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SHAKE IT
Shakespeare’s use-by date?
Most high school students these days must study a period of Shakespeare, no questions asked. Look it up; it’s compulsory. Some say it’s a nightmare.
How many students groan and complain when their teacher announces the start of the Shakespeare topic? Why do they groan and complain?
Let me tell you: it’s boring.
That’s right. You’ve grown up knowing the name of William Shakespeare as naturally as you know the letters of the alphabet, but when you actually get around to reading one of his plays, it’s not about how famous he is; it’s about how the hell you are going to understand the gibberish.
When I first read Romeo and Juliet, I opened the book and I stared. And stared for longer. If it wasn’t for common sense, I would have decided then and there that it was written in another language.
Without our all-knowing English teachers, we would never be able to understand Shakespeare’s plays – at least, not without being named a disgraceful nerd.
Nowadays, you don’t say “I am a pretty piece of flesh.” No, you look confidently in the mirror and say to yourself, “I am sexy.”
Now let me ask the million-dollar question: if good ol’ Billy’s writings are, like, so yesterday, why do we have to study them?
How does Shakespeare belong in a world with actresses, not men in a wig and dress? Does he fit in?
I can practically hear the cries of “Hell no!” Don’t get too eager. They stumble that run fast.
It is very easy to fall asleep while reading Shakespeare. I speak from personal experience. It is very compelling to instantly label William Shakespeare as an attention-seeking old man.
Yet Shakespeare is renowned as the greatest writer in the English language. Is that why we study him?
One of Shakespeare’s most famous works is his play of Romeo and Juliet. It is the most well-known romance story even today.
Australian film director Baz Luhrmann produced a film in 1996, and guess what it was? William...