Introduction
William Shakespeare’s plays are considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature. His plays have entertained, stimulated, and been taught for centuries; however, our high school teachers may not have mentioned that many of Shakespeare’s iconic plays incorporate risqué humour, with crude jokes. Shakespeare wrote appropriate to his time but these days, we, as a contemporary society have better … and its questionable whether his words still hold value. Good morning Ladies and gentlemen, today I will be arguing that Shakespearean language should not hold value within a contemporary society and that we should push to promote texts relevant to contemporary students. This is due to the extremely derisive language used about women in Hamlet and the appalling amount of racism expressed in the play Othello.
Argument 1: Treatment of Women
The treatment on women in Hamlet is appalling and this was conveyed through the choice of language that Shakespeare used throughout the play. The female characters in Hamlet, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, are portrayed as the puppets for the men around them. They are simply influenced by the men they love with little say of their own, in fact, Shakespeare does not even develop their characters. This was conveyed in Act 3, scene 2 where Hamlet says to Ophelia, “Lady, shall I lie in your lap,” and then he continues to say, “Do you think I meant country matters?” The treatment of women in this scene is destructive and in modern language, this quote translates to, “Did you think I was talking about sex?” This is an unacceptable language choice which can be considered as sexual harassment within contemporary society. Shakespeare is promoting misogynistic ideas through the language choices which society should be objecting to.
Hamlet uses Ophelia’s gender as the punchline of an unseemly joke when he uses the word, “country,”- drop off the last syllable and it is clear what he was going for. This type of language is extremely inappropriate and Shakespeare should not be promoting these values. As a contemporary society, we should not be glorifying this type of behaviour as we should promote more equality in this century. Throughout the scene, Hamlet ends with the word, “nothing,” which was essentially Elizabethan slang for a women’s private parts. These are just some of the many atrocious language choices that Shakespeare used throughout his play, Hamlet. The language choices are completely unnecessary and they essentially convey wrong values which contemporary society may think is a suitable way to refer to a woman. However, it is most definitely not okay to speak to a woman like this which is why Shakespearean language should not hold value within a contemporary society.
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Argument 2: Racism in his play Othello
Now, I will explain the racist language of Othello.
Shakespeare’s Othello explores themes such as jealousy, gender and deception. The exploration of these themes reveals the racial, cultural, and social climate of Venice. Othello is among the literary works that racism constitutes their origin. The primary philosophies of the seventeenth century about race are a substantial part of Othello’s doubt and insecurity, which ultimately lead to his tragic demise. The encounter between worlds with differing values and ideas plays a considerable role in the context of Othello. Since the hero of the play is an outsider, a Moor, the audience get an idea of how blacks were regarded in England, in Elizabethan times. From start to the end of the play, there are many references that bring about the issue of racism. For example, in Act 1, Scene 1, Iago utilises racist slurs when he wakens Brabantio with the news that his daughter, Desdemona who is a white Venetian, has eloped with Othello. Shakespeare gives Iago the line “old black ram” (Othello) as a highly offensive descriptor of the black main character, and by describing him as “tupping” (sleeping with) Brabantio’s “white ewe” (Desdemona), he essentially plays on racist Elizabethan notions that black men have an animal-like hypersexuality. Furthermore, during this scene, Iago calls Othello “the devil,” playing on an outrageous sixteenth century idea that black men were evil and that the devil often took the shape and form of a black man. This type of language choices that were made by Shakespeare are wholly unnecessary which essentially convey wrong values to its contemporary audiences. Imagine being a person of colour, sitting down to your English lesson, and the teacher shines the spotlight on such beautiful “paragon” and “nuanced” language where people who look like you are likened to dirty beasts. I don’t need to explain why that’s bad, and I hope I’ve convinced you that we shouldn’t glorify this quite frankly horrific language.
Othello, a black man, succumbs to believing the racist attitude of the time period – he refers to himself as a “base Judean” in Act V which essentially translates to “base Indian” in modern time. This degrading description indicates that Othello suggests that his blackness is to blame for his lack of conversational ability and by using the word “base” he is essentially referring to himself as “lowly” – meaning worth less as compared to a white person. Furthermore, through the play, Othello compares himself to a toad living in a dungeon, from the quote, “…I had rather be a toad/ And live upon the vapor of a dungeon.” Othello implies that his blackness makes him a loathsome animal, somehow less than human. In regards to Shakespearean work in classrooms, we can study the messages of the texts in class, we can analyse the depiction of racism in society, but what we should NOT do is glorify the language. Regardless of the purpose it serves, teaching the younger people of our society that referring to black people as toads is ‘literary genius’ is simply not a good idea. Holding the words themselves up to a gold standard could be very damaging to potential victims of this kind of language.
Conclusion
To conclude, William Shakespeare is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language. However, I have established that his choice of language within his plays (specifically Hamlet and Othello) promote misogyny and immoral values. The texts hold valuable lesson hence why his work can be kept in our classrooms, but we should not idolise it. By glorifying Shakespeare’s every word, we’re only teaching our kids that misogynistic and racist comments are a mark of intellect. Therefore, this destructive Shakespearean language should not hold value within a contemporary society.
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