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Should Shakespeare still be taught in school?

Should Shakespeare still be taught in school?


  • Total voters
    42
  • Poll closed .
I would have them read ROMEO AND JULIET and then watch WESTSIDE STORY to show them that the themes and characters are timeless.

Yes! Excellent point.

...and the Chinese redid King Lear in an epic movie called Ran, I believe, and was set in a feudal period of Chinese history. Was twenty plus years ago that I saw it.
 
I don't really see why. She's not wrong, honestly. It would still be beneficial to teach something about Shakespeare, but probably either in history classes, perhaps a short look at his poetry, or in a field trip to actually see his work live. That's really how his plays are meant to be enjoyed anyway (and it's almost always one of the plays that gets covered in schools). Most of them don't read even half as well as they perform, in my opinion.

Old is not always superior. And so much has happened in literature since Shakespeare's day. If we want to make an honest attempt to turn students into readers, yes, we do need to be engaging them better. Many students today won't be engaged by Shakespeare, and not simply because of the differences in language. Also because the content is probably less involving to a modern mind. Hell, I think learning to read the original Beowulf (and that was some work, let me tell you) was more beneficial to me than Shakespeare, at that age.

There's so much great literature out there, and education should always be evolving. Just because Shakespeare has always been taught through reading it in novel form, doesn't mean it still should be in 2015.

It is important for students to understand Shakespeare's place in history, I think. But that's better achieved in a history class or in live acting than in making them slog through Romeo and Juliet -- which is frankly rather eyeroll-inducing to most younger people.

I love Medieval paintings. But the truth of the matter is that later artists were much better at portraying realistic and lifelike forms. So if I want to study realism, I won't be looking at Medieval art, which isn't the best in that regard.

Similarly, there have been many great dramatists since Shakespeare, and if I dare say it... some of them are better.
 
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He was an adulterer and should be demonized... he is certainly burning in Hell right now as a result.
 
to read or not to read
that is the question

and I answer it yes
 
...and the Chinese redid King Lear in an epic movie called Ran, I believe, and was set in a feudal period of Chinese history. Was twenty plus years ago that I saw it.

Just for the record Ran (War in English) is Japanese.
It was Kurosawa's last film and the most expensive japanese film at the time it was produced.
 
Just for the record Ran (War in English) is Japanese.
It was Kurosawa's last film and the most expensive japanese film at the time it was produced.

That's right...Kurosawa. I should have remembered that as I was in a Kurosawa movie phase in my early twenties. Thanks for clearing that up. :)
 
I am astounded that there is even a debate. He is without question the greatest writer in the English language. There should be no question.
 
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