Why do we try to teach high school students Shakespeare? Teach them grammar, instead, and leave Shakespeare for when they’re actually paying to learn.
Another beef I have with Shakespeare: Little kids like Kate believe what everyone tells them, that “the greatest writer of all time is William Shakespeare.” First off, this ignores all literature not written in English. If this isn’t imperialistic enough, it also ignores literature inspired by God, and it seems to assume that because it was one of the most widely published non-Bibles when the printing press first started churning out mass publications (second to John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress), that it still must play a major role in understanding English. I’m sorry, but I don’t live in 17th century England with three books on my shelf.
Shakespeare wrote sonnets. Great sonnets. And plays. NOT BOOKS. Why do we read plays? They were meant to be performed. Ever wonder why it is frustrating to read a play? Because it’s not a book! When you say that Shakespeare is the greatest writer there ever was… I say, read something else for a change! There are billions of books in
existence, it is a shame when everyone is reading the same thing. Harry Potter might get kids reading, but if all they’re reading is Harry Potter, is that really expanding the minds of that generation? If we’re going to say William Shakespeare is the best writer there ever was, aren’t we short-changing someone who might actually be living today, who might actually use present-day English to do something beautiful? We’re so drawn to the past, the golden age, when half of the appeal of Shakespeare is how universal his characters are, and how human his stories seem to be. Why can we not do better? There must be some great writer alive since (or today) that has beat him. Otherwise, I think we’ve had our eyes closed for the last four centuries.
Kenneth Branagh redeems Shakespeare for me. Did you know he wrote screenplays and directed? I didn’t.
2 Comments
June 1, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Your disgust with Shakespeare makes me smile… I miss you and hope that Wisconsin is treating you well. Can you bring cheese over the border? If so, I’d really like you to bring me back some great Wisconsinite cheese.
June 1, 2007 at 9:43 pm
I shall check the US customs website before I leave. Cheese curds (or “squeaky cheese” as they call it here) for everyone!!!