Cesorship of the Works of William Shakespeare
Why have the works of Shakespeare been censored?
William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous and respected author ever to write in the English language. His plays have been read by millions and watched, both on stage and on screen, by billions of people worldwide. Yet, his works have provoked censorship ever since their writing--even before their first performance on stage. Why? The reasons for censorship are nearly as varied as the works themselves; however, unlike Shakespeare's works, the reasons for their censorship have changed significantly over time.
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., defines censorship as "the institution, system, or practice of censoring" (185). The same dictionary defines "censor" as "to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable." In this paper, I will generally use the above definition of censorship. The "works of Shakespeare" I will deal with will be the plays of the First Folio, as well as Pericles, and the Sonnets. This is the standard used in most modern Shakespeare compilations.
Censorship Pre-1660: Politics and Profanity
While
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However, Shakespeare is in some ways little different from these "avant-garde" works. In fact, in Epstein's book, David Nields states that "Those who praise Shakespeare and condemn, say, Robert Mapplethorpe, certainly don't know Shakespeare" (117). As well, Epstein states that many who object to obscenity in "modern" music overlook Shakespeare's bawdiness (118). Perhaps Shakespeare is lucky that he lived and wrote in the Elizabethan era, when standards of censorship were different, and not today. According to Fowell and Palmer (328), "What is to convince us that some Censor has not already contemptuously snuffed out a smaller
Houchin, John H. Censorship of the American Theatre in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2003.
Perkins, Geroge, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th ed. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
Davidson, Cathy N. Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America. New York: Oxford, 1986.
Perkins George, Barbara. The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
Sopher, Christopher. “How We Get Hammered: The European vs. U.S. Drinking Age.” thenextgreatgeneration.com. 28 July 2010. Print.
Without a doubt, the United States has been facing serious national problems with underage drinking. Depending on personal ideologies, some people might not agree that the current minimum drinking age of twenty-one is based on scientific facts rather then ideology of prohibitionism. For example, since 1975 over seventeen thousand lives have been saved since the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) was changed to age twenty-one (Balkin 167). This shows that even over a short amount of time, a higher MLDA helps decrease the risk of teen suicides, accidents and overdose deaths. However, this widely debated topic has inevitably brought attention to the plethora of supporting and opposing viewpoints. The minimum legal drinking age of twenty-one has shown significant results in the prevention of accidents and death studies across the board. Accordingly, the MLDA should remain at the current age of twenty-one.
When I first read Romeo and Juliet, I thought I was reading the "real" version. Nowhere did it say that this was an abridged version of the classic, and little did I question what was written in my textbook. I look upon it now, and realize exactly how censored it is. Then I realized how much of it they spoon-fed me and how I believed it all. The textbook from which the ninth graders of this town read has many censored passages.
There has been an ongoing controversy in the United States on whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen like most of the world or if it should stay at twenty-one. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue for years, yet why is it not under control? Teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol with fake identification cards, drink, get into bars, and drink illegally. As a teen I have proof that these things are going on not only in college but in high school as well. There are a lot of factors that come together to why the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen; the most obvious reason is too many people are drinking before they are twenty-one. Liquor stores, bars, and clubs all want to make money and if they can get away with selling to underage teens then they will. A study done by the Academic Search Premier agrees that, ?By now it is obvious that the law has not succeeded in preventing the under-21 group from drinking? (Michael Smith 1).
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1989.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
This essay begins with the introduction of the Risk-Needs-Responsivitiy Model which was developed to assess offending and offer effective rehabilitation and treatment (Andrews & Bonta, 2007). The R-N-R model “remains the only empirically validated guide for criminal justice interventions that aim to help offenders” (Polashek, 2012, p.1) consisting of three principles which are associated with reductions in recidivism of up to 35% (Andrew & Bonta, 2010); risk, need and responsivity. Firstly, the risk principle predicts the offenders risk level of reoffending based on static and dynamic factors, and then matched to the degree of intervention needed. Secondly, the R-N-R targets individual’s criminogenic needs, in relation to dynamic factors. Lastly, the responsivity principle responds to specific responsivity e.g. individual needs and general responsivity; rehabilitation provided on evidence-based programming (Vitopoulous et al, 2012).
"NBF ARCHIVES: Philip Levine Author Study Guide, The National Book Foundation." NBF ARCHIVES: Philip Levine Author Study Guide, The National Book Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Pattee, Fred Lewis. A History of American Literature Since 1870 . Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992.
Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties are supposed to use on this search for truth and God. There are many stances and viewpoints on the issues of faith and reason. Some believe that both of these ideas cannot and should not be combined; these parties deem that faith and reason must be taken as merely separate entities. However, this writer does not understand why both entities cannot be combined; both terms are so closely compatible that it would make sense to combine the two for a common task. Based on various class discussions and readings, there are many philosophers and theologians who have certain opinions regarding faith, reason and their compatibility; these philosophers include Hildegard of Bingen, Ibn Rushd, Moses Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following essay will examine each of the previously stated philosopher’s viewpoints on faith and reason, and will essentially try to determine whether or not faith and reason are ultimately one in the same.
In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my belief that faith and reason are both needed to gain knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with one another; second, each deals with separate realms of reality, and third, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism.