Why Shakespeare's Important

Shakespeare's tough, there's no two ways about it. Just ask any high school kid. The very image of middle aged guys in tights uttering nearly incomprehensible English can be a turn off to most anyone in this day and age.

Still, “The Bard” is important. Why? Because his characters think and act like we do. Whether it's Hamlet's indecision, Juliet's independence or Iago's manipulation, Shakespeare's creations unfold like the best and worst of all of us in our everyday lives. Could the same be said of most contemporary film or television characters? What of the personalities on “reality” TV?

When we're wronged by another person do we make a scene, like the Housewives of the Bravo Channel? Do we set out on a relentless trek for justice, like Liam Neeson's character in the film Taken? Or, rather, do we hem, haw and endlessly turn over possible scenarios in our minds, like Hamlet? Hollywood presents us with what we wish we were. Shakespeare presents us with what we are.

That's not to say there's no room for pure entertainment. It's pleasurable to engage in books, movies and shows where characters act like we ourselves wish we could, but simply can't out here in the real world. Still, there's room for Shakespeare, too. In fact, in this age where few figures on the big or small screens speak with vocabularies beyond those of pre-teens, it's refreshing to read or hear Shakespeare's poetic dialogue, with its unique cadences and memorable turns of phrase.

What's more, Shakespeare's plays can be fun once we become accustomed to his style and parlance. No sissy, the man penned works that were bold and bloody, exciting and sometimes funny. It's good to keep in mind that, in his own time, Shakespeare was first and foremost an entertainer, a man whose primary goal was to make money for his theater company by writing plays that brought in audiences.

In the end, though, we have to keep in mind that Shakespeare's insight into human nature is the reason for his work's survival centuries after his death. Without such insight, his plays would simply be diversions, low impact forms of entertainment. We have enough of those in our world as it is.

Academics and social renegades who see no value in the study of Shakespeare are sadly misguided. History and Physics can explain how we've arrived at the here and now, Social Studies can explore the here and now in depth, but Shakespeare shows us who we are.

In his own time, Shakespeare was valued for presenting his audiences with entertaining plays. Today his is valued for presenting us with ourselves. In this shallow time we live in, his presentation is well worth exploring.