102 Unit 06 | To thine own self be true Before reading the article below, write in your notebook three ways in which reading classic literature such as Shakespeare can benefit your education, and three ways in which it might not. Example: Reading challenging texts can help me expand my vocabulary, but since the language is old-fashioned, it isn’t useful in everyday life, which makes it less practical. Read the text about Shakespeare’s timeless relevance. First decide whether the statements (1–6) are true (T) or false (F) and put a cross ( ) in the correct box. Then identify the sentence in the text which supports your decision. Write the first four words of this sentence in the space provided. There may be more than one correct answer; write down only one. The first one (0) has been done for you. READING 31 a b Why Shakespeare still matters Shakespeare would be amused at how famous he is nowadays. Before anything else, he was a businessman: an actor, a shareholder in his company as well as a playwright whose priority was to sell tickets. Half of his plays weren’t even published during his lifetime. Now his legacy is all around us, from The Simpsons and Doctor Who to films such as Shakespeare in Love. Too bad he didn’t live to see the royalties. You don’t have to live in England to see Shakespeare’s influence everywhere you look. Shakespeare is embedded in our history. His plays were performed consistently throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and remain some of the most frequently adapted stories in Hollywood. But why should we continue to see Shakespeare’s plays and to read his work? For some, the beauty of his language and the relatable characters he created is enough. His fellow playwright and friend Ben Jonson described Shakespeare as “not of an age, but for all time.” When we think of romance, we think of Romeo and Juliet. When we think of the dangers of ambition or of ruthlessness in politics, we think of Macbeth and Richard III. When a comical mix-up takes place, we still refer to The Comedy of Errors with its confusion of not just one set of twins, but two. Arguably, what makes Shakespeare’s work so enduring is that he doesn’t provide easy answers. He does not tell us what to think; he teaches us how to think. His characters and the situations they find themselves in are highly complex; complex enough to require continued investigation four centuries later. Were Romeo and Juliet’s parents cruel, or were they being responsible and pragmatic in looking after their children’s long-term interests? Should Hamlet have trusted his instincts and acted decisively, or was he wise to delay until he thought he had proof? Or, as King Lear’s decision to divide his land but retain the crown prompts us to consider, does power reside in a title or in actions? There has never been a better time to enjoy Shakespeare. The Bard’s enduring popularity proves that even four centuries after his death, he can teach us much about dealing with humanity’s great questions. The questions of identity, race, terror, sex, violence, religion and gender raised by Shakespeare’s plays continue to be hotly debated in contemporary culture, though rarely with the subtlety and intelligence found in Shakespeare. In wrestling with the provocative questions and scenarios Shakespeare created, we question our own assumptions and beliefs, clarify our own thoughts, and become better thinkers. And, as the vast diversity of film and stage performances suggests, we continue to have fun in the process. Long live the Bard! Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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