“Language is the least important element in Shakespeare.”

“Language is the most important element in Shakespeare.”

---statements made by two Shakespearean scholars during the above course.

Whether language is the least or most important element in Shakespeare, it is certainly the most intimidating for students and teachers of all ages. Even as a seasoned reader of Shakespeare with a master’s degree in literature, I still question my confidence when faced with a new text. The key to success with Shakespeare in the classroom is familiarization with the texts to be taught and experience handling the text both on and off the page. Confidence that the teacher exhibits can be directly felt by the students, who, in turn, can become confident in themselves while studying Shakespeare. There are few other topics in the English classroom that produce the feeling of ”I did it!” within the students than reading and understanding a Shakespearean play. Students of all ages and abilities know that they have accomplished something when completing this rewarding experience. As Paige Newmark stated, “Shakespeare is not hard; it is just hard work. It is like the difference between McDonald’s and cordon bleu; it is more work, but ultimately it is more rewarding.” Similar to a head chef and her apprentice, we must give our students the recipe for success in understanding and enjoying Shakespeare and the confidence to follow it.

Building confidence in the teacher is one of the most important components in this summer’s course at the Globe. Clearly, exposure to five of Shakespeare’s plays allowed for much needed practice in understanding and interpreting his text. Professionals offered ideas for delving into the material, which provides the foundation for endless possibilities of classroom use. Teaching Shakespeare using performance techniques and allowing the students to get a play on its feet (no matter how unpolished the performance) allows for better understanding of the plays. In addition, experiencing the Globe first hand allows for a much better description as to its physical space as well as the emotional experience involved in both performing on its stage and attending plays there. Upon first entering the space I got chills up my spine and down my arms. I could finally see with my own eyes the very theatre I had studied and taught for so long. The overall space was much smaller than I expected, but the stage was much larger than I had envisioned. Standing on the stage and imagining what it would be like to perform during the Elizabethan time allowed me to see how large the area for the groundlings is, the strange feeling of people being literally at my feet, as well as the distance between me and the lower and upper galleries. I can now understand staging problems that occur because of the columns and the challenge of playing to three sides of the stage. As an audience member I experienced the difference it makes to be so close to the stage as a groundling and how drawn into the play you are. The view is completely different; also you become very aware of the physical space and how much you would like to be able to sit down. Ironically, when sitting in the galleries, you become acutely aware of how much you want to stand up. The wooden benches are incredibly hard; I believe you are more distracted by this because you are further away from the stage. Also, the other audience members in front of and around you are more distracting because of the space between the actors on stage and you. The frustration I experienced being seated on the extreme left of the stage and feeling left out, as well as the elation of sitting front center and being able to see everything, will enable me to interpret for my students the influence that the space has on the plays performed there and how they are viewed. Having experienced both being on and off the stage, I will be much better able to convey to my students this very special theatre space. After all, I never considered that a pigeon might fly through at an inopportune moment!

Experiences in the classes attended also provided me with much-needed and sought after information. Louis Fantasia’s “Instant Shakespeare” is immediately applicable to the high school classroom. Learning to look at the verbs and teaching students that action pushes the play forward is key to understanding the text. Oftentimes when reading plays aloud in class, the words just drone on. However, by learning to emphasize the action words (and thereby de-emphasizing the others), the plays will move faster and be more interesting for everyone. Leaving the adjectives and adverbs alone goes hand in hand with this concept; learning not to “gild the lily” is essential. In high school English classes, imagery is usually taught with a heavy hand throughout the course, but why a specific image was chosen by the author is often not considered. Discussions of the precise nouns Shakespeare chose to create the images can lead to lively suppositions about his thought process, the nuances of the meanings of specific words, as well as new vocabulary, add to the interest level and value of the English classroom. Teachers are constantly trying to find new ways to teach grammar and the terms associated with it; they may be surprised to learn that Shakespeare is the perfect venue for teaching grammar in context. This will also please administrators who often look for new innovations created by their teachers.

In addition to teaching grammar in context, teaching punctuation this way is also highly effective. Finding ways to make punctuation relevant and interesting to high school students is a constant challenge. Based on English educators’ constant teaching of the strict rules of use, they often take the punctuation in Shakespeare to be gospel. What must be remembered is that each edition of the play is quite different from the rest. Learning not to trust the editors and punctuating for breath may be challenging but can lead to greater understanding of the text. These changes in punctuation can significantly alter the meaning of the words. This is a perfect way to include teaching the rules of punctuation in context. The use of each of the marks and the nuances of meanings of lines and how they can easily change may lead to an interesting debate on usage. Actually seeing the difference between a semi-colon, comma or dash and how it can change the subtext and literal meaning of a line is quite easily brought home using this method. Showing students the difference between “To be, or not, to be. That is the question.” and “To be or not to be—that is the question.” may get them to look at punctuation as they never have before.

Another aspect of Fantasia’s “Instant Shakespeare” is based on the following question: “Why does this particular character say these particular words in this particular order at this particular moment?” This question is the cornerstone of scholarship and leads to critical thinking, which is an important lesson in teaching. The answers can become more or less complex according to the age and abilities within the classroom. Again this can lead into more grammar in context study as specific lines are broken apart and analyzed to see and understand where the different words are placed and why. Debates, which always lead to a lively classroom atmosphere, can erupt while finding the “correct” answers to the question. This excellent question can, of course, be applied to many aspects of literature, not just Shakespeare.

Reaching the core of the text is made simple by Fantasia’s four elements of what is at the center of every section of the play. What is the scene about? What’s the tune? What’s the texture? What’s the end? By answering these questions the students can more easily and more thoroughly reach the essence of the story Shakespeare is trying to convey. These are excellent discussion starters as well as ways to have groups work collaboratively together.

Another important component for teachers and their students to understand is that Shakespeare’s plays are at their core stories about people. They should not be presented as ancient relics and something that we study because it is “good” for us. Rather, they should be approached with gusto because they are entertaining and enjoyable. The study of Shakespeare can be very complex or blissfully simple: Who has the first line of the play? Who has the last? These are keys to understanding the text. They are questions easily answered by students and lead into more complex questions involving many aspects of the plays. As students develop confidence in knowing the answers to those simpler questions, they can then explore deeper levels of meaning and understand them as well. As the students become more involved, they are better able to present scenes of the play with nuances of interpretations that the students would not have been able to grasp earlier. This allows the plays to become living performance pieces rather than dry pieces of writing that only exist on the page. In turn, teachers can avoid the dreaded problem that led Fantasia to state:

“Don’t stage literature that walks.” This often happens in the English classroom where literature is at the core of studies. In the interest of covering as much material as possible teachers often rush through lessons. An excellent hook or introduction to Shakespeare’s language is truly needed even if it seems as though it may be “wasting” precious time. Nesta Jones’ techniques of excerpting lines from Shakespeare to work in isolation prior to the study of a play would help the problem of “walking” literature. Getting students to look at a few lines of text and creating situations around the lines (without even knowing that it is Shakespeare they are speaking) would go a long way to helping solve this ailment as well as getting the students over the fear of speaking the great Bard’s words. Finding the energy, shape, and image within the words will help students to create soundscapes and associate sounds with words. This is one way to help those students who learn and think auditorily to also feel success in studying Shakespeare. Another exercise, creating a song from the text, gets students to play with the words individually and in lines and have fun working with the sound and rhythm of the iambic pentameter. I have found that that which students laugh about they will remember. Some of the best laughing (and learning) moments occurred during Ms. Jones’ workshops. The whole point of all of these vocal exercises is to “get the language inside the students.” Whether it is the most or least important element of Shakespeare, I think that this is a valid teaching tool.

In Harold Bloom’s Invention of the Human, he states that Shakespeare informs the language we speak, his principal characters have become our mythology, and he is our psychologist. If we can help our students to see and understand this concept, their lives will be richer for it. As Charles Duff stated, “teachers of Shakespeare are missionaries; teaching it is a very intelligent way of telling students about the world.” Also, “by teaching Shakespeare we raise the consciousness of young people to have better, happier, far richer lives.” I have many reasons why I believe this to be true and one specific example. Following the study of Othello, one junior in high school raised his hand and said, “So do you think we could get the play down to this? Communication is the key. If only he had talked to Desdemona none of this would have happened. There would be no tragedy.” Voila! Lesson learned. Shakespeare writes the truth about life and the nature of people (Charles Duff). I believe that is the reason why Shakespeare continues to capture audiences throughout the ages. Ultimately we can connect to the plays because they are about people with similar characteristics and feelings that we have.

Often during the school year, we educators get so involved in our teaching that we often forget that we are people, too. We must remember the influence that we exert and need to beware of unintended consequences. As Mr. Fantasia pointed out, the plague led to printing becoming more prevalent. We teachers must be aware that our actions have both intended and unintended consequences. How many of us can remember a very poor lesson in the study of Shakespeare? During my life as an English teacher, I cannot count how many people have complained to me about the poor education they received in regard to Shakespeare, which directly led to a loathing and/or indifference toward the texts. I am not sure which is worse. They tell tales of bored teachers presenting “boring” and antiquated plays.

Let us hope that through the above techniques and their skillful application we, the students of the Summer 2001 Globe/Fantasia course, will not be included in the list of ill-remembered Shakespeare teachers of yesteryear. Let us hope that we have learned the secrets to better understanding and, therefore, instruction of Shakespeare and his plays. All of the contradictions introduced this summer are evolving into readily usable techniques in our classrooms. Therein lie the possibilities.