TOPIC: Why are we still reading and studying Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589-1613. And after 410 years since he put his quill down, our civilization is still producing, filming, printing, and reading the over four-century old scribbles from the son of an alderman glove-maker and an affluent land-heiress. How has Shakespeare's works remained so popular in so many circles? Not only is Shakespeare still required and recommended reading in most country's school districts, thespians still perform his plays enthusiastically on stage and actors clamor for rolls in the latest film renditions. Why?
It is pretty much agreed upon by the most prominent experts and scholarly academics that when Shakespeare penned his plays he basically borrowed from every source available at the time: history, various lore from numerous cultures, religious texts, and even from other fellow contemporary writers of his time. Despite this accepted truth, people remain engrossed and transfixed by his plays. Probably the most prominent reason his works still occupy our stages and our screens is because his works are still pertinent, still relevant in modern times. From current and not-so-current movies and television shows being based on his plays, from West Side Story (Romeo and Juliet), The Lion King (Hamlet), 10 Things I Hate About You (The Taming of The Shrew), She's The Man (Twelfth Night), Sons of Anarchy (Hamlet), and House of Cards (Richard III) to name a handful of productions (as well as individual characters being based-off of Shakespeare's characters, The Game of Thrones is really guilty of this), Shakespeare is forever in our culture, even when we don't realize it. And not just for our entertainment, Shakespeare's words still teach us something about the psychology of our time, about the consequences of hubris and desire, the dangers of black and white ambition, and the fruits of true human connections. His plays continue to speak complicated truths to everyone who encounters them.
Readers, lovers of stories (lovers of any type of story really) are often separated into two categories: plot people or character people. Now Shakespeare's plots are relatively simple and easy to follow, but his characters, his characters are extremely relatable and still resonate with us today. We identify and understand Hamlet's situational depression, Othello's jealousy, King Lear's fall from grace, Lady Macbeth's ambition, Macbeth's uncertainty, and even though his characters are mostly ancient, nobility, or imaginary, they are still familiar enough for us to connect with at higher levels of intimacy, and also, interesting enough to still fascinate us. When we add these powerfully intimate characters with Shakespeare's gorgeous language and themes of love, honor, betrayal, envy, jealously, fear, pride, lust, grief, a multi-faceted attraction is sparked. Besides being a man way before his time, with some of his themes and societal questions still heatedly debated today, he wrote about everything from gender, family, political corruption to fame, race, and class. He created timeless characters with timeless questions about life in general. Shakespeare's work appeals to a variety of audiences because interpretations of his themes remain univeral and timeless.
If you can't appreciate Shakespeare's allusions, plots, characters, or themes, in the very least you should appreciate his language because it is ingrained in our daily dialogue. If you've ever uttered any of the following phrases : “with bated breath,” “end-all-be-all,” “break the ice,” “knock, knock! who’s there?,” “green-eyed monster,” “in a pickle,” “tongue-tied,” “standing on ceremony,” “wild goose chase,” “cruel to be kind,” “hoodwinked,” “to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve,” “it’s Greek to me,” “the clothes make the man,” “forever and a day,” or many other numerous sayings, you have indeed quoted the bard himself. His ability to turn a phrase, to turn common phrases into sugary bits of delight is unmatched until this day, and we are so used to it by now that we are not even aware we are using his words on a daily basis.
So why do we still read, study, and peform Shakespeare's plays? I believe his work speaks for itself.
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