Is there an Edinburgh University student who was not force-fed, during their school years, the ‘tragic hero’ of Macbeth, the ‘daddy issues’ of Hamlet or the ‘star-crossed lovers’ of Romeo and Juliet? How useful is this predictable curriculum, and is it still relevant in twenty-first-century education and theatre? Shakespeare wrote at least 38 plays, and yet the same few plays are performed over and over again. Is it because the moral messages are stronger, more recognisable, or simply more easily dissected for class discussion? His legacy is huge, but we only access a fraction of it for the most part.
Given the recent controversy regarding the study of maths to the age of 18, it feels important that Shakespeare retains his rightful position as a staple of the GCSE and A Level curriculum. Despite this, the plays considered his ‘greats’, may have had their 15 minutes (400 years) of fame and should perhaps step aside to leave room for the moral messages of the lesser performed texts. Hamlet tops the performance chart at the RSC, Julius Caeser is currently running its fourth twenty-first-century production, the third only in 2017, while The Two Gentlemen of Verona went 45 years without a performance. The plots of his plays may be convoluted, but his themes are simple; love, death, ambition, greed, and power, to name a few. All are as relevant and relatable today as they were when they were written.
Without a doubt, Shakespeare’s greatest influence and contribution is to the English language. Four hundred years ago, one man created around 1,700 new words, which are still used in today’s vernacular. He took hold of language and made it his own, utilising this skill to teach us about the importance of communication and how to be playful with meaning, some of his catchiest and wisest being:
‘The course of true love, never did run smooth.’
‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.’
‘If you prick us do we not bleed?’
Shakespeare wrote his plays for the watching eye and the listening ear. Even those who profess no interest in ever seeing a performance of one of his original plays will have seen, perhaps without realising it, his plots plundered by movie makers; ‘West Side Story’, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’, ‘The Lion King’. These films have effectively and subliminally introduced a younger generation to, if not the written mastery, then at least the elaborate plots of the world’s greatest playwright.
In a world where we ought to be more tolerant, his works can be a device. A play such as The Merchant of Venice highlights Anti-Semitic injustices and plays host to one of Shakespeare’s most powerful female characters in Portia, yet is rarely performed or taught in schools. Curriculums should not shy away from such texts because they fear the contemplation of more problematic themes of religious intolerance, while the easy war hero of Macbeth is always an option. These texts, and the pervasive language embodied within them, can be our most useful tool to foster values of inclusivity and acceptance among malleable 15-year-old students.
The influence of Shakespeare today undeniably hinges upon his mastery of the English language and its permeation into our speech centuries on. Additionally, our continued study of his works illustrates this enduring legacy better than anything. However, it feels the time has come to utilise his influence for a greater good than the ease of teachers, tackling the more ‘challenging’ themes he has supplied us with and thus removing the comfort blanket of the Spark Notes GCSE classics.
Image Credit: “William Shakespeare, Stratford-Upon-Avon” by subherwal is licensed under CC BY 2.0.