Shakespeare: Fit for modern consumption?

“What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,” A translation, fit for a modern youths tongue? “Who is that up there? Juliet is way hot! She is like the sun! Anyway, she’s just jealous, cos you’re like, prettier.” What does this offer to the teenagers of today? Absolutely nothing. Shakespeare’s plays should most definitely not be re-written in a way “easier” young people to understand and fully replace the traditional, authentic texts. His writings were works of art and we can a lot from them in their original form which would be lost in a re-modelled version.

The most important thing to acknowledge is that Shakespeare’s work was an art form. It was revolutionary writing, the first of its time, it was truly original. In fact he is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest playwrights in history, just as Raphael and Picasso are revered as the great painters. Would we ever dream to suggest that we should “re-paint” Picasso’s masterpieces, just so that are a little easier to decipher? Of course not, and Shakespeare is no different. Much of his genius would most certainly be lost if it was written into a more “comprehensible” form. In fact it would be a mockery of his work! His plays and sonnets are not world famous for just the storyline or plot. Much of what makes them so widely acknowledged is the style of writing and the themes he develops in his work. There is a reason that your average teenager may find Shakespeare’s writing a little more challenging than your average novel, and not just because of the ‘old-fashioned’ language. Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter, a rhyme scheme in which each line consists of ten syllables. The syllables are divided into five pairs called ‘iambs’. An iamb is a metrical unit made up of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. As one can see, it wasn’t just some random placing of words. In fact, the use of iambic pentameter was one of Shakespeare’s most important tools. If his texts were to be re-modelled, this amazing work would be lost.

The next question that we need to ask is, is it really necessary to re-write the plays? Shakespeare delved into many universal themes in his writing. His work may have been done 400 years ago, but these themes are still relevant to us today. He looks at ideas to do with love, freedom, friendship, the roles of different people in society, the influence of appearances. Parallels can be drawn from all of these to today’s world. Because of this, there is no need for Shakespeare to be re-written. In fact, if his plays were modernised, there could actually be a loss of these themes, or the coherency in which the themes are portrayed in their original form. Take for example, the Hollywood blockbuster “10 Things I Hate About You” which is loosely based upon Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”. No-one can deny that it is easy for teenagers to understand, it is set in a modern American high school. However, it failed miserably in doing justice to the themes explored in the original text. It lightly brushed over the deep and meaningful ideas such as appearance vs. reality and marriage as an economic institution, and instead focussed on the cheesy and unrealistic portrayal of teenage love.

We also need to consider, is it right re-model something simply because it is a tad hard? In order for us to gain a rich learning experience, we can’t just shy away from something which may be slightly difficult. In order for us to learn, to make progress and extend our understanding, we need to be challenged and Shakespeare in its current and original form does exactly that. We can learn many skills from interpretation of Shakespearian language and it helps to get us thinking “outside the box”. The authentic texts also make us think in broader terms, outside our 21st century lives. Students can learn a lot from the historical setting. It provides an interesting, varied way in which we can learn about the period in which he wrote: The structure of society, what was accepted as right and wrong, and what life was like. To re-write Shakespeare would only be to “dumb us down”.

Shakespeare is also a classic, a tradition. EVERYONE knows Shakespeare’s name. Schools all around the world examine his plays, his poetry. Everyone studied his works at school, our parents, their parents and those before them. To re-write Shakespeare and replace the original texts in schools would be to change what we have been doing for centuries. His works and the teaching of his works is a core part of western history and culture and there is no need for this to change. There is a reason Shakespeare has survived the test of time. As previously mentioned, the important ideas explored in his texts are just as relevant to us today as they were last century, and the century before that. Why would we change something that we know works?

However, this does not mean that re-modelled or adapted versions don’t have a place at all. They can be very useful as aids to the teaching of the authentic texts. There is no doubt that they are useful for helping student to understand plot or to help hook them into the story. A good example of this is the ShakespeaRE-TOLD series produced by the BBC. They take some of Shakespeare’s most popular plays and re-work them into a modern setting, whether is be portraying Katherina from Taming of the Shrew as a politician running for Prime Minister or Macbeth as a chef in a three Michelin Star restaurant. But in saying this, none of these reconstructions are ever as clever or original as the real thing. They do not explore the ideas with such depth or clarity. They are poor substitutes for the writings in their original form.

It is clear that Shakespeare should not be written in order for the plays to be more relevant to teenagers today. There is simply no need! The ideas explored in Shakespeare’s writing are universal; they are still as significant as they were 400 years ago. Shakespeare may be a challenge, but we need that every so often! We also must remember, a lot can be learnt from his texts, the historical settings give us a great insight into life in Elizabethan times. Most important, we have to view his writing like an artwork, it is what it is. Picasso’s style makes him Picasso; Shakespeare’s style makes him Shakespeare. If Shakespeare was to be re-written it just wouldn’t be Shakespeare anymore. His work unique and this is how it needs to stay.