Should Kids Learn Shakespeare in School?

There is much controversy over teaching Shakespeare in schools, but I happen to be leaning towards one side of the argument. There are five goods reasons that kids should have to learn Shakespeare in school. First, Shakespeare has international appeal, meaning everyone around the world has read or even heard one of Shakespeare plays. Second, William Shakespeare uses rich dense language in his plays which provides such great detail for the characters, setting, and plot. That brings me to my third point which is; Shakespeare really brings his plays to life and he does that with his characters. In Macbeth, for example, there were at least 15 characters with different detailed stories about their life. Shakespeare had such a good way of making the characters in his play to be almost like real people. Fourth, Shakespeare’s use of different language makes the plays so much better. He took common words and make them seem so much different. Lastly, Shakespeare’s plays are often complex and sometimes difficult to understand so, if a child can be taught the language of Shakespeare they will be able to understand many complex things in other classes.

To begin, Shakespeare’s themes still resonate today. His plays demonstrate the issues of loss, love, treachery, honor, anger, despair, tenderness, jealousy, etc. They make people think of questions of morality, politics, war, wealth, and death. By exploring what’s most important to people today, Shakespeare helps us better appreciate life, “There Shakespeare, on whose forehead climb the crowns o’ the world; oh, eyes sublime with tears and laughter for all time!” (Elizabeth Barrett Browning).  

Accordingly, quite a couple other writers try and match Shakespeare’s unique style of writing such as his language. His monologues and soliloquies, even some of his ‘comic relief’, are some of the most exquisite ever written. His command of language provokes our imaginations and inspires our own written expressions. “The souls most fed with Shakespeare’s flame still sat unconquered in a ring, remembering him like anything” (G. K. Chesterton).

Furthermore, Shakespeare showed a thorough understanding of human nature with the characters he created. His protagonists express the fears and desires of every ordinary man. We learn more about ourselves from the personalities that people play in his plays. People are able to relate to some of Shakespeare’s characters. Readers are able to feel like they are enabled to have the opportunity to step into the lives of his characters; to feel their emotions and understand their motivations, which is a very rewarding experience for students. Although Shakespeare wrote his plays about 360 years ago, their themes and subjects are still relevant in our society.

Much of Shakespeare's text is dated back and is typically unknown by the common student. However, many students will gain further knowledge of understanding Shakespeare’s words and the English language. Writing during Shakespeare’s time included language that many students had never seen before but, the emotions put into the text from Shakespeare makes for a very detailed story. Shakespeare includes vivid imagery and many poetic descriptions of characters, landscapes, and situations in his stories.

In conclusion, Shakespeare should be taught in schools because his detailed language and creative storylines should be used as examples for students to write better. In my opinion, Shakespeare is very useful for students today because in English classes many teachers assign essays and large writing projects that need figurative language which kids can learn from Shakespeare. Many people around the world still love and read Shakespeare. Shakespeare was able to connect with his readers through clever language and extensive detail. All in all, students should be able to learn Shakespeare in school because it will help them as a writer overall.