Is Shakespeare still relevant today?
As we collectively celebrate, arguably the most famous bard's birthday (23 April), our English Literature Subject Officer, Julia Harrison discusses why the work of William Shakespeare remains relevant today, with themes that resonant with us all.
Almost every article which tries to answer the question, ‘Is Shakespeare still relevant today?’ begins with an overview of how Shakespeare’s words and phrases have permeated our everyday language. Without Shakespeare we could not wait with ‘bated breath’ or ‘refuse to budge an inch’, we could not inhabit ‘A Brave New World’ (which would also have scuppered a certain Aldous Huxley) and (this one is not for the ‘faint-hearted’) ‘the game is up’ because we could no longer be ‘fancy-free’, ‘in one foul-swoop’ all of those phrases would not have been coined. Well, not by Shakespeare anyway!
There is no doubt that Shakespeare was a master wordsmith and that he was able to paint a picture with his quill that few writers before or since have equalled let alone bettered. But is he still relevant today? Why should today’s GCSE candidates study his works? Both our WJEC English Literature GCSE specification in Wales and our Eduqas GCSE 9-1 English Literature specification in England have the requirement to study an entire Shakespeare text. Candidates in Wales can choose which text they would like to study (with the exception of Othello and Much Ado about Nothing as they are examined and on the set text list) as part of their Unit 3 Non-Examination Assessment. Candidates in England are required to study a whole play as part of their closed text Component 1 exam and there are five plays from which to choose; Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Much Ado about Nothing, The Merchant of Venice or Henry V. Now the more cynical amongst you may point out that Awarding Organisations have to include the Shakespeare element, it is given to us by our respective regulatory body/government and it is not open to discussion.
Technically, of course, those people would be correct. However as the English Literature Subject Officer and having taught Shakespeare to various classes over my 15 year teaching career I would say that in this instance, the powers that be that guide us as to the content of the specification, have got it right.
To many candidates when they first open the play that they are going to study, Shakespeare appears hard, I’m not going to sugar coat that. This is especially true if candidates haven’t been exposed to Shakespeare through Key Stage 2 and 3. Year 10 can look aghast at the words on the page in front of them, they may think that it is a ‘foreign language’ or ‘Old English’ which they need to translate. They can let the look of the language overwhelm them. But there are some important points to remember when bringing the plays alive in the classroom. They were written to be performed, to draw in an audience so there may be parts of the language that are hard to understand at first but the stories, oh the stories, they are the key to unlock the language.
Is love still relevant? Do families still fight? Do politicians still scheme and does ambition still make good people do terrible things? Is there still a place for a little bit of magic in our lives and are the relationships that we have with our best friends still important? Do any of you still believe in fairies? Do you ever feel alienated from the world around you? Do you feel other, outside of society? Do you want to read about strong women and flawed Kings? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’ then Shakespeare's plays are still relevant today.
Aside from accessible themes and timeless relevance, another unique feature of Shakespeare is the vast numbers of ways there are to stage and present his plays and the characters within them. Take Macbeth for example, which is set in 11th Century Scotland. I have seen his 3 witches staged as faceless shapes draped in blood-stained cloth twisting around and around. I’ve seen them portrayed as army generals marching into war; as 3 male dustbin drivers with the landfill as their blasted heath;
as singing showgirls and perhaps the creepiest version, as 3 small children suspended on swings hanging high above the stage.
A good director can tap into this versatility so even though the stories may be originally set in specific locations and times, the modern interpretations of them are ever changing and often cutting edge. Perhaps one of the most famous examples of this is Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet where the characters hurtle along Venice Beach to the inevitable and terrible conclusion set under a crumbling Proscenium Arch.
There is also something inherently satisfying about working hard at a text which will then give students such rich rewards. One of my Principal Examiners told me that she used to teach King Lear to her year 7 mixed ability classes and they loved it.
As teachers we need to be brave, we need to trust in Shakespeare, trust in the power and eternal relevance of a good story and the rest will all follow.
