To read, or not to read? From the classic love story “Romeo and Juliet” to “Hamlet” and many other works, Shakespeare has been taught in schools as an essential case study of timeless themes such as greed, ambition and betrayal. Students should interact with Shakespeare’s literature beyond just classroom settings because it explores humanity and continues to be culturally relevant.
Shakespeare’s work has profoundly shaped the English language because he coined and popularized words that are still frequently used today, according to Maryville University. Furthermore, he expanded on storytelling ideas that were avant-garde during his time, setting a precedent for structural character development and thematic shifts. For AP Literature teacher Alexandra Carino, Shakespeare brings a nuanced reflection of raw humanity to the classroom.
“Shakespeare is important because he was the first to do a lot of what’s influenced culture today,” Carino said. “There’s a reason people think he can’t have been one person. It’s because there’s so much talent and insight into human nature. So I think when it comes to helping students be empathetic and understand universal truth about human nature, he [understood] that first.”
Shakespeare’s nuanced understanding of human nature is one of the reasons why his work has remained relevant for centuries. Readers still connect with the ambition of Macbeth, the multifaceted grief of Hamlet, and the tragic heartbreak of Romeo and Juliet, so much so that modernized adaptations of his works continue to succeed commercially. Shakespeare’s stories are still used as frameworks for modern-day storytelling and extend beyond archaic text, as the commercially successful retellings continue to have a profound impact on culture as well.
“Shakespeare explores a lot of topics like misogyny and discrimination, and creates his characters to be really honest,” freshman Madeleine Chang said. “One of the musicals I’ve watched, ‘West Side Story,’ was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Shakespeare is incorporated into a lot of films, and it just shows how his work is everywhere.”
Some may argue that the complex prose and archaic jargon render Shakespeare’s works dated and inaccessible to modern-day students. Language has changed since Shakespeare’s time, and his plays often require extensive annotation for high school students to fully understand their themes and developments, which is inefficient compared to reading contemporary literature.
However, the difficulty of Shakespeare’s work is precisely why it is so effective in teaching students complex literary devices and analysis. His stories put his characters into complex situations that push beyond just good and evil and require readers to evaluate motives and consequences of actions for themselves, according to Oxford Scholastica. Furthermore, the references and plot points that Shakespeare’s plays contain continue to be culturally relevant, as idioms and phrases from Shakespeare are often cited in contemporary colloquial speech.
“A lot of students don’t realize the significance of reading Shakespeare,” junior Mackenzie Hattar said. “Often, it’s like history. We need to understand the reason why we look back is to see the patterns and how history repeats itself, or to appreciate what we did well back then and move on, similar to Shakespeare. It’s really important to understand his influences in literature and appreciate the aspects he’s put into it.”
The importance of reading Shakespeare extends beyond assignments in English classrooms, and understanding his work offers students tools and lessons that extend far into everyday life. His works, more accessible now than ever, are easy for students to access in order to gain valuable insight into life.
