According to Annie Holmquist from the blog, Intellectual Takeout, studying Shakespeare in schools directly leads to higher testing scores. Likewise, an article published by The Telegraph in 2013, regards his “rocket-booster” works as “better therapy than self-help books” (Henry and Holmquist). Shakespeare, a brilliant historical figure, has inspired many modern creative artists, offered insight about important periods of history, impacted the development of the English language, and left many compelling pieces of literature that address timeless themes still relevant today. For these reasons, it is necessary to continue teaching the classic works of Shakespeare in Sacred Heart’s English curriculum.
The interdisciplinary connections between
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In an overview according to Shakespeare Online, the esteemed playwright invented more than 1,700 words through various means such as combining words, adding suffixes and prefixes to already existing words, switching nouns into verbs, converting words into adjectives, and generating new words altogether (Mabillard). Some examples of words devised from Shakespeare include nouns “addiction” originating in Henry V, “exposure” from Troilus and Cressida, and “rant” introduced through Hamlet (Mabillard). In addition, Shakespeare coined countless cliches and phrases, many of which are still used on a daily basis. Currently, people are familiar with terms such as “break the ice” and to “kill with kindness” from The Taming of the Shrew, “wild-goose chase” from Romeo and Juliet, “heart of gold” from Henry V, and the popular “knock knock! who’s there?” from Macbeth (McAlpine). Considering how commonly used these words and sayings are, it is important to know where they were derived from. Without enforcing the study of Shakespeare in Sacred Heart’s standard English curriculum, our students wouldn’t be receiving the most well-rounded and informative education. Interestingly enough, Shakespeare may have invented your name. Chances are, you know either an Olivia, Miranda, or Jessica, but I bet you didn’t know Shakespeare was the brains …show more content…
Many themes in his stories are rooted in humanity’s greatest questions, tackling concepts of identity, race, gender, tragedy, forgiveness, failure, and suffering. These universal themes give depth to his plays which are thought-provoking, while prompting readers to subtly encourage the pondering of intricate topics. For example, Othello, considered a tragedy, addresses the human issues of jealousy, betrayal, and
Shakespeare was and is an extremely crucial figure in the English language. Period. Some may say that “Shakespeare’s use of the English language is irrelevant in today’s modern world”(Dusbiber 1), or simply “Shakespeare is useless”. Some may also refute that there are other great writers out there that are from all sorts of different cultures, that can teach students of different ethnicities the same ideas and same topics that Shakespeare teaches, which may be the case for some people. However, if you look at the
By using just the right combination of words, or by coming up with just the right image, Shakespeare wrote many passages and entire plays that were so powerful, moving, tragic, comedic, and romantic that many are still being memorized and performed today, almost four centuries later. But the greatness of Shakespeare’s ability lies not so much in the basic themes of his works but in the creativity he used to write these stories of love, power, greed, discrimination, hatred, and tragedy.
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s four pillars of great tragedies. Othello is unique in comparison to the others in that it focuses on the private lives of its primary characters. When researching the subject of Othello being an Aristotelian tragedy, there is debate among some critics and readers. Some claim that Shakespeare did not hold true to Aristotle’s model of tragedy, according to his definition in “Poetics,” which categorized Othello as a classic tragedy as opposed to traditional tragedy. Readers in the twenty-first century would regard Othello a psychological thriller; it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat creating the emotions of terror, heart break, and sympathy. This paper will focus on what Shakespeare actually intended regarding “Othello” and its Aristotelian influences.
Shakespeare is Important William Shakespeare’s plays are being made into box office film hits at an incredible rate. Films such as Much Ado About Nothing with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, Hamlet with Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, Othello with Laurence Fishbourne and Henry V with Kenneth Branagh have been seen by a surprising number of teenagers. Often they have not understood it all, or even half of it, but they have been affected by the powerful characters and by the Shakespearean magic which has affected audiences around the world for centuries. They want to know more, they want to understand, and what better motivation can any teacher ask for than that students WANT? That alone is sufficient reason for any English teacher to start a course in Shakespeare.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Othello has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays because the play focuses on its themes of good and evil, military, politics, love and marriage, religion, racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality; but the controversy and debate surrounding Othello is “Why is Othello a qualification for a tragedy?”
Shakespeare’s ability to mold the English language into eloquently written poetry gave him the ability to affect the language as he did. Hundreds of clichés that are used daily by English speakers were invented in Shakespeare’s writings. Few people are aware, but expressions such as “dead as a doornail” (Henry IV, Part II) or “something wicked this way comes” (Macbeth) can both be accredited to Shakespeare. In The Story of English, Bernard Levin writes that “if [the reader] cannot understand my argument, and [declares] ‘It's Greek to me’, you are quoting Shakespeare” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 99). Levin is simply reminding the reader that much of common English speech can be traced back to idioms used in Shakespeare’s writing. Shakespeare even took the liberty to invent words of his own, supposedly inventing over one thousand commonly used words. Shakespeare was able to create words in multiple ways, including changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, and coming up with words that were completely original (pathguy.com). Shakespearian words include “assassination” and even “obscene” (McCrum, Cran, MacNeil 99), and other such words that are used by English speakers daily. Although a number of writers have used the English language to their advantage, no writer has taken the language to the level that Shakespeare was able to do.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Essential to the success of Othello is the fact that the issues and themes explored in this tragedy, written by Shakespeare in about 1604, are still relevant to the modern audience. The interest of an audience is held by themes that are fundamental to the human condition, as these reflect our world and examine human nature. Othello explores the issues of racism, gender, domestic violence, the supernatural and the pathology of the entirely evil person, which are all remarkably relevant to our time. Thus the interest of the audience is held, as issues that affect the viewers and readers of the play spark individual opinions, reflection and thought.
Do you think Shakespeare should be taught in schools? If you say no, then let me tell you why you are wrong; most people believe that Shakespeare shouldn't be taught because it’s hard to comprehend or that doesn't relate to us, the readers. But in reality, it gives us a new perspective on how people must have lived back then or on how they responded to situations that we might never have to go through in our lives. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, we are introduced to two young adults that are enemies but they fall in love to show that love is blind and that is true love might exist ( even though they moved on from their previous crushes, Rosaline and Paris ) , this gives me the first situation I want to talk about, which is the problems teenagers or people in general have to deal with and those are love and relationships or commitment . People who say that it doesn't relate to us, please let me explain why it wrong; first, everyone, who has been in a relationship will know that relationship aren't always perfect because you will have problem, arguments, and obstacles.
Of Shakespeare’s five greatest tragedies, Othello is by far the most passionate and gripping. It is a tale of love, deception, evil, honesty, and virtue. Othello himself is set apart from other Shakespearean tragic heroes by the absolute feeling of affection the audience feels for him even unto the very end of the play. Any discerning reader painfully recognizes the virtue and goodness of Othello throughout the entire play, in contrast to the general degeneration of character so typical of a tragic hero. It is this complete pity that makes the death of Othello so tragic as the audience lends their full support to the inevitable and unavoidable fall.
Shakespeare has perhaps contributed the most to the English language of any writer known to man – literally. Over 1000 words and phrases that he coined as part of his plays and prose are now in common use across the globe. He changed nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, added on previously unheard-of prefixes and suffixes and in some cases made words out of nothing. Even culturally sensitive words such as ‘ode’ (The ANZACS) and scientific jargon (‘epileptic’) are in fact products of Shakespeare. Bernard Levin probably summed this up best when he wrote: “If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me", you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle… had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, … - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare;…” (Bernard Levin. From The Story of English. Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil. Viking: 1986).
Although people do not use those particular lines today, many of Shakespeare’s plays have coined the popular phrases found in modern vernacular, such as “green eyed monster,” “knock knock who’s there,” and “off with his head.”
William Shakespeare's Relevance Today For as long as formal education has existed in Britain it has been a largely standard assumption that teaching the works of William Shakespeare is relevant and necessary. Perhaps the relevance of his writing is taken for granted, perhaps it is necessary to re-examine the role of Shakespeare for the modern audience. There are indeed many people who question the relevance of this 440 year old playwright to a 21st century audience, taking it even as far as perhaps the greatest heresy of all, questioning the necessity of GCSE pupils learning Shakespeare at all.
Even though that Shakespeare influenced the world over 400 years ago, his stories, sonnets and plays are all still relevant today. But why are William Shakespeare still so relevant today? It’s the idea and the issues that that Shakespeare addresses that constantly draw people towards him. Shakespeare had a very rare, but good, understanding of the daily situations and the many different emotions that human go through, which are portrayed in his characters.