The Relevance of Romeo William Shakespeare, the man who’s works are read at one point and time by nearly all. The question is, should they be? Shakespeare was a playwright over 400 years ago. His portfolio of plays includes Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Tempest, and many more. He is known by a large majority of the world’s population, and he is considered a national treasure in his country of England. William Shakespeare is not relevant in today’s culture because of the changing times, the difficult language, and the unnecessary reason his works are still being read today. To begin, Shakespeare is not relevant in today’s culture because of the changing times. First, technology has changed how people think, as referenced by Alexandra …show more content…
Alexandra Petri convincingly states, “These are not works we read and see together as a generation or a country. They’re works we enjoy as a species.” (Par. 32). A large percent of the population knows and reads Shakespeare, so there is no purpose in getting rid of him. Stopping or limiting the amount of Shakespeare students read wouldn’t make anything better, and wouldn’t be beneficial in any way. This argument is wrong, because there are much better ways to honor Shakespeare than forcing children to read so much of his work, so early. Mark Powell explains this by stating, “If it's to preserve his national monument status, this is an unnecessary and counter-productive way of going about it. If it is to teach those things that literature is supposed to teach (…) then Shakespeare is simply not delivering.” (Par. 7). Students and teachers shouldn't have Shakespeare forced upon them just because it has been done like that for so long. If people really want to keep Shakespeare’s legacy intact, ruining his reputation in the minds of children everywhere is not a good idea, but that is exactly what the world is doing. This refutation, along with the changing times, and the difficult language, show that Shakespeare is not suited for today’s
I wonder how work that was written over four hundred years ago can still be so prevalent today. I remember reading Romeo and Juliet during my first year of high school, watching Othello my sophomore year, and the school theatre program putting on a production of Hamlet. I started taking my first college course during my junior year of high school and I was certain that in ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102 I would be introduced to a larger spectrum of literature. However, the broader variety still include Shakespeare’s work, and I found myself reading The Taming of the Shrew. So it is very evident that Shakespeare’s work has left an everlasting imprint and will be important works of literature for generations to come—this question is why?
As reported by Peter Beech in his article Much Ado About Nothing Much, Shakespeare is irrelevant to modern day society and should not be taught in schools. This is irrelevant because learning and/or analyzing plays can become time consuming. To truly decode the meaning of a Shakespeare play, the teacher will require time, patience, and full concentration from each individual within the classroom. Each learner has a methods of teaching that they learn more material from. Reading a play while having to constantly figure out what each line means can become very frustrating to the student.
When Shakespeare was a kid going to grammar school, a school open to boys only by the way! they learned Latin, Greek and rhetoric, persuasion through logical argument. Students read Latin and Greek writers to learn about the history of ancient Greece and "the glory that was Rome” and this material was translated by them into English or French after many hours of work. I'm glad the school curriculum of the 21 st century has evolved and we no longer spend our days doing boring stuff like that! Their old-fashioned, subjects that have little relevance in the modern world of the internet and space travel. The question is: shouldn't we allow our education system to further evolve and file Shakespeare in the same drawer where we've stuck Homer,
If one was able to look into our classroom, they would see the kids rushing to the whiteboard to try and get a part that they can read. Spots filled, they anxiously wait to continue on with the story. Then that person would ask, “Why would they be so excited to read something so old and outdated?” Well to answer, it’s because Shakespeare’s work is still applicable to our lives today. Shakespeare should stay in the 9th grade curriculum, because it strongly relates to today's day and age, keeps the kids in the class active and paying attention, and helps convey a strong message that everyone should follow.
In the words of T.S. Eliot, “We can say of Shakespeare, that never has a man turned so little knowledge to such great account” (Eliot). The works of Shakespeare are known throughout the world as classic literary pieces. The lessons learned through reading Shakespeare have carried themselves and remain to be true although they have been around for hundreds of years. The style in which William Shakespeare wrote has influenced a great amount of the literature that has been written in the more recent past-- books that are read throughout schools in the United States today. It is necessary to read the work of William Shakespeare in schools today, not only because of the lessons in his work, but to understand the roots of some of today’s literature.
In the grand scheme of things, it seems quite odd that the vast majority of people have decided it is important to perform, study, and read plays written by a man who has been dead for over four hundred years. This of course, refers to William Shakespeare. For many people, the mention of his name brings up a faded memorized line or two from high school, but his impact on the world stretches farther than the perimeters of a classroom. Shakespeare revolutionized the English language to the point where half the time people are blissfully unaware of the fact they are quoting him. Whenever someone says, “What a sorry sight,” or, “I’m tongue tied”, they are not only empirically unoriginal, they are spouting Shakespeare.
Many have heard of William Shakespeare, and many have seen or known his work without even knowing it was his. The playwright, poet, and actor was born April 23,1564. There has been a debate whether him and/or his plays and work are still relevant till this day. Shakespeare has a worldwide impact and his plays and their concept continue to illustrate the problems we are affected by today. Significantly, after first experiencing Shakespeare, many can already notice that he has the potential to speak out various emotions some cannot find words to express and experiences we encounter time to time.
Have you ever sat in class hearing your English teacher reading off some of William Shakespeare’s “greatest work” but not comprehending a single word? That reality is far too common among high school students across the globe. The question of “Should Shakespeare be taught in school?” is a controversial topic throughout the world of education. Some teachers say depriving students of these classic plays would greatly hinder their English education, while others believe Shakespeare is too complex and outdated to be taught in a modern classroom. Shakespeare should not be taught today because Shakespeare’s work is meant to be performed, not read in a classroom, and Shakespeare is so complex that sometimes teachers do not even fully understand the concept Shakespeare is trying to convey.
We should not study Shakespeare in schools. Shakespeare was a plagiarist, a bigot, and is extremely irrelevant. We need to focus on moving forward in literature, not backwards. There is so much literature around now that is relevant, inclusive, and diverse that we can learn about.
William Shakespeare is a renowned author, playwright, and poet, but some teachers are taking The Bard’s works out of their curriculum. This is absurd because there are so many advantages to reading and reenacting Shakespeare. Teachers should continue to expose students to Shakespeare because it is relevant, mentally stimulating, and relatable.
So today I can conclude in my own opinion that his poetry is still important in today’s society. We can say this because of his language, his popular stories, and his affect on students and how his work can fit into music, and make people feel basic feelings like love, sadness, and happiness and many more. There is no other poet like Shakespeare and he will always be important in literature and learning in schools, and for the world of
William Shakespeare has proved to be an important staple of the English language and modern literature. Shakespeare brought life to a monotonous time period using his writing talent.Through his life experiences and many accomplishments, William Shakespeare has brought entertainment through his many works, and forever changed the world of theater and storytelling.
Over the years, Shakespeare or also know as the Bard is “... gradually losing its force as the years go by.”( Robshaw 401-02). His plays doesn’t impact fear in the hearts of today's teenagers . It’s understandable with all the horror games and films. Not to mention that the problems from back then are way different than today’s problems. The “...Bard’s work don’t reflect cultural perspectives needed in today’s classroom (Deblasis). Shakespeare works may have been translated into 75 different languages, but that doesn't change that it originally came from England. Many things has change those past four hundred years, like the technology, education, even the classrooms. If one were to stand it front of a classroom full of kids, what would you see? Well, one may said that all they see is some students doing their school work, but there so much more to it. When you walk into a classroom you don’t just see some students you see hawaiians, chinese, and a few portuguese. This is a primary example to show that things have changed, and Shakespeare just doesn’t really interest the modern day
Every year in school, without fail, we read, study, and discuss a piece of Shakespeare. He is long gone – 300 year old news if you ask me – but yet he is still relevant today. Why is this? From beyond the grave, Shakespeare is still communicating his ideas every time a student is called on to read the next line of Romeo and Juliet, or another passage from Julius Caesar is assigned for homework. Whether he was actively trying to make a name for himself is debatable, but this does lead to another question: Why is his content still important? Although Shakespeare’s accomplishments in of themselves are noteworthy (154 sonnets don't write themselves you know), it’s not for that reason, necessarily, that we study his works. The underlying themes
William Shakespeare is one of the world 's most influential people to ever live. “BBC audience survey names Shakespeare as Britain 's Man of the Millennium.” (Andrews 2) Shakespeare’s works continue to be evident globally in modern society. Hundreds of years after William Shakespeare’s death, his influence continues to make an effect in the modern day English language, modern movies and film, and authors or artists today.