Ah Shakespeare.

One of the world’s most revered writers of all time.

Whatever your personal feelings are about the Writings of Shakespeare, making sure your children have a familiarity with them is a highly beneficial endeavor.

This post is intended to be an encouragement to parents and to myself. No matter how deficient our own educations in Classic Literature may have been, we can approach the texts now, little by little, and hope still to benefit from their many gifts.

If we are going to spare our children from the same ignorance we have experienced into adulthood regarding the works of Shakespeare and the like, we should begin introducing them to such works, in a fun and enthusiastic manner, while they are still very young.

“Give me your children until they are seven, and anyone may have them afterwards.” – The Jesuit, St. Francis Xavier

His Influence and It’s Demise

Shakespeare’s writings have had a permeating affect on American culture for decades and it is only in this most recent decade that we have begun to see the decline of his writings as course requirements amongst elementary, high school, and astonishingly… University students.

In this modern day culture, lessons in morality and true character in the classroom are mangled at best and entirely shunned at worst. The bar for literacy has been set at the most basic levels in the name of “No Child Left Behind” and thus many teachers refrain from introducing any literary works that may be deemed “difficult.”

Though great efforts are being made in creating phonetic literacy, this generation is suffering from the lost pursuit of literacy in the Literary Great Works. The result continues to be a decline in eloquent self expression as well as in an individual’s ability to analyze with true logic and a grounded moral compass, life’s most difficult, and in some cases even simplest, dilemmas.

The benefits of reading Shakespeare have been altogether forgotten by many, and for others never taught or recognized in the first place.

I am included with those who had very little exposure to Shakespeare growing up. My high school years did include an obsession with the movie version of Romeo and Juliet starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes. I watched it about 1 million times, and thus put many of the actual words of Shakespeare from that single play, to memory.

I was also exposed to a few excerpts in textbooks from Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar, when required to take turns with peers, reading in class. These lessons seemed more focused on an exercise in reading aloud, (once again phonetic literacy) than on actual appreciation for the writings. We each attempted to keep one eye on the book, while the other was more faithfully tending to homework for another class or constructing a handwritten note to be stealthily passed.

There was very little discussion about the actual words, characters, plot, conflicts, metaphors, language, or messages we were being exposed too. There certainly was no expectation placed upon us to grapple with the difficult task of reading and analyzing any of Shakespeare’s works, on our own.

Character Analysis

“A lively and lasting sense of filial duty is more effectually impressed on the mind of a son or daughter by reading King Lear, than by all the dry volumes of ethics, and divinity that were ever written.” – Thomas Jefferson

There is something about stories that affect our human understanding with great power. We are able to learn far more empathetically and with lasting impact, from myths and fables, than from factual snippets in textbooks. Both likeable and despised characters, mixed with dramatic plots, prove time and time again to teach each of us far more than the most well intentioned lecture.

Shakespeare’s works are filled with just such characters and complexities. As we read Shakespeare, we are learning about the world around us, past, present and future. As we figure out his characters, we are figuring out life’s characters. Struggling with the complexities expressed in his works, prepares us to struggle with the complexities we ourselves will face. The stories inclusive of the works of Shakespeare provide a mental realm for our students – a type of flight simulator – where they can hash through situations and acquire knowledge and understanding that will afford them a great advantage when it comes time to venture out into the real world.

Not only do the works of Shakespeare provide us with an opportunity to analyze character qualities, puzzle through moral dilemmas and make ethical decisions, they also introduce us to an exquisite array of the language arts including but not limited to, vocabulary, metaphor, poetry, symbolism, and eloquence.

Language Arts

“Shakespeare must be singled out by one who wishes to learn the full powers of the English language.” – Thomas Jefferson

One of the most important acknowledgements our children can experience through the reading of Shakespeare, is the observation that truly great writing is possible. Beautiful language has been lost in this generation and continues to decline with the acceptance of pervasive slang, and sound bytes of thought, expressed through the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and texting.

I love this excerpt from an article in the Cape Cod Times written by a former farmer and sailor:

“…Everyone fluent in English should read Shakespeare. The Bard’s 17th-century idioms and archaic stage conventions aren’t easy reading, I’ll admit. But everyone should wade through a few of his plays, for the following reasons.

1. It’s essential to know that it’s possible to write that well because somebody actually did it.

2. The rest of us can scribble and mumble but the Bard’s shining example can help us to polish our own deliveries. Woo a lover with poetry and she’ll respect the effort even if you have spinach stuck in your teeth. Berate a swindler in iambic pentameter and he’ll think twice about swindling you again.

3. Modern stagecraft has better lighting and modern cinema displays more thrilling special effects, but Shakespeare understood and expressed universal emotions better than anyone else ever has.

4. Exquisite language, vivid imagery and elegant cadences will never become obsolete. Understand the master and you understand profound, eternal truths.

Examples:

Shakespeare said, “Cry ‘Havoc!’ And let slip the dogs of war!” A modern warrior might say, “Let’s bomb those bums back into the Stone Age.”

Shakespeare said, “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I.” A contemporary might whine, “What a wicked, wicked dink I am. What a loser.”

Shakespeare: “My salad days, when I was green in judgment.” Ordinary schmo: “I had lotsa fun when I was a kid, even though I was sorta dumb.”

Shakespearean villain facing a tragic end: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It’s a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Modern sourpuss: “Life sucks.”

Shakespeare: “Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.” Modern private eye: “That guy looks like a sleaze bag.”

Shakespeare’s amorous young man: “But soft! What light at yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!” Modern teenager: “Gee, yer cute. Can’t stop thinkin’ ’bout cha.”

(Excerpt taken from the Cape Cod Times article titled “Why Everyone Should Read Shakespeare” written by Tom Gelsthorpe a sailor and former farmer,)

Discipline and Patience

Not only does the reading and analysis of Shakespeare’s writings leave us with the tools to improve our assessment of life’s situations and an increased ability to create respectable writing and rhetoric, but the journey itself provides a practice in patience, discipline, struggle, and accomplishment.

Students of Shakespeare quickly realize that if they ever hope to achieve any semblance of effectual and beautiful writing or persuasive speech, it will be accomplished through no less than a disciplined, labor intensive analysis of literary Great works, and an extensive accumulation of vocabulary and skilled, organized, well communicated thought.

Hard work and struggle are valuable lessons recently forgotten.

With children of a very young age, the focus should be on making Shakespeare fun through an introduction to his plays, stories, and biographical content. The goal is to instill in them a love of learning, and a fondness for stories and their authors. Laying such a foundation will prepare our children for the later years when the more difficult work of analysis of the actual texts will come. If prepared in the suggested manner at a very young age, approaching the authentic works will merely be an opportunity to more deeply understand an already well known and beloved friend.

I’m Convinced… Now What?

Even if you believe exposing your children to Shakespeare is a worthy endeavor, you may be left with the following road blocks…

1. I don’t know anything about Shakespeare. How can I possibly begin to teach it to my children without sounding like a bumbling idiot?
2. My children are very young. There is no way they are ready for Shakespeare.

With concern to roadblock number 1, let me assure you…

I’ve already explained that I too am thoroughly deficient in my understanding and even abilities to read and analyze Shakespeare. I will not let that stop me though, nor will I allow it to keep my children from its benefits.

As a mom who desires that my children have a better education than I did, I have already made the commitment to continue my own self education at home through books… indefinitely. I am learning about Shakespeare and his stories for the very first time right along side my 7 year old. What I do not tackle with him because it is beyond his reading and comprehension level, I hope to approach in my own stolen away moments, how ever few and far between they may be, along with the works of Plato, Pascal, Dostoyevskey, and others.

I refuse to remain an ignorant victim of my own lacking education in great literature, history, science, math, philosophy, poetry, art, and music. I’ve taken my education into my own hands. And it’s true… I will never now be able to accomplish what I could have in my youth when I had all that free time for learning, which I chose instead to waste. However, a lack of time compared to what was available to me then, doesn’t in any way discourage me from pursuing whatever little I can find time for now. And trust me… when I say “little” I mean it. I’m no different than you are: dishes, laundry, diaper changes, meals, shopping, church, family, shuttling, scuttling, and more. But still over time… little by little… it can be done.

With regard to road block number 2… Just as you are now introducing young children to age appropriate simplified versions of stories from the Brother’s Grimm, Aesop’s Fables, and the King James Bible, so can you make simplified works from Shakespeare traditional picture books and read-aloud stories in your home.

Here are the books through which to do exactly that.

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children edited by Edith Nesbit is the most excellent source I’ve found for children and adults, to understand the basic story-lines from the works of Shakespeare. There are a lot of books which I have checked out from the library and then happily returned; glad I didn’t spend my money on a permanent copy. “Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare” is not one of those books.

This is a book that should become a purchased mainstay in your home, alongside other cherished collections of fairytales, myths, and fables. The stories have been rewritten at what I would call a child’s intermediate reading level, and they provide a great opportunity for family read aloud time when characters and plot can be explained and discussed.

You may also find this book a valuable tool in your own pursuit to understand the works of Shakespeare. Reading the stories in this book will prepare you to then approach the actual works with a good grasp on plot, setting, and characters.

Let’s face it. For those of us trying to play catch up in our understanding of Shakespeare, there’s enough work to be done even once you know the story, just in trying to tackle the language and metaphors.  Once I’ve got a good understanding on the plot through use of the Children’s book, I can more freely enjoy the beauty and symbolism in the writing.

The same will be true for your kids. Introducing them to the stories and plot lines while they are young will allow them to more easily ingest the actual writings as their reading and comprehension abilities grow.

The Shakespeare Can Be Fun series by Lois Burdett takes the great works of Shakespeare and reintroduces them in an easier to understand format which still uses vocabulary from the originals to expose children little by little to the authenticate language. It is also written in a rhythmic rhyme that is fun and dramatic for children to read aloud. The illustrations in the books have been created by 8, 9, and 10 year olds and they accompany impressive summary excerpts written by the same age group. Each book also includes a list of suggested activities in the back, which compliment the story and enhance the learning experience with respect to the setting, character analysis, and exploration of themes.

Richard Monette, the Artistic Director for the Stratford Festival, writes in the foreword of the Tempest for Kids, in the Shakespeare Can Be Fun series,

“How often have we heard adults proclaim Shakespeare to be too deep or difficult for them; and how often has their sense of inadequacy and exclusion been fostered in childhood by dogged reverence of well-meaning but uninspired school teachers? ‘This is Great Literature, and it’s good for you,’ goes the classroom mantra, and thus is perpetuated the idea of Shakespeare as medicine to be swallowed stoically rather than a giddy pleasure to be pursued at every opportunity … Thank goodness for Lois Burdett who teaches her students that great plays are great playthings, and that making theatre is a marvelous game, to be played with all your might… When one succeeds at firing the imagination of a child, nothing can quench that enthusiasm – and when one fails, nothing can ignite it. To the child to whom (Shakespeare) is introduced as a Very Important Man, indeed, Shakespeare may well remain a distant and impenetrable stranger. To the child fortunate enough to be introduced to him by Lois Burdett (author of Shakespeare Can Be Fun) he has every chance of being a friend and playmate for life.”

These books are great for handing to a young reader, allowing him to read it on his own. It is great fun to then tackle it a second time as a fantastic, dramatic, family read aloud.

Shakespeare for Kids – His Life and Times with 21 Activities by Colleen Aacesen and Margie Bluhberg, is a great book to work through while reading Shakespeare’s stories. This book will acquaint you and your children with the life and times of the man himself. The creative activities help cement details of the setting and era from which Shakespeare wrote, into your children’s hearts and minds.

“Of primary importance in the study of any literature is the context in which it was written. Every story is written by an individual living in a particular culture and period. Consequently, each author’s work is, in a sense, a relic of the period in which it was written… (Each author) writes folk, fable, truth, and fiction from his own sensory experience. He tells of sunsets he has seen, trips to lands he has traveled, and conversations he has enjoyed. He may use these sensory experiences to create fantasy worlds, languages, and places beyond his reach, but they still smack of the human reality he has experienced.

A passing knowledge of the history of the time in which a piece was penned is therefore invaluable in its study. Social and class structures, moral sensibilities, roles for men and women, theological and philosophical trends and more are at the root of many a tale as authors use their literary genre to examine, criticize, or reflect on the life issues of their time and place…. In addition to understanding the historical period behind a piece of literature, a good reader must also acknowledge the personal history of the author. While fiction is not necessarily autobiographical and cannot be read as such, knowledge of the character and life of the author can at times provide a window into a work.”

(Adam and Missy Andrews from Teaching the Classics – Institute for Excellence in Writing)

You can see an example of one of the activities we recently enjoyed doing from this book, here.

Having a Volume of Shakespeare’s complete works, or several individual books of his actual writings, when your children are very young, is mostly a benefit only to you, if you should choose to take advantage of it. The more familiar you become with his texts now, the more prepared you will be to further teach and discuss Shakespeare with your children as they grow. Once you’ve read these children’s versions with your kids and have a good grasp of plot and story, try reading the actual works on your own and see what kind of beauty and understanding you can draw from the originals that you never before saw… or perhaps never before even attempted.

By passionately and playfully introducing  our young children to great authors, their biographies, historical context, and simplified versions of plot in their writings, we will have prepared them for life, to be warmly familiar with otherwise daunting Literary Masters.

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