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Esther Cunningham
Professor Dunn-Hensley
Engw 104
11 October 2013
The Future of Shakespeare in the Face of a Rising India
No Western educated student can graduate high school without hearing the words, To be
or not to be (Shakespeare Hamlet III.i.62) in at least one literature class. If they know nothing
else about books or plays, they at least know that Romeo and Juliet are the quintessential lovers
of all time. Beyond his plots, Shakespeares words and phrases have been adopted into other
famous English literature and have creeped into our vernacular. Shakespeare has virtually
become synonymous with English literature; he and his works are tightly intertwined with the
English language. But as the English language slowly fades from its status as the primary global
language and is replaced by an as-yet-undetermined-but-most-likely-Eastern language,
Shakespeare could potentially face displacement as the author of the millennium. However,
Shakespeare, as united as he is to English language and culture, does not only resonate with
Westerners. His stories and his characters reflect universal human nature; they are by no means
location specific. His plays have already been readily accepted by nations throughout the globe
and been translated into hundreds of languages.
The nation that has the most global power will spread its cultural heritage throughout the
world to other countries that already have their own cultures. And yet, because of the political
and economical power that the global leader has, the rest of the world will find itself adopting
more and more of the leaders cultural heritage. The global leaders language will be the primary

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language for international interactions. The global leaders standards of beauty, ethics, gender
roles, and almost everything else will be the standards which developing nations will apply as
well. The global leaders canon of literature will be the books that are translated into the various
languages of the world.
Ever since Rome ruled the Ancient world, Western civilization has dominated the global
scene. Power passed from the Romans to the Visigoths to the Byzantines to the Normans who
then became the English. England solidified its status as a world power with its defeat of the
Spanish Armada in 1588. When Queen Elizabeth and her devoted men drove away the Catholic
invaders, all of Europe recognized that there was a new contender in the political arena. During
the Virgin Queens reign, Sir Walter Raleigh lead the charge to claim new territories across the
ocean for their country and queen. And along with the colonization of North America, England
began to populate and then control more and more lands in other places around the globe.
Eventually, the British held territories in America, Africa, and Asia. The British Empire spread
across the continents so that even nations that were not directly under British rule still respected
her power.
As the centuries have passed by, Englands preeminence in the world has waned and the
United States of Americas has waxed. But America will inevitably face a time of waning itself,
and many claim that that time is at hand. The National Intelligence Council of the United States
published a projection in 2012 called Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds which predicts
projection some of the major global shifts in the next fifteen to twenty years. Since the United
States government publishes this report, the results would, if skewed at all, most likely be
favorable to America perhaps predicting its continued dominance in the world. However,

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contained within this projection are statements like: Western countries are likely to continue
suffering from increasing global labor competition (United States of America 42), [t]he United
States declining educational base is not seen as adequately preparing younger workers for the
more globally competitive environment, and, Moreover...a fundamental rebalancing of the
composition of the US economy will be required for the US to recover its former path of
buoyant and job-creating growth (United States 43) showing that the researchers acknowledge
that Americas status as a global leader is not guaranteed in the future.
Instead of projecting a future where the Wests position as the leader in economics and
politics is secured for years to come, the Global Trends researchers predict a future where, in the
most plausible worst case (United States 110),the US turns inward. The US public is no
longer as interested in sustaining the burdens of global leadership and...is more interested in
building a Fortress America (United States 114). The mantle of global leadership shifts to the
East, to China and India. From now till 2030, there will be a shift in national power (United
States 18) and Chinas and Indias shares of global power [will] increase (United States 16)
while Americas decreases.
So, if the Wests time as an economic, political, and cultural leader is nearing its end,
what then is to happen to the vast intellectual wealth of Western literature? As non-Western
countries rise to global power, will the rich history of the Western canon disappear? What will
happen to Shakespeare, the centre of English literature (Trivedi Language 231)? Will his
works continue to be performed on stages around the world or will he fade into oblivion as so
many other playwrights of his time have? If the exposure of Shakespeare in India is any guide,
then it seems that Shakespeare and his works will continue to be performed around the globe

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even when his Globe theater is no longer standing.

One of the first forms of the British cultural invasion in India was performances of
Shakespeares plays in English by the English for the Brits who were traveling through India to
collect spices and silk and other goods to bring back to England as early as 1607 (Trivedi and
Bartholomeusz 14) to something welcomed by the Indians on their own terms. It did not take
long, however, for the performance of Shakespeares plays to move beyond the purely
recreational purposes to reveal a promotional and propagandist function (Trivedi and
Bartholomeusz 14). The style of theater that the British used for their performances was distinct
from that of the indigenous theater; the Westerners used proscenium style staging where the
action would take place on an elevated stage. The first theater building in India, built in 1775,
was the Calcutta Theater and it was a proscenium style stage. Though the British David Garrick
started the company, the Indian people were so enamored of this new style of performance that
they helped fund the theater when it struggled financially (Trivedi and Bartholomeusz 14).
Proscenium theater and Shakespeares plays were popular among the native Indians, according to
Trivedi in her introduction to Shakespeares India, because [t]he English-language theater...was
a window into a new world (Trivedi and Bartholomeusz 14) that intrigued them.
It was not long before the indigenous people began to do more than just monetarily
support the theater companies. Soon they also took part in the performances themselves. There
are records from a performance of several scenes in English from Shakespeares Julius Caesar in
1831 at the first Bengali private theater (Trivedi and Bartholomeusz 14) performed by Indians
and not English. And in 1848 there are records of an Indian actor playing the role of Othello in a
production in Calcutta (Anonymous). Once the Indians were performing on stage in English, it

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was not much longer until they were performing the plays in their various native tongues.
But the Indians did not just stumble upon a Shakespearean play, watch a performance
marveling at the spectacle, and then decide to perform Shakespeare on their own. Instead their
exposure to Shakespeares texts came as a result of British imperialism. This particular
manifestation of imperialism was instigated by a councilman on the Supreme Could of India, T.
B. Macaulay in his educational reforms for India. In these reforms, he instituted English as the
primary language and English literature as the central curriculum in Indian education. Macaulay
imposed traditional Western literature on India because he deemed his culture and his language
the most useful in all the world since, through English, anyone can have ready access to all
the vast intellectual wealth which all the wisest nations of the earth have created and hoarded in
the course of ninety generations (Macaulay).
It would be expected then that the Indians would be opposed to the introduction of
Shakespeare into their educational system. And that, when India finally gained its independence,
the people would have been quick to reject the English language and throw out all references to
Shakespeare in their own plays and films. Yet, even though Shakespeare was initially introduced
to India in English as a text to be studied imposed upon the indigenous people by their
imperialist masters, that is not how the Indians view the Bard in their society now. Instead of
seeing him as a symbol of British oppression and Western superiority, they see him as part of
their own heritage; they have claimed him as one of their own. Today they not only have
translated Shakespeare into each of their twenty-two languages, but they have also taken
Shakespeares plots and characters and morphed them into their own form of story telling. One
of the ways this acceptance is seen is in the adoption of these plays into inspirations for many

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popular Bollywood films. India has welcomed Shakespeare into their own culture. Trivedi
refers to his presence in India as a unique...absorption of Shakespeare in the Indian
film (Trivedi Filmi 148).
Trivedi discusses the differences between accepting Shakespeare willingly and being
forced to accept Shakespeare in her article You Taught Me Language. She explains that the
British only required the Indians to learn Shakespeare educationally. The English did not force
the natives to translate the Bards plays or even to perform them in English or their native
tongues. The fact that the Indians did exactly that shows that they were able to move past the
imperialism of Britain and judge Shakespeare on his literary merit. It shows that they accepted
Shakespeare into their own culture not because he was a Western work but because he created
insightful plays worth studying.
The American global trends report states that India has the potential to become a world
power in the near future. Whether or not India capitalizes on its potential or some unforeseen
global event occurs that alters the trends that scholars see today, Kennedy argues that [i]t is
reasonable to expect...that one of the better known global trends of today, the rise of the Pacific
region, is likely to continue (Kennedy 441) which means that as this current century moves on,
the world will see Americas exit from the scene on the global stage and a new Eastern nations
entrance. And the fade of the Wests political and economical influence globally means that its
cultural influence will fade as well. No matter which nation emerges in the next few decades as
a new global power, Western culture will still be replaced by a new culture of the new global
power.
Shakespeares texts are no different; they do not receive a free pass of acceptance into

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every culture around the world simply because they have shaped both the English language and
Western literature. Other cultures are in the position to accept or reject these pillars of Western
literature if they do not see how Shakespeare resonates with their own culture. Yet, through
history, people across the globe seem to recognize that he is not only the Swan of Avon but the
the Swan of Germany, the Swan of India, the Swan of the whole world. His characters do not
only reflect Elizabethan Englanders but men and women from all periods of history and all
national backgrounds. His plays are not bound to one time period and one particular audience but
they resonate with any human being who has ever lived.
In 1993, Samuel P. Huntington published a controversial article entitled The Clash of
Civilizations in which he described his vision of the global future. Unlike the majority of
people who predicted globalization to lead to one new world culture when he wrote this article,
Huntington argues that people groups will maintain their cultural identities and that the
dominating source of conflict will be cultural (Huntington). By this he means that, though there
still will be economic and political disputes between nations around the world, the primary
conflicts will actually stem from cultural differences. Huntington then goes on to explain that a
person will most intensely [identify] with the civilization to which he belongs and then
proceeds to list some examples of important aspects of cultures, including language, history,
religion, customs, [and] institutions (Huntington). Two things not explicitly listed by
Huntington but inherently connected with these common objective elements are literature and
theater. A culture is shaped and defined by the major works of its canon and it is often unwilling
to accept other literary works from other cultures unless these foreign texts are able to resonate
with the culture they are being brought into.

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Huntington paints a picture of civilizations that are not able to interact peaceably with
each other because of their cultural differences. In his understanding of the future, the
interactions of nations should be seen as clashes of civilizations that are unavoidable because
of the differences in cultures around the world. And, while there are definite distinctions
between any two cultures, there are fundamental similarities that unite us all. Part of the reason
why Shakespeares works are still performed today is because he translated that idea onto the
page. His characters are all deeply human, their emotions jump off the page and move us now,
centuries after these plays were written. Despite our differing hometowns, ethnicities, religions,
people in every nation share some common experiences. As Shylock famously says, If you
prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?
and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? (Merchant of Venice III.i.58-60). Nations like India
sense Shakespeares understanding of what it means to be human and value his plays because
they so clearly capture human life and emotions.
Shakespeare thrives in so many diverse areas today; his poems are translated into
numerous languages, his works are studied at universities across the globe, his plays are
performed in ever new and exciting locals. As Trivedi says, Shakespeare is no longer the
other, he is absorbed into the cultural imaginary of the nation (Trivedi Filmi 157). If
Shakespeare has blossomed when transplanted so roughly to these new regions, than his plays
will likely still be translated and taught and performed even when English is no longer spoken.

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Works Cited
Anonymous. Contemporary Indian Theatre: An Overview. N.p.. Web. 12 Sep 2013.
<http://asiasociety.org/arts/performing-arts/theater/contemporary-indian-theatreoverview?page=0,2>.
Kennedy, Paul M. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military
Conflict from 1500 to 2000. New York, NY: Random House, 1987. Print.
Macaulay, Thomas Babington. Minute on Education (1835). N.p.. Web. 16 Sep 2013.
<http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/macaulay/
txt_minute_education_1835.html>.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen. New York: Modern
Library, 2008. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Ed. John Russell. Brown and Richard Proudfoot.
London: Routledge, 1985. Print.
Trivedi, Poonam, and Dennis Bartholomeusz. India's Shakespeare: Translation, Interpretation,
and Performance. Newark: University of Delaware, 2005. Print.
Trivedi, Poonam. You Taught Me Language: Shakespeare in India." Trans. Array Shakespeare
Survey 64. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011. 231-239. Print.
United States of America. The Director of National Intelligence. Global Trends 2030: Alternative
Worlds. Ed. Christopher Kojm. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, n.d. Web.
15 Oct. 2013. <http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/GlobalTrends_2030.pdf>.