Shakespeare's Impact

The following is an excerpt from my senior research paper. My paper is inspired by the work of Shakespeare.

The smell of warm ale and meat is thick in the air. Shrieks of laughter disappear into a flood of faces. Puck wanders about on a proscenium stage before a floor filled with people standing elbow to elbow. Above the mosh pit scene, there is a circular row of seats filled by the middle class. Above this row is yet another row in which the queen herself sits back and enjoys the show. It is a convergence of all levels of society brought together for a brief period of time to experience a play that comments on the class system contained in this very room. It is here that Shakespeare proves himself to be a genius, if for no other reason than for managing to die a natural death rather than being hanged.

Centuries later, high school students trudge to class and are asked to pull out their dry textbooks. They turn to page 259 and begin to read A Midsummer Night’s Dream individually. Just as students’ eyes become heavy with sleep and their heads begin to nod, and a single teacher stands in front of the class (also completely unenthusiastic about the play) and delivers an even drier lecture on Shakespeare. This was my experience in high school English. Comparing these two experiences side by side, one can hardly ignore the distinct change in atmosphere from Elizabethan England to our present day classrooms.

Year after year, generation after generation, students of English are asked to study the works of William Shakespeare. As high schoolers, these students are often curious thinkers and wonder, “why Shakespeare?” As a future teacher, I have only one answer: because Shakespeare is still relevant to our lives today.