Shakespeare and Culture

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how we have come to look at Shakespeare as a symbol of culture. He must be studied in every compulsory English course in high schools and colleges and his plays attract Hollywood actors, all seeking to get some of this culture to rub off on them. It focuses on how his works fit into our culture today and how some of the stories can be paralleled with real life events.

From the Paper:

"Most of the critics and writers about Shakespeare's genius and its meaning for us today approach the subject with reverence sometimes misplaced. Teachers are "trying to make Shakespeare intelligible to students who cared not at all...." (Colie, p. 3) What we should be doing, it seems, is de-mythifying Shakespeare. What he wrote, whether as a morality play, a history, even a bawdy comedy, provides something we can relate to, today, even if the language is somewhat stilted. The sense still comes through. There are even those who believe that teen- agers committing suicide over Marilyn Manson or some heavy metal group's lyrics are somewhat similar to Romeo and Juliet. There are those who see Lady MacBeth in Hillary Rodham Clinton. The point, it seems, should not to liken a modern character to a made-up or even historical one from Shakespeare, but to appreciate the timelessness of his characters and plots."

More papers on Shakespeare and Culture:

• Argumentative Essay # 4770 : "Shylock, Shakespeare and the "Merchant of Venice"
• Research Paper # 98231 : "Renaissance Drama and Cultural Materialists' Viewpoints"
• Persuasive Essay # 46305 : "Shakespeare from a Modern Viewpoint"

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