By Bethany Venus The Royal Shakespeare Company recently announced that over 100 million has been gathered to transform the Royal Shakespeare Theatre into the best theatre in the world for Shakespeare.
This, remarked Lady Susie Sainsbury, chair of the international campaign along with Dame Judi Dench, "is a truly historic project. Meanwhile, KS3 students in Warwickshire, another part of Shakespeares county, have been questioning why Shakespeare is part of the National Curriculum; questioning why Shakespeare is still receiving such support and celebration, 391 years after his death; questioning whether he should still be studied at all. A typical traditionalist argument, as put by Robert Eaglestone in his study guide Doing English, is, That because everybody is moved and affected by Shakespeares plays, Shakespeare embodies universal values and has something to say to all people at all times and in all places. Anybody seeing or reading the plays feels that Shakespeare is speaking to them and their innermost thoughts.
Providing students the chance to read a Shakespeare play, which they might not otherwise do, allows them to hear what Shakespeare has to say to them. In contrast, Cultural materialists argue, class, ethnicity, gender, age, education and so on make a great deal of difference. Some people might even feel the text doesnt speak to them at all.
If students feel no connection with Shakespeare then this is one reason they would find it hard to respond to his work. It is indeed unlikely that, out of the entire population of earth, every single person will find something to like about Shakespeare. Not even all people alive during Shakespeares era loved his work so in a time when society has since changed, it is even less likely. The traditionalist argument cannot be supported by evidence however lovely the idea of everybody sharing a passion for Shakespeare is. This cultural materialist argument applies to every text, so why not study Shakespeare, which stretches minds into considering the use of language? Some students have complained that Shakespeare is dull, but the reason for this is very likely that they have switched off to the text because it takes more time to understand. For instance, the first line in Romeo and Juliet, Gregory, on my word well not carry coals. Would immediately discourage some students. An English and Drama teacher, Mr Song* responded to remarks about Shakespeare being boring with, His language takes time to access, but not due to any negative feature of it, the English language has just developed naturally over time.
When students find something boring they lose sight of the use in studying it. The language used by Shakespeare does have uses though. It demonstrates the use of old English and of Standard English. Standard English is necessary in the world of work and studying texts that promote using English correctly, and get students thinking about how to say things properly, is helpful. For example, in Act 4, Scene 2 of Macbeth, the Son asks, Who must hang them?
In todays slang this would be said, Whos gonna hang em?
The first sounds much more polite, and somehow more sensitive. British politician, Michael Portillo, quoted Shakespeares play Troilus and Cressida in a speech in 1994 to explain, how order in society depends on a series of relationships of respect and duty from top to bottom.
Yet how can students with a you cant tell me what to do attitude be expected to gain and appreciate this message from Shakespeare if they have not yet received and understood it from the influential adults in their lives?
As some say, The values we see in Shakespeare depend upon our own ideas.
However this works both ways. Many students may find Shakespeare inspiring and somewhat relatable. One student, Anne*, found King Lear to be so because, its about not giving up when times are bad. She also liked how in Shakespeares plays, there always seem to be a few characters that stick together throughout anything that happens to them. [Many of his plays look at] the whole issue of loyalty.
For every student having at least one reliable friend throughout the school years is extremely valuable and receiving messages of the importance of loyalty may remind them about being a good friend themselves. A very important thing, which students should consider, is that there are many characters in Shakespeares plays that are now our common ideas of magical creatures, such as the witches in Macbeth. Some of the witches lines are now common sayings hissed through warty masks on Halloween, for example,
Fair is foul and foul is fair
Hover through the fog and filthy air. And, Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. Wouldnt it be wrong to take Shakespeare out of the curriculum, leaving his creations in modern circulation but with future generations having little or no knowledge of the origin of these sayings and characters? *Names adapted from real names. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bethany_Venus http://EzineArticles.com/?Should-Shakespeare-Be-Studied-In-Schools?&id=559709 ambien canadian pharmacy
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