Dumbing down Shakespeare

**Marshal Murat** · 06-11-2006, 01:07

I heard on NPR that the British education system is dumbing down Shakespeare so that fewer teens will be driven away by the language. I was curious, is this factual? Are there any links that may reveal something on this topic, and what are the revisions on Shakespeare?

**Justiciar** · 06-11-2006, 01:41

It seems to be true, sadly enough. They don't seem to realise that kids are put off by Shakespeare because it's educational, not because they're thick. I'm not sure if this is something that happened on an odd occasion that got blown out of proportion by the media or if it's a nation wide occurance, either way..

I hate this country at times.

**Avicenna** · 06-11-2006, 08:52

Originally Posted by Justiciar

It seems to be true, sadly enough. They don't seem to realise that kids are put off by Shakespeare because it's educational, not because they're thick. I'm not sure if this is something that happened on an odd occasion that got blown out of proportion by the media or if it's a nation wide occurance, either way..

I hate this country at times.

Don't stereotype! I'm not from the UK, but I do follow the UK educational system. Fine, I don't like Shakespeare, because it just doesn't seem to be incredibly interesting and is so tedious having to look up all those funny middle english (it is middle english right?) words. By any means, don't think I'm one of those who hate anything educational. If you believe that, just take a look at my monastery posts. It's just that most other subjects trump Shakespeare in appeal to the wider audience, I guess.

**doc_bean** · 06-11-2006, 09:09

:sigh:

Shakespeare wrote popular plays meant to entertain people. He didn't want to make 'high art', so if you want kids to enjoy Shakespeare I'd say it's perfectly valid to update the language. later they might learn in the 'proper' middle English. But it's pure elitism to claim this is the way it's supposed to be. They're plays ! They are meant to be played, in fornt of people who understand what it is about. This isn't avant garde **** where you're not supposed to understand anything.

This isn't dumbing down Shakespeare per se, it's knocking it back down from its pedastal and giving the stories back to the people.

**littlelostboy** · 06-11-2006, 09:41

Originally Posted by doc_bean

:sigh:

Shakespeare wrote popular plays meant to entertain people. He didn't want to make 'high art', so if you want kids to enjoy Shakespeare I'd say it's perfectly valid to update the language. later they might learn in the 'proper' middle English. But it's pure elitism to claim this is the way it's supposed to be. They're plays ! They are meant to be played, in fornt of people who understand what it is about. This isn't avant garde **** where you're not supposed to understand anything.

This isn't dumbing down Shakespeare per se, it's knocking it back down from its pedastal and giving the stories back to the people.

Very true. Plays are plays, they are meant to be perform, that's why its so tedious just to read it. Furthermore, Shakespeare did not just wrote in a language that the commoners could not understand, he wrote in English! At that time, the noble class and the royals still used French and Latin but Shakespeare used English so that the commoners could appreciate the plays as well.

**Geoffrey S** · 06-11-2006, 10:07

If you're going to do Shakespeare, do it properly.

Anyway, I rather enjoyed Macbeth.

**Philippus Flavius Homovallumus** · 06-12-2006, 11:35

Originally Posted by littlelostboy

Very true. Plays are plays, they are meant to be perform, that's why its so tedious just to read it. Furthermore, Shakespeare did not just wrote in a language that the commoners could not understand, he wrote in English! At that time, the noble class and the royals still used French and Latin but Shakespeare used English so that the commoners could appreciate the plays as well.

Thats a myth, everyone spoke English by then.

I'm sorry but Shakespeare was not the great genius he is portrayed as, if he even existed. He was prolific, he wrote lots of plays and the quality varries greatly.

That said transaltion shouldn't be in quotation marks and for educational purposes it shouldn't be done because you will lose much of the meaning in the language, at which point you just have the plot. Lets be honest here the plots aren't always great.

Another thing I dislike about him is the way he treats history, Macbeth was one of Scotland's greatest kings, infact you have to turn the plot on its head to work out what actually happened.

**Rodion Romanovich** · 06-11-2006, 10:24

Originally Posted by doc_bean

:sigh:

Shakespeare wrote popular plays meant to entertain people. He didn't want to make 'high art', so if you want kids to enjoy Shakespeare I'd say it's perfectly valid to update the language. later they might learn in the 'proper' middle English. But it's pure elitism to claim this is the way it's supposed to be. They're plays ! They are meant to be played, in fornt of people who understand what it is about. This isn't avant garde **** where you're not supposed to understand anything.

This isn't dumbing down Shakespeare per se, it's knocking it back down from its pedastal and giving the stories back to the people.

I totally agree, but the entire thing depends on whether whoever does the arranging and adapting of the Shakespeare plays does it well

**Beirut** · 06-11-2006, 11:54

Gah! See you, my princes, and my noble peers,
these English monsters!

A terrible idea. One of the most important aspects of reading Shakespeare is the effort required to understand it. As you study the language you dig deeper and deeper into the meaning. The wisdom of the words is not only revealed in more depth, but achieves a greater level of impact upon the reader.

If the art department decides to bastardize (can I say that here?) an individual play, that's one thing. They have creative license. But for the educational system itself to take the heart and soul out of Shakespeare by making it convenient to the bored mind is to murder it. Might as well teach Mozart on a pair of $10 bongos and keep all symphonies to under one minute. Otherwise the kids might get restless, eh?

It is the discipline required to appreciate the higher art forms that sets them apart. If you want Ren & Stimpy, fine, sit on the couch and eat and drink and fart to your heart's content. But if you want to see a Michelangelo. you have to go the museum, stand up, be quiet and let your brain have a go at it. The same with Shakespeare. It is a literary style that requires discipline and can only be truly appreciated through effort.