The most dreaded moment of high school English class was reading Shakespeare. It was long, boring, and extremely confusing as a 14 year old. Shakespeare undeniably left an impact on English literature. His themes and relevance of his texts have transcended his lifetime. His writing style and format of his poems demonstrate his originality, education, and creativity. He’s arguably the most well known and influential author in the evolution of English literature, but I don’t think it’s necessary to read his exact works to grasp his contributions.
The main reason we’re taught Shakespeare and read his work is because of the themes and plot of his stories. That’s what teachers focus on because Shakespeare writes about universal experiences. There’s always an additional lecture on his use of iambic pentameter, but it’s always a waste of time. I don’t really know what iambic pentameter is, nor do I really care, and I’m sure the majority of students share that sentiment. The main issue that students have with Shakespeare is that it’s too hard to read. The language is so far removed from how we speak today that it’s like reading a foreign language. It’s tedious when teachers have to go line by line so students can understand what’s going on. I’m 20 years old taking an early British literature class and I struggle to fully comprehend the texts solely because of the language. How is a 14 year old high school freshman supposed to understand it?
I’ve heard teachers and professors say it’s important to read old texts to “challenge yourself.” But why? Doesn’t it make more sense to fully understand the text by reading a modern version of it instead of only understanding bits and pieces? Why am I trying to decipher a version of English that is not and most likely will never be spoken in? I think it’s stupid that I’m spending more time just to understand what the text is saying than actually thinking about and analyzing it.
I’m not saying Shakespeare shouldn’t be taught. As I said, he had an immense influence on English literature, but there’s a better way to expose students to his work. During my sophomore year of high school we read “Macbeth” as a comic book. It was so much easier to understand the plot when I was looking at a visual representation. Movies are a great way to expose students to Shakespeare. All of his most popular works have a movie adaptation. In 2021, A24 released “The Tragedy of Macbeth” with Denzel Washington that I also watched in my sophomore English class. The entire dialogue of the movie comes from Shakespeare’s play. It is identical word for word, but I was able to comprehend what each character was saying because I was watching instead of reading. I could gather context from the scene, emotions, and little nuances in the dialogue that helped me understand what was happening. There are so many adaptations of Shakespeare’s work. I think it would be better to analyze the similarities and differences of the adaptations and original work to see how they’ve evolved over time, such as how the author or director represented the main themes in their version of the story, and how these themes are still relevant in modern society. Students would be more engaged and would have a better understanding of Shakespeare’s legacy.
If students were interested in reading Shakespeare’s original works, those classes should be saved for upper level or collegiate level classes. 14, 15, or 16 year olds who barely read outside of English class shouldn’t be forced to decode Old English just because. They would learn more and retain the information if teachers taught Shakespeare focusing on the student’s understanding and engagement. The purpose of school is for students to learn. The majority of students hate reading Shakespeare. They get frustrated because they can’t understand what they’re reading, so they don’t try and therefore they aren’t learning. It seems obvious to me that the student’s education is more important than making sense of a dead dialect of English.
