake to remove him from the curriculum entirely, but perhaps focusing on a selection of the more ‘pacy’ plays would be of use. Along with plenty of live performances.
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