I am a long-time Shakespeare lover. I love the timeless themes, I love the expressive language, and—despite popular opinion—I love the film adaptations. But my current Shakespeare class has me reflecting on what Shakespeare’s plays teach students, both in high school and college. What does the Shakespeare curriculum bring to the literary table, and why are some professors and teachers opposed to it?
There’s no doubt that Shakespeare’s cultural impact has been hugely significant since his plays were written. His themes of love, family, death, and betrayal will always withstand the test of time in their relatability. His metric, rhythm, and ability to fit so much meaning within a few words have earned him a spot in the literary hall of fame. But, will he always be welcome there? In 2016, a group of English students at Yale petitioned to have Shakespeare, among other classic authors like Chaucer and Milton, striked from the college core requirements. They were frustrated with the lack of diversity that seemed to permeate the English curriculum, stating that a course plan that included works written exclusively by white men was “unacceptable.” Creating this petition was part of a larger effort to “decolonize” higher education, and they were able to get 160 signatures in support of altering Yale’s English departmental core. Some faculty members were supportive of the petition, while some weighed in to say that reading the work of white male authors was necessary to an English degree, due to their volume and literary legacy, referencing authors like TS. Eliot and William Wordsworth as examples alongside Shakespeare. While these writers are imperative to the English curriculum, there’s no doubt that more diversity of authors is needed in higher education.Due to Yale’s English major requirements, most students who graduate with an English degree will not have read a single required work by a female author. While this may not be the result of deliberate exclusion of women authors or authors of color, there’s not a concentrated effort to expand perspectives in many schools’ English departments. As a result of this, students are questioning whether it may be necessary to eliminate Shakespeare or some of his peers in order to make room for more diverse works.
Additionally, some teachers are now resisting the idea that Shakespeare should be a requisite for students on the English track. These educators believe the themes Shakespeare’s works present, while universal, may be becoming antiquated in the modern learning environment.
The main issue with these common core Shakespeare standards that many high schools and colleges use is that they require close readings and analysis of Shakespeare’s works themselves, but typically do not require these lesson plans to include a unit surrounding social awareness; in other words, students are required to learn about Shakespeare, his plays, and what takes place in them, but may not be required to learn what makes these plays problematic in a modern context.
Dana Dusbiber, an educator at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, faced harsh criticism when she wrote an op-ed explaining why she no longer wants to teach Shakespeare in her classroom. Dusbiber states that while Shakespeare does thematically explore the human condition, many other authors have done the same since Shakespeare’s era that do not get the same recognition. She also encourages other educators to challenge the status quo when it comes to teaching English, saying “I am sad that we don’t reach beyond our own often narrow beliefs about how young people become literate to incorporate new research on how teenagers learn, and a belief that our students should be excited about what they read — and that may often mean that we need to find the time to let them choose their own literature.” Dusbiber also worries that by teaching Shakespeare as the only standard for English lit, she sends a message to her students that his culture and perspective will always be the most important. Dusbiber ends the article by stating “If we only teach students of color, as I have been fortunate to do my entire career, then it is far past the time for us to dispense with our Eurocentric presentation of the literary world. Conversely, if we only teach white students, it is our imperative duty to open them up to a world of diversity through literature that they may never encounter anywhere else in their lives.”
Dusbiber’s perspective as an educator is thought-provoking, though some teachers and professors defend a Shakespearean education by citing his cultural relevance. Christina Torres, an 8th grade English teacher at Punahou School in Honolulu, fears that by removing Shakespeare from her lesson plan, she could rob her students of a lesson in cultural literacy. Torres explains how pervasive Shakespeare is in our culture—after all, he is referenced in commercials, evoked in modern novels, and his characters are even used to describe people’s personality types. However, Torres balances her concern with a twist on the typical common core. By encouraging her students to form their own opinions on both Shakespeare’s work,and whether he’s deserving of his cultural longevity,she feels she can eliminate the idea that Shakespeare is “inherently good.” Torres also makes a point to give her students the space to investigate why Shakespeare’s works are more famous and culturally prevalent than other nonwhite authors, like James Baldwin and Lois-Ann Yamanaka. She suggests designing a project that allows students to identify themes in Shakespeare that no longer feel culturally or societally applicable to them and explain why. This could be an example of a more productive way to teach Shakespeare, by calling out the elements of his plays that no longer serve the modern English curriculum.
So do we need Shakespeare in the classroom? I’m not totally sure. Maybe the solution is not to completely remove Shakespeare from educational spaces, but to promote critical readings of his works, while adding more diverse material to curriculums alongside his plays. The goal in learning Shakespeare should not just be to learn the historical significance and literary importance. While these topics are vital to understanding Shakespeare, understanding and analyzing the implications of these themes as a piece of larger cultural puzzle is likely to be more valuable to students. I think a goal for educators would be to find the balance between teaching Shakespeare’s cultural significance, while holding space for other diverse perspectives within the English canon. Ultimately, it should be up to educators to decide how they want to bring Shakespeare into their learning spaces, if at all. Ideally, the common core standards would be adjusted to require a more socially aware spin on Shakespeare’s work, something educators may work towards in the near future. And meanwhile, I’ll just be rewatching Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet for the 20th time.