I know that the title isn’t exactly a new idea, but I think that it it true nonetheless. Today my son Daniel came into the room grumbling about Romeo and Juliet. He flopped himself on the couch and watched the news. I was astonished. He hated the book so much that he would rather watch the news.
“I can’t read any more of those hieroglyphic sentences. ‘Dost thou love me?’ Why can’t she just say ‘You like me?’ and save Romeo the trouble of decoding the words?”
“Thou asks thy question that hath been raised by many beforeth,” I said dramatically.
Daniel shook his head and continued to watch the news flash across the screen.
I don’t see why teachers make students read Shakespeare. Everybody seems to really hate it, a sentence alone can take up an entire class period, and the language is highly outdated. There are many books that are both exciting and that teenagers can relate to, but also have challenging language by today’s standards.
By immersing them in Shakespeare and other writers of his time, the teachers of America are, in the words of Daniel, “torturing students.” If there were modern books with a similar level of difficulty, that would be much better, and effort may improve. Why should America’s youth be forced to read six-hundred-year-old texts?
I also understand the advantages of Shakespeare. If you can figure out his codes, you could probably read just about anything. It also helps students learn to grasp difficult concepts more quickly. Although these are important skills, there are other ways to learn, as stated above.
My final conclusion is that Shakespeare alternatives should be thoroughly researched. I think that everybody would be happy, except maybe Shakespeare. But he’s dead, so he wouldn’t really care…:)
Hi again,
Well seeing as i’m one of those “common as muck” type people who is down to earth and speaks just common english language,including many ’slang’terms I have never seen the point in such wording.
It reminds me of the bible,no-one taught us to read hebrew because that was the language of the bible, it was translated into fairly plain english, so why couldn’t someone translate all those weird sounding words of shakespeare into the plain english language.
I’m sure modern day kids would be a little less resistant towards learning shakespeare.
Conclusion: Yes I agree that shakespeare is outdated.
Tony:)
Somebody should write a Shakespeare Simplified book with all of his works in plainer English…
Well, schools have children read Shakespeare because the plays are brilliant and insightful, not because of the difficult language.
The problem is in forcing kids to *read* Shakespeare. He wrote PLAYS! Why do they force kids to read Shakespeare when he intended his scripts to be performed on stage?
I saw a Midsummer Night’s Dream when I was a senior in highschool, after reading the plays for all those years. It was really entertaining, and I did’nt even notice the arcane language.
I left the play thinking, “Why the heck did they make me READ Shakespeare all these years??”
I was an English major in college and have had a lifetime love affair with the Bard. The reason he’s still read today are the themes, love, death, mistaken identity, etc. And phrases that pepper our language: It’s Greek to me, for ever and a day, for goodness sake, break the ice, even knock, knock, who’s there!
I think a compromise is in order, though. A direct translation right next to the original text would be appropriate, especially considering that Shakespeare didn’t intend for his plays to be read, rather performed.
I agree that it seems pointless and is hard to understand, but I think it’s better then how people talk today which is all abbreviations, brb… lol… nvm… Everybody talks that way now including a lot of adults. I think it’s much more benefical for kids to at least be making full sentances when they talk. Well there’s my two sense.
Shakespeare will never become outdated, because of what the plays deal with – human frailties and the human condition. His works are a nearly definitive testament to the subtle relationships between God and country, the man and his soul, and the concepts of the Divine and the Royal Crown.
While the fact that novices to his work can sit and enjoy his plays even today is a testament to his amazing talent as a playwright, the reason Shakespeare is read is because of the many subtleties of the text; society has changed much since Shakespeare’s time, and a lot of what The Bard alluded to is lost in mere recital. To truly understand the genius that was Shakespeare, you must study the written word.
Besides, you people DO know that Shakespeare is written in Modern English? Don’t you?
I can never agree that Shakespeare is outdated, his work and themes are universal and he should be studied on some level during education.
I do agree however that there are contemporary works out there which should be looked at and studied, but this should be in addition to or as a companion to Shakespeare.
Too much emphasis is placed on “classic” literature which just ignores the contemporary classics which remain unread or studied at schools or uni.