Dua’a Hussein

5/29/18
Shakespeare? More like Shookspeared!

The works of Shakespeare have been taught in schools for a long time as part of the English
Curriculum. From ​Romeo and Juliet ​and ​Hamlet ​to ​A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ​Shakespeare had been read,
analyzed, and cut by students for assignments. Take the story of Othello: a battle-hardened man named
Othello marries a young woman named Desdemona. Othello gives the ranking of lieutenant to a man named
Michael Cassio instead of the ensign that had been with his for a long time, Iago. Iago becomes enraged and
further plots to ruin Othello’s life behind his back while still playing the role of the trusted ensign. As more and
more time is spent reading about the betrayal of Iago, the tragedy that befell Romeo and Juliet, and the
insanity of the events Hamlet had to deal with, the same thought is repeated over and over: ​Why should it
matter? ​Why is reading Shakespeare in school relevant anymore to kids in this society? It is clearly obvious
that ​it simply doesn’t. ​Shakespeare is simply no longer relevant to students in the society because the
situations that occur in Shakespeare’s plays would not be able to occur in a modern time, the language used in
Shakespeare is not reflective of how people speak today, and the way that it is taught it not how it is supposed
to be presented.
Betrayal is a prominent theme in Othello as Iago plots to destroy Othello’s reputation, as discussed in
Othello Logs about betrayal and reputation being dangerous perspectives. In doing so, his first step in enacting
his revenge is recruiting his friend Roderigo, and going to Desdemona’s father to say that Othello is getting it
on with Desdemona at his place. He proceeds to call out Brabantio by getting Roderigo to yell at the top of his
lungs to wake him up. ​This is where the situation is no longer able to exist in modern society. ​In the
script, Roderigo and Iago are shown screaming things like ​“What ho, Brabantio! Signior Brabantio, ho!”
and “​Awake! What ho, Brabantio! Thieves, thieves!”​(Shakespeare 11). ​Doing what Iago and Roderigo did,
like screaming at the top of one’s lungs and trespassing onto private property, would most surely get someone
arrested in modern day, or at the very least get them heavily fined. According to Trespassing Penalties,
“Trespassing fines vary widely, from a few hundred dollars to as much as $4,000 or more.” (Theoharis)
With the way that Roderigo and Iago trespassed onto Brabantio’s land by going there when Brabantio was
sleeping, he surely didn’t give them permission to enter. With the ruckus that Roderigo and Iago made as they
tried to wake him up would raised that fine from a couple of bucks to as much as a grand. There is also the
situation regarding the handkerchief that Desdemona dropped, which Iago used to prove to Othello that
Desdemona was cheating on him with Cassio, specifically when Iago states that “​I have use for it…../I will in
Cassio’s lodging lose this napkin/ and let him find it.../Are to the jealous confirmations strong/ As
proofs of holy writ.​.” ​(Shakespeare 141) ​He plans on making Othello believe that Desdemona is cheating on
him behind his back with only her handkerchief as proof that she is being a traitor on their marriage. This isn’t
realistic in modern society since it would take much, much more than just a handkerchief to prove that
someone was being unfaithful. To be put simply, these kinds of situations would not be able to happen in the
modern world because they would almost immediately be condoned for their behavior as well as getting fines
and possibly even jail time for what they did. The way that the characters think is not reflective of how people
think today when it comes to figuring out if someone is being a liar behind someone’s back. Shakespeare’s
situations in his plays are not relevant to what happens today for the fact that none of them would be able to
happen on a legal and emotional basis, since students are more likely to believe something with more
evidence than just a handkerchief.
Using ​Othello​ again as an example, there are many instances that is shown to have an excessive
amount of unnecessary details in the way that Shakespeare writes since the language that he wrote most of
his plays in was old English. In each scene, there is always at least one character who goes on a long tangent
when they speak, which results in the meaning of what they are trying to say become confusing to understand
and read, which is present in cut scripts of the script. For example, Othello says in Act 4 Scene 2 when he is
talking to Desdemona: ​“[Committed? O thou public commoner/ I should make very forges on my cheeks/
That would to cinders burn up modesty/ Did I but speak thy deeds. What committed?]/ Heaven stops
the nose at it, and the moon winks;/ The bawdy wind that kisses all it meets/ Is hushed within the
hollow mine of earth”​(Shakespeare 199).​ All of this was cut down out of the acting part of the play in order to
clarify what they were trying to say and to understand what the meaning was, because all of what Othello says
to Desdemona when he believes her to be cheating on him is all just extra details that is completely
unnecessary to understand what is going on with the two.. This further helps to prove how Shakespeare is
irrelevant to society today because the amount of unnecessary details that he wrote in for each character to
say only hinders the understanding of the reader as they try to comprehend how this amount of detail is
necessary to the character, when in reality it is not relevant to them at all. One even states that ​“Shakespeare
was rubbish; unbelievable, meaningless plots set out in silly grandiloquent terms with characters who
‘…speak, not their own, but always one and the same Shakespearean pretentious and unnatural
language, in which not only they could not speak, but in which no living man ever has spoken or does
speak’”(Hankins).​ Shakespeare’s language was so complicated and hard to understand in even different
languages that renowned writers such a Tolstoy even gave up on trying to comprehend it, so how does one
expect a child in middle and high school to understand what he was trying to say at all?
There is also the tiny misconception that almost everyone had overlooked when they think about
Shakespeare: ​plays are meant to be ACTED​. Students in school are usually told to read and cut the script
and answer questions based on the script, but that is not how a play is supposed to be presented. In ​Othello​,
there are many instances in which characters come and go, swordfight, scream, fight, murder, and cry, but yet
students are only ever allowed to read about the severe devastation that the characters are going through
without knowing how it is supposed to look like. In ​Othello​, one of the most memorable scenes is when Othello
is about to kill Desdemona. ​While Desdemona is trying to convince him otherwise to have mercy on her, the
only thing that Othello says right before he smothers her is ​“It is too late,”​ ​which brings such strong and
intense drama as Emilia soon knocks on the door after he kills Desdemona, knowing sooner or later that she
will find the person who has died because of ​jealousy​. However, students are forced to only visualize what is
going on when they should be watching a rendition of the play in order to fully understand what is going on in
the play and how that affects their interpretation. This is also supported by a quote by a Shakespearean actor
whose states ​“Shakespeare’s plays were supposed to be performed and reading them was “the last
thing the author intended”” (Rylance). ​Even the people who act as the characters believe that if a person
wants to experience what Shakespeare was trying to convey in his writing, one has to see it being performed
instead of just reading it, because reading it won’t give you the full experience. This is why Shakespeare is not
relevant to today because in order for a student to understand what they are reading, they need to watch the
play being acted out, which is not possible every single time that they take on Shakespeare.
Despite reasons such as being complex and being taught the wrong way, many still believe that
Shakespeare is still relevant in modern society because of the morals and lessons Shakespeare weaves into
his plays and writings, such as the topic of​ betrayal​ by someone who was thought to be a friend, or the topic of
reputation ​and how it can ultimately lead to someone’s demise. Romeo and Juliet brought about the idea of
love being able to withstand even death, and Othello brought around the concept of rumors destroying one’s
trust in another, such as when Othello calls Desdemona an “​Impudent Strumpet!!!​” after Iago planted the
false idea that Desdemona was cheating on him with Cassio, taking only those small steps to make Othello
lose all faith in Desdemona even though she swore that she would always remain loyal to him. It is further
explained in an article where it is stated ​“The plays may have been written in the past, in different
settings, in different times; but the message is still relevant today” ​(Butt). However, although
Shakespeare’s writings may convey the themes that can be applied to life, many instances in which one would
learn these themes and ideas would be unrealistic in this society and therefore would not be able to happen,
as explained earlier when talking about how Iago and Roderigo would have been detained and fined for
sneaking onto private property.
 In conclusion, there are reasons why Shakespeare may be relevant, but it is clearly shown that despite
those reasons, it is irrelevant for students to learn and read Shakespeare’s works because it is simply too
complicated for even other writers to understand, the situations that occur are highly unlikely to ever happen in
modern day, and even though it is continued to be taught, it is being taught wrong. Shakespeare had impacted
many people, from giving jobs to actors to flaming the desire to read in enthusiasts. It may be irrelevant for
students to read as part of their education, but for others, it is as good as gold.

Sources:
All sources are used in order in which they come in the essay.

1.) https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Tresspassing.htm
2.) https://aeon.co/conversations/is-shakespeare-overrated
3.) https://argumentativeoldgit.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/meant-to-be-seen-not-read/
4.) http://www.kakulehsan.com/is-shakespeare-good-for-teaching-moral-values/