I LOVE Shakespeare! And I want my children to know and love "The Bard", as well.
"Why???" you may ask.
The quick and easy answers include being well versed in cultural literacy and receiving exposure to the fine arts. But Shakespeare also teaches us much, MUCH more than those things we might think of at first glance.
Shakespeare had a great understanding of human nature, and his characters have wonderful lessons to teach us-- about good and bad choices. His plays force us to take a hard look at what we believe is true and right. He asks the hard questions that every soul needs to answer for themselves. We can also see the dire consequences that can happen when people make foolish choices. Love, greed, ambition, kindness, jealousy, wisdom, revenge, integrity, forgiveness-- they're all explored and examined in Shakespeare's works. I could go on and on, but, hopefully, you get the idea of all the life lessons our children can learn.
It is a foregone conclusion-- in my opinion-- that Shakespeare was a genius. I believe in my heart of hearts that there is not an author today who can hold a candle to his command of the English language. However, there are those that do not see him as the tower of literary strength that I believe him to have been. Most modern men are willing to dismiss the Bard and his works as unimportant to the modern world, and thus in one fell swoop they play fast and loose with the definition of great English literature.
So what makes Shakespeare so great? Why should we still value his works more than four-hundred years after his death?
If you are a person very familiar with Shakespeare's works, you may have noticed something interesting in what I wrote above. I used six commonly-used English phrases that come straight out of six different plays written by William Shakespeare. Can you find them?
Let me restate what I wrote above:
It is “a foregone conclusion”-- in my opinion-- that Shakespeare was a genius. I believe “in my heart of hearts" that there is not an author today who can “hold a candle to” his command of the English language. However, there are those that do not see him as the “tower of” literary “strength” that I believe him to have been. Most modern men are willing to dismiss the Bard and his works as unimportant to the modern world, and thus in “one fell swoop” they “play fast and loose” with the definition of great English literature.
“A foregone conclusion” is from Othello, “in my heart of hearts” is from Hamlet, “hold a candle to” is from The Merchant of Venice, “tower of strength” is found in Richard III, “one fell swoop” is quoted from Macbeth, and “play fast and loose” is taken from Love's Labour's Lost.
Another reason Shakespeare is important because he almost single-handedly changed the English language. Before Shakespeare, English was still rooted in the medieval age. Many books were still being written in Latin, and written English owed its style to The Canterbury Tales, the first full English epic, which had been written towards the end of the fourteenth century. After Shakespeare, English had become a modern language that would make its influence felt all over the world. He wrote over 40 plays and countless sonnets and poems. Shakespeare was not "just another English author.” To the contrary, it could be argued that Shakespeare was a major contributing author ofthe English language. He is said to have created over 2000 new English words or phrases. Quite simply, if a word didn’t exist, the Bard made it up! Some of these words, used by Shakespeare for the first time, have survived to be used in our everyday, modern speech.
A few examples of those words include:
addiction, accommodation, barefaced, discontent, downstairs, fashionable, laughable, priceless, schoolboy, silliness, soft-hearted, unreal, and useful.
His vocabulary was about 20,000 words, large for his time, and he used his words like tools to create many memorable phrases and sayings we still use to this day. Here are a few:
‘Neither rhyme or reason’
‘It’s all one to me’
‘Give the devil his due’
‘Too much of a good thing’
‘Good riddance’
‘Dead as a doornail’
‘What’s done is done’
‘For goodness sake’
‘A wild-goose chase’
There's an old joke about two young men, who've just finished attending a theatre production of "Hamlet." One of the young men asks the other how he liked the play. His friend's response was "Well, it was alright, I guess. But it was just so full of cliches!"
The two biggest influences on the English language to this very daycontinue to be Shakespeare and the Bible.
Shakespeare used words to create masterpieces just as great artists used paint. The more one is exposed to his works, the more his genius can be appreciated and passed on to the next generation of English speaking people. When was the last time you saw a Shakespeare play, or read one of his sonnets? Can you now recognize the Bard's influence in everyday English?
Until I “breathe [my] last” (Henry VI, part 3) breath I will not “budge an inch” (The Taming of the Shrew) in my opinions of the Bard and his influence on the English language. “Come what may” (Macbeth), I believe his works will continue to stand the test of time, just as they have for the past four centuries.
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If I've sold you on adding Shakespeare to your list of things to teach your children, then you may be thinking "Now what?" Maybe you know nothing about Shakespeare, and have no idea where to start.
Let me share my greatest advice on how to study the Bard:
WATCH his plays.
Hear what I am saying. William Shakespeare's plays were never published until after his death. They were MEANT to be seen, not read! Children (and adults!) of all ages can enjoy these wonderful productions-- especially if you can attend a live performance. Usually, if you attend a matinee or school performance, the show will be family friendly. Call the box office or production company to be sure.
One source for exposing yourself and your family to the Bard are the BBC versions of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare". All of them are available for rental at Netflix, and many of them are available on their "Instant Watch" list. MOST of these are suitable for children, but not all. More often, the comedies are best for younger kids, and live performances are better than movies for holding the attention of children.
(Unfortunately, there are people who add inappropriate things to some of Shakespeare's plays. Be sure to double check live productions or movies before showing them to your children.)
Another idea for studying Shakespeare, is to have a "dramatic reading" with your family. Sometimes, we think that the Shakespearean language is too difficult to understand, but if we read the words aloud, their meaning becomes more clear. And those of us who read the King James version of the Bible regularly, have a better time understanding Shakespearean language, because Shakespeare and King James were contemporaries who lived in England at the same time.
There are also some simplified versions of Shakespeare's stories that are good for use with younger children. One example is"Tales from Shakespeare" by Charles and Mary Lamb. This book does a great job explaining and retelling the stories of the plays. Another option is "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales". These are 25 minute long animated condensed stories of twelve different plays, including "Othello", "Hamlet", "A Winter's Tale" and "The Tempest". These discs are also available for rental from Netflix.
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| The cast of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" 2009 |
The best way for youth to understand Shakespeare, especially those twelve and older, is to be participant in a Shakespearean play production. This is a growing trend among homeschooled teens, and I am a HUGE advocate! In fact, I spend quite a bit of time in the Spring directing my older children and their friends in a Shakespeare production, after teaching them more about the Bard in a Fall homeschool class. If you'd like more information on how you, too, can get a Shakespeare class and/or play going in your area, check out the products we offer here! (See the links at the top of this website.) We have lots of helpful resources to share with you!
The study of Shakespeare has greatly enriched my own family's culture and education. I highly recommend adding a little culture, art, heightened literacy, and understanding to your family's homeschooling efforts, by studying the works of William Shakespeare...
“For goodness sake”! (Henry VIII)
