What's
So Great About Shakespeare?
by Linda
Johnson
As a young mother, I wasn’t
convinced that Shakespeare
was worth studying, at least
not by children. After all,
his plays had bawdy jokes,
frequent love-making and his
personal life had some serious
flaws. However, over time,
as I studied Shakespeare’s
plays and researched his influence
upon the Englishspeaking world,
I began to feel that my children
would have quite a gap in
their understanding of our
world if I neglected Shakespeare.
I would have to be careful
how I approached it, guarding
their little hearts while
introducing them to yet another
medium that reveals the human
condition.
Here
are Some Reasons Why We Study
Shakespeare.
He
is responsible for adding
some 2000 words and phrases
to the English language and
his plays provide a comprehensive
and thoughtful look at the
human condition, dealing with
the virtues of men as well
as their vices - love, faithfulness,
greed, honesty, selfishness,
mercy, lust, power and justice
are just a few.
As we study his plays, we
understand ourselves better.
His plays deal with the consequences
of sin and yet Shakespeare
is very liberal in showing
mercy. I believe this is a
very important theme in his
works. Macbeth, although one
of his darkest plays, reveals
the power of unconfessed sin
and its ability to destroy
not just one, but many lives.
It also exposes the dangers
of witchcraft. His inspiration
comes from historical events,
mythological tales, and Biblical
passages. He often refers
to Christ, His teachings and
other Biblical characters
and morals. All of these sources
are a vital part of our history.
His plays provide rich fodder
for meaningful discussions.
They have intricate plots
with many twists and turns,
providing an excellent exercise
in logic. His poetry is profound.
Shakespeare and the sonnet
go hand in hand. Lastly, they
are thoroughly entertaining
and stimulate the imagination.
Shakespeare’s plays, however,
were obviously not written
for young children, so why
introduce them to a child?
We all know that most high-school-aged
students today do not enjoy
studying Shakespeare.
I believe this is partly
due to the fact that teachers
expect understanding, enjoyment
and analysis to occur in a
single lesson. The student
did not have enough time to
develop an appreciation for
the stories and the beautiful
language. However, if you
introduce children to the
plays using expurgated versions
in story form adapted especially
for children, they will have
developed an understanding
of the stories and an appreciation
for them by the time they
are old enough to explore
the important themes in greater
detail.
It is evident that parents
and educators from earlier
times understood this. If
you have read classic children’s
literature, you will notice
that the authors assumed the
child reader was familiar
with Shakespeare. Often, the
characters named their pets
after a person in one of his
plays and the children acted
out some of the tales in their
backyards. Puck of Pooks Hill
by Richard Kipling is a good
example of this as well as
books by Elizabeth Enright.
Parents and educators understood
the importance of familiarizing
the children with the Bard
slowly and gently. They were
introduced to Shakespeare
at an early age with copies
of Edith Nesbit’s “Beautiful
Stories from Shakespeare”
or “Tales from Shakespeare”
by Charles and Mary Lamb.
Fortunately, these delightful
books are regaining popularity
among homeschoolers today
and can even be found online
and free of charge.
Some
Caveats to Consider
Shakespeare does misbehave
at times, but fortunately,
the Elizabethan English veils
such innuendos quite well
and they pass unnoticed by
the children. For this reason,
I recommend that you do not
use modern versions of the
plays unless you plan to edit.
Not all of his works are suitable
for young people so you will
have to be careful and do
a little research. Generally,
his comedies are more appropriate
for younger children while
his tragedies and histories
may be saved for older children.
It’s helpful to know that
‘lovers’ and ‘love-making’
are frequently used but this
did not have the same meaning
in the past as it does today.
It referred to the attraction
between two people and not
the act of union, itself.
Although the characters are
adults, the stories are often
unrealistic and very silly.
They cause my children to
scoff at the nonsense rather
than produce an attraction
for the opposite sex.
In
Our Home
My children look forward to
our weekly Shakespeare sessions.
When they are seven or eight
years old, I read aloud Nesbit’s
“Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare”
once a week, taking two
weeks to complete a tale.
We do this leisurely throughout
the
year. Shakespeare’s plays
often have intricate plots,
so in order
to keep the characters straight
in our minds, I divide a dry
erase board into about 8 large
grid squares and draw simple
stick figures of the main
characters as they are introduced.
Then I jot down the first
name of each character above
each
figure. My children do the
same on their clipboards,
dividing
a piece of paper into squares
and drawing their own stick
figures. Young writers only
write the first letter of
each character’s name in each
of their boxes. This simple
method is quick and effective
in introducing the story.
The children get to use their
hands while I read and don’t
feel pressure to produce an
artistic masterpiece. Sometimes,
using Charlotte Mason’s narration
methods, I let the children
retell a portion of the story
using paper dolls or popsicle
sticks with the characters
puttied<
onto them. We also read Diane
Stanley’s beautifully illustrated
“Shakespeare, Bard of Avon”
together. This is a simple
yet
thorough introduction to his
life and works.
Older children, who are
now familiar with the stories,
are
each given their own personal
copy of a play. Together,
we
read aloud the play to each
other, each of us assuming
the role
of a character or two. This
takes several weeks to complete
as
I only allow about 15 minutes
per week for this. Remember,
‘small bites.’ We don’t worry
about understanding all the
vocabulary but we keep a dictionary
nearby. We don’t analyze,
just enjoy the play, and of
course, spontaneous natural
discussions occur too.
If I can find an appropriate
movie version of the play,
then<
we watch it together. After
all, Shakespeare’s plays were
meant
to be watched. BBC versions
are our favorite and generally
family safe. My daughters
love to watch these plays
and laugh
over the numerous jokes clothed
in archaic language. We like
to put on a family play once
a year and invite our close
friends
and family to watch the production.
We have made some
beautiful memories this way.
By high school, my students
are thoroughly acquainted
with the story line of several
Shakespearean plays and enjoy
reading and talking about
them. They are now ready to
explore the deeper ideas behind
the tales. I hand them a copy
of “Brightest Heaven of Invention:
A Christian Guide to Six Shakespeare
Plays” and over the next few
years, they read several tragedies
and histories along with Mr.
Leithart’s insightful commentary
and challenging questions.
They may watch one of the
recommended movies for older
students found at the end
of each chapter or attend
a local play production.
We have found that when we
studied Shakespeare’s plays
in small, manageable bites,
it was not only an easy and
enjoyable family exercise
but richly rewarding in many
ways. Most importantly, it
prepared the children for
a deeper appreciation of humankind’s
common struggles, and only
after understanding is attained
can wisdom be gained. Well
known educator, Charlotte
Mason summed up the Bard’s
message aptly when she wrote:
“Shakespeare was as great
a philosopher as he was a
poet. That’s what he set out
to teach us in every line.
His characters ‘Leontes,’
‘Othello,’ ‘Lear,’ ‘Prospero,’
‘Brutus,’ demonstrate the
same thing: that a man’s reason
will try to bring infallible
proofs to any notion that
a person decides to take up.
There’s no shortcut and no
way around it; the art of
life takes a long time to
learn.”
Linda Johnson is a former
public school teacher who
has spent the last 11 years
homeschooling her four children
while living in the Middle
East with her husband, a professional
translator. She currently
resides in East Texas.
