Why Is Shakespeare Still Relevant Today

Normally when students hear the name Shakespeare in their English class, they moan and groan because his writing is “too hard” or “too boring.” Although reading Shakespeare can be challenging, I do believe that his work should still be taught in schools. This is because the themes he wrote about are still relevant today, acting in his plays builds confidence, and the language he wrote with makes us think and analyze more than we would with a different author. The themes that Shakespeare wrote about are still relevant to teenagers and all people today because they reveal universal truths about the human condition in a way we can all relate to. Shakespeare talks about issues we still have today. In the play Romeo and Juliet major issues include love, desire, and revenge. Those issues are apparent in the lives of almost every person I know. For example, in Act 3 Scene 1 of the play Romeo kills Tybalt for revenge after his friend Mercutio is killed by Tybalt. An article called Changing Lives Through Shakespeare by Jenny Suo, Channel 3 News, New Zealand says "Anything that happens to your life or my life or anyone's life I can find in Shakespeare's plays. He give language to trauma when people experience trauma, they don't have the language to describe it, so he can give them the language."
A group called the Hobart …show more content…
However, all media that we are exposed to these days have those elements. All teenagers listen to music and watch shows or movies that have inappropriate elements and if we choose to watch those things, why isn't it acceptable in English class? Also, I couldn't imagine student below high school reading Shakespeare, it is up to the teacher to decide if that class is mature enough for that specific play. There are too many benefits of reading and performing Shakespeare to ban it from the classroom due to slightly inappropriate