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Why Should We Care About Shakespeare or Any Of Those Other Old Playwrights?

Posted on June 6, 2011 at 1:56 PM

Would you rather go see a movie or go see a play with live actors?

For me it's far more entertaining to see the action live, but aside from the entertainment aspect of it, you can also learn new things.  Shakespeare might seem outdated and unimportant, but it's definitley not.  What can you gain from seeing classic plays? Well, since you asked...

You will obtain a prodigious vocabulary. (You could learn some words from Shakespeare's plays and if you stuck the words in a sentence in casual conversation it would blow your friends minds... Such as the word prodigious, which means "Extraordinary in size, amout, extent, degree, etc.  Words like this could probably help you get a better ACT or SAT score too :D)

You can learn what makes the classics, well, classics!  Perhaps the main reason people have been reading the same classics for hundreds of years is because people can still relate to the deep thoughts and ideas that are presented in them.

Attending  plays will make you a more sophisticated person. What is sophistication? Sopistication is when a person's ideas, tastes, manners, etc. are altered by education, or experience so as to be worldly-wise; not naive.  Jim Rohn, the motivational speaker, once said "Even people of modest means can become sophisticated because it is within study and practice.  How much is a night out at the symphony? About thirty dollars. You say, "Poor people can't afford thirty dollars to go to the symphony."Yes, they can.  It's only thirty Hershey bars!"

Viewing plays will give you something to talk about.  If you've seen the plays or movies or read the stories of the classics, you can have more intelligent conversations with others! How cool would it be to be able to disscuss with one of your friends the events and ideas of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, or Othello, Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, or The Mikado? Maybe even Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, or Death of a Salesman by Aurthur Miller?  Or The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde? There are tons of old, enjoyable classics just waiting to be watched, go out and see them any chance you get!

I recently asked this question on YahooAnswers:

Do you think that teens need more culture?

I'm not talking about pop culture and things like that, I'm talking about culture such as going to plays (like Shakespeare), reading more, etc.?

Do you think that teenagers should do more of that instead of just watching plain old tv and reading Twilight? And instead of going to the movies, every once in a while go to a play instead?

If you agree, why ?

And if you don't agree, why not?"

This is one of the responses that I got:

  I agree that teens (and adults) should be exposed to the fine arts. It's a way to appreciate the rest of the world rather than feel it's all about themselves. It takes talent to perform in an opera, play, or ballet. There are symphonies to go to, and museums and art shows to see.  I did all of this with my parents since I was a young girl and I appreciate them exposing me to the fine arts. I enjoy the ballet and symphony even now, and would like to meet a man who appreciates the same.

If you have comments on this subject, or if you agree with me, or want to argue with me about it, I'd be glad to! :P Comment on this post!


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