Controversy Of Shakespeare

Shakespeare is known all over the world as the greatest writer and pre-eminent dramatist in the English language. He defines what literature is today and has set the ultimate goal for any aspiring poet, playwright, or author. Some commenters believe his plays are timeless and will continue to be influential. However, as the decades go on, most believe that Shakespeare’s work must be disregarded because it is so outdated. Because of his use of language, his lack of connection, and his vigorous competition of notable poets and playwrights, Shakespeare must be deliberated as irrelevant in the 21st century.

Shakespeare is famous for writing in a way that challenges the reader’s brain. He uses irony, simile, and other literary devices to form depth

Even more so, the words that Shakespeare uses for description are archaic even though the plots are elementary. Students often resort to online sites that provide an English translation of the original plays, including No Fear Shakespeare and Spark Notes (Amrhein). Using those online sites to understand Shakespearean language dismisses the learning opportunity that students could receive from the original text. Furthermore, a student's’ spelling can be jeopardized from reading Shakespeare’s works, especially a student who is learning English as his or her second language. Because Shakespeare lived in an era when dictionaries had not been invented yet for the English language, he often shortened or altered the spelling of many words since there were no restrictions against it (King). The language written in Shakespeare’s plays is not relevant to everyday

It is simple: Shakespeare’s plays do not connect to today’s modern issues. Four hundred years ago, Shakespeare was a popular and rich individual who bought expensive properties and lived his life in luxury. His world was much different and smaller than what it is now, and because of this, students reading his work are finding it difficult to imagine scenarios such as kings and queens in power and servants waiting on them. Today’s society has not experienced what Shakespeare considered “normal” back then. Also, he is blatantly racist towards any race other than white European. Because the time period was in the 1600’s, there was a lot of racial and religious minorities that were excluded from the original plays (Beech). Women’s rights were also nonexistent. In the time of William Shakespeare, acting was considered to be a man’s profession; sometimes women’s roles would be performed by men. For example, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main characters Ophelia and Gertrude were portrayed as weak and obedient women and they were both manipulated by the male figures in their lives. Women throughout his plays had a lack of free will, no voice in any decision making, and always agreed with the men even though they might be wrong. The average Shakespearean play has only three roles for women, and most have few lines (Beech). Encouraging a portrayal of women and minorities in