Is Shakespeare relevant? The question so many people, past present, and future, have questioned timelessly over again. There’s no doubt that Shakespeare has been such a controversial topic, especially in the developing society of the 21st century. William Shakespeare has been taught in the Australian curriculum for as long as the formal education system has existed. And yet only in the past decade have people influenced the idea of it being removed. 450 years ago, William Shakespeare wrote extraordinary plays with such powerful storylines, one of them being “Romeo and Juliet.” Continuing the studies of “Romeo and Juliet” will help teenagers to understand the evolution of the English language over the centuries as well as realize the importance of rational decision-making. For these reasons especially, I without a doubt encourage all contemporary students to study Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo and Juliet.” Students apart of the new generation having an understanding of these topics portrayed by Shakespeare would most definitely allow our future to be safe, enjoyable, and remarkable.
Seven thousand languages in the world (Simons, 2019), English being one of them that 1.5 billion people speak every day (Lyons, 2017). Imagine life without speaking, or communicating. Pretty rough right? We take the English language so much for granted. Without William Shakespeare, the way we speak and express ourselves would be utterly different. Shakespeare’s plays have had a profound impact on the English language and have introduced us to a variety of words that we wouldn’t be using today if it weren’t for this brilliant man's work. One of the main reasons people argue against Shakespeare being taught is because of the difficulty of Shakespearean language. Difficult, confusing, give up? To the surprise of many, a lot of his words are incorporated into our daily lives. 1700 (INTEX) we owe to him. Shakespeare used basic grammar by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, and adding prefixes and suffixes. The word uncomfortable is a prime example of this. Act IV, Scene V Capulet says
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Despised, distressed, hated, martyred, killed!
Uncomfortable time, why camest thou now to murder, murder our solemnity? (4.5.59-61)
Shakespeare added prefixes to adjectives quite often to create new words. In the case of “Romeo and Juliet,” a tragedy in which Capulet mourns his daughter Juliet’s suicide, “uncomfortable” seems to have a more drastic sense than how we use it today. Not only did Shakespeare create many words, but many commonly used sayings also originated from phrases twisted by Shakespeare for his plays. For example, in Act II, Scene IV Mercutio says
Nay, if our wits run the wild goose chase, I am done; for
thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am
sure, I have in my whole five. (2.4.69-73)
In “Romeo and Juliet,” Shakespeare compares Romeo and Mercutio’s dueling with words to a dangerous horse race, called a “wild-goose chase.” In today's era, we still use the term “wild-goose chase” but it has slightly evolved over the 400 years. It is no longer the original idea of horses or geese from the Elizabethan era, it is a situation where you chase after something impossible to get. Although it is no longer about geese or horses we still owe tribute to Shakespeare for the metaphorical action that happens. Shakespeare is a renowned personality, not only did he provide us with plays, words, and phrases, but he gave us a language, an art, which is used in our lives every day.
Studies show that teenagers are more likely to act impulsively and make higher-risk decisions than any other age group (Steinberg, 2008). A student from a Medical College, Casey, once suggested that “Adolescent brains are “weird” to engage in risky behaviors.” Teenagers are more prone to this behavior because the frontal lobe is not yet fully developed (Fuller, 2013). Two perfect representations of this irrational behavior are Romeo and Juliet. The two star-crossed lovers divided by their family feudings attempted anything in their power to be together. Not thinking of the consequences, Romeo and Juliet try to hide their love for each other. Romeo says
Amen, Amen! It cannot counter vial exchange of joy. (2.6.3-4)
With Juliet’s reply
Do thou but close our hands with holy words? (2.6.6)
The two are so deep in lust that they decide to secretly get married without anyone except Friar Laurence knowing. This is a prime example of the protagonists' brains not yet being fully developed. Forty centuries later, a similar story with the same impulsive behavior happened. In the year of 1998 two schoolies lovers, Kristy McClelland and Steve Davey at just 17 years of age fell deeply in love with each other's appearances. After only two weeks of knowing each other, the couple got engaged shortly after, married. Although Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was quite an extreme approach to irrational teenage decision-making making it allows the 21st-century audience to realize that thinking of the consequences before doing something irrational is heavily important.
Finally, Shakespeare’s playwright “Romeo and Juliet” has had a tremendous outcome in today's era. Without Shakespeare’s playwrights, a quarter of the English language would not be here today. We owe so much to this remarkable man through his teachings and themes in the plays. “Romeo and Juliet” is just one of Shakespeare’s plays that show the themes of romance, love, and evolution. From these points exactly, without a doubt, all contemporary students should study, or else they will be disadvantaged by the multiple teachings Shakespeare conveys.
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