Finding the roots; Why do we read Shakespeare?

As have been researching Shakespeare one thing I think anyone that researches Shakespeare notices is that there is a lot of information about him. When you start to look up anything on Shakespeare it takes little time to notice massive amount of writing that has been done about him and his work. The word “Shakespeare” brings up 32,700,000 results. As I have been sifting through all the writings and YouTube videos I can’t help but wonder why he is read so much. Yes I understand he was an amazing writer of his time but why is it that so many people read his work? At the end of this blog I will begin to show why we read Shakespeare.

To begin to answer this You have to ask yourself the question “why does anyone read at all?”. Ever sense I can remember my friends and I have seen reading as a chore and got out of it every chance we got.  On my mission I learned to enjoy reading and from that point on I always seem to have something in my hand. So “Why we read” is an important question for me.

The article “The Rise of the Novel” by Ian Watt has been very informative in explaining as to why people read. In the article Watt makes the case that the reason we read is because of the experience that we have as a result of reading the novel. Watt says that “Life and reality are very close each others in the novels”. In his article he makes the case that a genuine novel should contain formal realism. Watt describes formal realism as “the narrative method whereby the novel embodies a circumstantial view of life”(32). As we read we are taken to a different time, person, and place. We either love or hate the book by what experience we have while reading the novel.  Now that we understand the underlying reason for why we read we can start to understand why we love to read Shakespeare so much. 

My findings is that we read him because of his of his artistic genius.

A few ambitious people have come up with a reason as to why everyone loves to read and study Shakespeare.  In yahoo answers one person wrote:

Because he wrote stuff like this:


But man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he ’s most assured,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As make the angels weep.

This person argues that we read it because of the aesthetically pleasing value. Another person on yahoo answers says:

“In Shakespeare’s time, great books were thought of as mirrors. When you read a great book, the idea is, you are looking into a mirror—a pretty special mirror, one that reflects the world in a way that allows us to see its true nature. What is more, as we hold the volume of Shakespeare in front of us, we see that it reflects not only the world around us, but also ourselves. What is it that we find in Shakespeare? Nothing less that ourselves and the world—certainly worthy subjects to study in college.

In Shakespeare’s time, great books were thought of as mirrors. When you read a great book, the idea is, you are looking into a mirror—a pretty special mirror, one that reflects the world in a way that allows us to see its true nature. What is more, as we hold the volume of Shakespeare in front of us, we see that it reflects not only the world around us, but also ourselves. What is it that we find in Shakespeare? Nothing less that ourselves and the world—certainly worthy subjects to study in college.

As you learn to read Shakespeare, you are learning to read the world. As you interpret Shakespeare’s characters, you are practicing figuring out life’s characters. Struggling with the complexities involved in interpreting Shakespeare is a superb preparation for struggling with the complexities of life. Shakespeare offers a world of vicarious experience—a virtual reality, a sort of flight simulator—that gives you a great advantage when it comes time to venture out into the real world.”

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090107184926AA0AoKv

He is arguing that we read Shakespeare because of the learning experience we have while reading Shakespeare.

The next article “Why study Shakespeare?” by Rachel Mendell argues 9 different reasons why we read Shakespeare.

• Have a broader view of the world in general.
• Have little trouble in other literature classes.
• Do well in logic and philosophy.
• Appreciate other art forms as well: music, drama, art, costume, writing.
• Have an easier time grasping the concepts of character, plot, irony, universal truth, advanced vocabulary, etc.
• Understand concepts in clear speaking.
• Have a broader view of important historical events.
• Have a greater understanding of human nature (greed, faithfulness, love, power, gentleness, poor choices, honesty, integrity, popularity, danger, patriotism, selfishness, self-sacrifice, etc.)

The last article that I read about why people read Shakespeare was called “Shakespeare: A Common Knowledge in Society”. This unknown author argues that the reason people read Shakespeare is because it is a “is to have a common knowledge in our societies”. He goes on to say that “so many diverse groups of people can be brought together with Shakespeare's plays, for discussions, arguments, and more. The timeless ideas that are put into his plays are something that everyone can relate to, which in the big picture could bring all societies together.”

In the novel Hamlet the reader is faced with topic of vengeance. Was Hamlet just for his actions? The play suggests that his actions were completely justified but is it ok to act as judge and jury? Upon closer review when the play was written there was a great deal of political turmoil. In the book “The masks of Hamlet” by Marvin Rosenberg he identifies that throughout the play, characters draw explicit connections between the moral legitimacy of a ruler and the health of the nation. The dead King Hamlet is portrayed as a strong, forthright ruler under whose guard the state was in good health, while Claudius, a wicked politician, has corrupted and compromised Denmark to satisfy his own appetites. The beginner can have a interesting experience from reading and the Scholar can understand the peoples politics of that time.

In hamlet act 5 scene 2 4-8 we see Shakespeare’s artistic genius. In the text below we see Shakespeare’s “standard poetic blank verse” in iambic pentameter which is creative but his genius is exposed by interrupting and varying the versus flow

Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting

That would not let me sleep. Methought I lay

Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly—

And prais'd be rashness for it—let us know

Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well

This creative artistic genius is what makes Shakespeare so timeless and studied so regularly. A scholar could study Shakespeare his whole life and get a unique truth from his work each time he reviewed it and studied it more.