Beyond “To Be or Not To Be”: Rethinking Shakespeare’s Place in the Modern Classroom
Picture this: a classroom of fifteen-year-olds, faces etched with varying degrees of bewilderment and boredom, grappling with lines like “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” The teacher patiently explains that “wherefore” means “why,” not “where.” A collective sigh ripples through the room. This scene, played out countless times in schools globally, sits at the heart of a growing question: do we really need to stop being taught Shakespearean texts and language as a mandatory, central part of the curriculum?
Let’s be clear upfront: William Shakespeare’s impact on literature, language, and culture is monumental, undeniable, and worth acknowledging. His plays explore timeless themes – love, power, jealousy, betrayal, ambition – that resonate across centuries. Phrases he coined or popularized pepper our everyday speech. His influence is woven into the fabric of storytelling itself. This isn’t about erasing Shakespeare from history. It’s about critically examining how and why we teach him today, and asking whether this compulsory, often arduous, focus serves the needs and interests of all modern students.
The Everest of Elizabethan English: The Accessibility Problem
The most immediate hurdle is the language itself. Early Modern English, as it’s called, is fundamentally different from contemporary English. Archaic vocabulary (“thou,” “thee,” “hither,” “fain”), complex sentence structures, unfamiliar idioms, and cultural references lost to time create a significant barrier. For many students, especially those for whom English isn’t a first language or who struggle with reading comprehension, deciphering Shakespeare feels less like unlocking literary treasure and more like cracking an alien code.
This difficulty often overshadows the very themes and characters we aim to highlight. Students spend so much energy decoding “what” is being said that they rarely have the bandwidth to truly engage with “why” it’s being said or what it means. The richness of the character motivations, the intricate plots, and the profound questions get buried under linguistic excavation work. The result? Frustration, disengagement, and a reinforced belief that “literature is hard and not for me.”
Relevance: Bridging the Centuries Gap
“Okay, but it’s important!” is the common refrain. And yes, understanding cultural touchstones matters. But does mandatory, in-depth textual analysis of multiple plays for every student truly foster that appreciation, or does it breed resentment? For a generation immersed in digital narratives, diverse global perspectives, and contemporary issues that feel urgent, the world of kings, courtiers, and iambic pentameter can feel incredibly distant.
The themes are universal, but the packaging often isn’t. The societal structures, gender roles, and historical contexts of Shakespeare’s time are vastly different. While skilled teachers can draw parallels, the initial leap required can be immense. When students struggle to see themselves or their immediate world reflected in the text, or when the exploration feels purely academic rather than personally resonant, motivation plummets. Shouldn’t literature also reflect the diverse voices and experiences of their world?
The Opportunity Cost: What Gets Left Out?
Perhaps the most compelling argument for shifting our focus is the sheer opportunity cost of dedicating such significant curriculum time to Shakespeare. Literature is a vast, vibrant landscape. By anchoring so much time and energy into one (admittedly brilliant) playwright from over 400 years ago, what incredible contemporary writers, diverse perspectives, and innovative forms of storytelling are we excluding?
Modern Voices: Where are the units on powerful contemporary playwrights, novelists, and poets grappling with issues like climate change, digital identity, systemic inequality, or mental health in ways students immediately recognize?
Global Perspectives: Why not explore rich literary traditions from Africa, Asia, Latin America, or indigenous cultures, offering different lenses on the human experience?
Diverse Representation: Literature reflecting a wider range of races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and abilities is crucial for fostering empathy and allowing more students to see themselves in the stories they study.
Different Formats: Graphic novels, compelling non-fiction, spoken word poetry, and even well-crafted film and television scripts offer powerful literary experiences that might engage students more readily.
Insisting on Shakespeare’s mandatory dominance inevitably means sacrificing exposure to these other vital voices and forms. Is the trade-off truly worth it for every student?
Moving Forward: Not Abandoning, But Reframing
So, does this mean burning the First Folios? Absolutely not. It means a fundamental shift in approach:
1. Elective, Not Mandatory Core: Make in-depth Shakespeare study an elective for students genuinely passionate about historical literature, theatre, or linguistic history. Free up core curriculum time for broader literary exploration.
2. Context and Adaptation First: If Shakespeare is included in a broader survey, prioritize context, themes, and engaging adaptations (film, modern-dress theatre, graphic novels) before diving deep into the original text. Make the stories and characters accessible and compelling first.
3. Focus on Cultural Impact: Teach about Shakespeare’s influence – his life, his times, his impact on language and storytelling – as part of cultural history, rather than requiring textual mastery of his plays for all.
4. Prioritize Modern Relevance: When studying Shakespeare, explicitly and skillfully connect themes to modern parallels – the politics in Julius Caesar to contemporary leadership, the family dynamics in King Lear to modern relationships. Make the centuries collapse meaningfully.
5. Embrace the Wider Literary World: Actively diversify the curriculum with contemporary, diverse, and globally significant authors and texts. Let students explore literature that speaks directly to the complexities of the 21st century.
Conclusion: From Requirement to Resource
The goal of literature education shouldn’t be to force-feed students a single, monolithic “Great” canon until they learn to appreciate it. It should be to ignite a love for stories, to develop critical thinking, empathy, and analytical skills, and to expose students to a wide range of human experiences and perspectives. Insisting that every student must climb the specific, steep mountain of Shakespearean language and texts to achieve these goals is increasingly untenable and counterproductive.
It’s time to move beyond the assumption that Shakespeare is an indispensable, non-negotiable pillar of every student’s literary journey. Let’s stop requiring the struggle with Elizabethan English as a rite of passage and start treating Shakespeare as one powerful resource among many – a resource best accessed through thoughtful, modern approaches for those it genuinely serves. By doing so, we create space for a richer, more relevant, and ultimately more engaging literary education that truly speaks to all students in the world they actually inhabit. The play doesn’t need to end; it just needs a different stage and a more diverse repertoire alongside it.
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