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How many people saw the movie AVATAR?

And how many people read the script of AVATAR?

WILLIAM

SHAKESPEARE

‘Now is the era of the DVD

Rend’ring clear the Bard in spoken word

And all the speeches that confuse the mind

Are in live action demonstrate’

(Not by William Shakespeare)

© John James Carty

Is it important for the student of English as a second language to study Shakespeare? Is it a necessary part of the study of English? To be honest, I  don’t know. At an advanced stage I think it must be, for many reasons.

But even at the earliest levels it’s a good idea to know what it’s all about, if only as self-defense against the bluffers who can quote a few lines at you. It has never been easier to obtain a reasonable knowledge of some of the works of Shakespeare,

A quick search on Google will show that there are over four million pages available dealing with Shakespeare. Many of these are written by experts. This one isn’t.

Shakespeare never wrote a book in his life, so I shouldn’t put this article in our Books and Videos section. But he certainly gave us some videos. William Shakespeare, who was born in Stratford on Avon, England in 1564 and died on 23 April 1616, is considered to be the greatest writer in the English language. He wrote plays for the theater. And that’s the point.

Anyone who wants to know the works of Shakespeare must see them in a live theater performance. In my opinion it’s unfair to Shakespeare to try to appreciate his works through books that only contain the scripts of his plays.

Such books usually have an expert introduction, analysis and explanations, but this is a dry and sterile way to encounter, far less understand, the genius of Shakespeare.

Drawing of a model of the original Globe Theater; the new Globe Theater, London, created by the enthusiasm and drive of US actor Sam Wanamaker (below).

A majority of English-speaking people find nothing of value in the written plays. They know who Shakespeare is but he is a vague cultural symbol, a high point on the cultural map of the English language and those who speak it.

The modern age has brought us videos and DVDs of the great plays and it is no longer necessary to go to a theater – and theaters are not always available, convenient or affordable.

Accordingly, my belief that we should SEE the play before reading or studying the text is not an idle dream. Any school or college can now arrange a showing of any of the plays before a student opens a book.

Any interested person can order one of Shakespeare’s plays on DVD and watch it at home. And – free at last! – they can switch it off after ten minutes if they don’t like it.

My thoughts on Shakespeare for students of ESL are slightly different from the views I expressed about the works of Charles Dickens in Historia de Dos Ciudades 1.

Supported by television series and popular editions of his books, Dickens can always reach the general reader and his sales figures are still good.

But Shakespeare is different: without teachers and guides, English-speaking people will not read the scripts of Shakespeare’s plays. He is irrelevant to them.

And that’s a shame. His plays still give great pleasure, and the best of them can be thrilling – if seen ‘live’.

When I was schoolboy we ‘did’ two Shakespeare plays per year, solely by reading the book and reading aloud. The teachers told us it was great stuff; they explained why it was great but, much as we did with Einstein’s Theory of Relativity or Early Church Music, we took their word for it. We were not convinced.

Sometimes, if we were lucky, a good teacher who loved ‘the Bard’ could breathe fire and life into a play, but usually it was a bore.

As I grew up I was always puzzled by the great enthusiasm and love that actors and directors have for the works of Shakespeare. I have checked the list of 37 plays produced by BBC–Time  Life  about twenty five years ago and offered for sale  on DVD at www.ambrosevideo.com and I’m ashamed to say that I read, and to some extent studied, 14 of them before age sixteen, without feeling much enthusiasm.

It wasn’t until 1970 when I saw the movie of Othello (1965) with Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith and Frank Finlay that I understood the power of the work. Most people I have spoken to about this subject say the same thing, ‘Why didn’t they show us this first?’

I now understand about the actors and directors: they love doing Shakespeare because his plays offer a new opportunity every single time. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to play the part; nothing to limit the imagination of a director or producer.

Every professional actor can find something new to do with the poetry of the language and the motives of the characters; this gives all of us – actors and audience – the thrill of the theater.

In the sixties I met a great teacher of English who loved Shakespeare, John Basil of Woking in England, and for the first time I realized that teachers of English love the plays for the same reasons that drive the actors.

Where teachers have a choice they can, like the actors, choose a play that excites them. And, like the actors, they can highlight and bring out those aspects that appeal to them.

As Shakespeare said, ‘the play’s the thing’ and perhaps it is right and necessary to concentrate on the story, the drama first. An appreciation of the poetry in which the plays are spoken comes later.

The star actors and directors are the guiding lights, no doubt, but every teacher of English who can inspire a love of Shakespeare is a missionary, carrying a light that has burned for over four hundred years.

I’m hoping to buy one of these DVDs each month but I have no intention of reviewing them here (see the 4 million + internet sites).

I have the list in front of me. There are about a dozen ‘History’ plays ranging from King John to Henry VIII  that won’t be high on my list, not only because I was put off them at school but also because they are very, very English (as opposed to British), written at a time when blind English patriotism was at a peak.

I never understood what the Scottish education authorities thought they were doing in giving all this stuff to Scottish schoolboys whose background culture and history lived mainly in Irish rebel songs.

All these English kings were not a part, or at least not a welcome part, of our history. Still, if I ever overcome my prejudices I expect to be thrilled by great performances when I revisit the History plays.

To start with my favorites –

The Merchant of Venice

With Warren Mitchell as Shylock and Gemma Jones as Portia. I saw Dustin Hoffman as Shylock in a Peter Hall production in London some years ago. He did very well among some leading Shakespearean actors. Al Pacino has played the part more recently. Warren Mitchell is an intriguing choice.

Dustin Hoffman, Leigh Lawson and Geraldine James

in the London production.

Othello

With Anthony Hopkins as Othello and Bob Hoskins as Iago. Hopkins is now a megastar (Hannibal the cannibal) and Hoskins is everyone’s favorite cheeky Londoner. A fascinating pairing.

The Tempest

I like this play because I understand the poetry of it rather more than I do in some other works. Also, it’s simple and it’s short – a good introduction for younger students. The ‘magic’ element can be very exciting in the hands of a good director. With Christopher Guard (unknown to me) and the great Michael Hordern.

Macbeth

There is a theatrical superstition that it is unlucky to say the word ‘Macbeth’ in a theater, so theater people always call it  ‘The Scottish Play’. With the powerful Nicol Willamson and the talented Jane Lapotaire.

Richard II

Despite my earlier remarks, this is one of the best – and who would want to miss performances by Derek Jacobi, John Gielgud and Dame Wendy Hiller?

Julius Caesar

One of the few that we did enjoy as schoolboys. Starring Richard Pasco, Keith Michell and the inimitable Charles Gray as Caesar.

The Taming of the Shrew

Not a real favorite, but I must see it for the incredible casting of John Cleese (of Monty Python) as Petruchio. This will surely prove my point that a good actor can overcome stereotyping and bring something completely different to a part.

At this stage I’m starting to struggle as I don’t have all that many favorites. I would like to go outside the Ambrose series and find a DVD of Richard Briers playing King Lear a few years ago. This casting is even more surprising than that of John Cleese in ‘The Shrew’ because Briers is a much-loved comedy actor who has rarely moved out of the role of the amiable average Englishman. Whatever he has done as the tragic king, it’s sure to be a revelation.

King Lear

In this series – played by Michael Hordern, one of the most sympathetic English actors of the twentieth century. He must be a great Lear.

Romeo and Juliet

Simply because it stars Sir John Gielgud (right).

Hamlet

Finally, the prince of Denmark himself. I’ve never stayed awake long enough to see a complete performance. I’ve read it three times and still don’t understand it. However, it has an outstanding cast: Derek Jacobi, Patrick Stewart, Eric Porter and Claire Bloom. If they can’t shed light on my darkness, banish my ignorance and make me like men in tights, nobody can.

For some thoughts on translation skills please see The Translator