Why do people still study Shakespeare?​

  The thought that an author could write a piece of literature now and it be taught 400 years later, sounds unusual to say the least, but that is exactly what has happened with William Shakespeare.
 
​William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 and died in April 1616 aged 52. During his life he wrote many poems and plays, most of which are still performed and studied today.
 
​French International School students study a number of different Shakespeare plays; the year 13s study ‘Macbeth’, the year 10s and 11s study ‘The Merchant of Venice’, the year 9s study ‘Othello’ and the year 8s study ‘King Lear’.
 
When the students study the plays in class they not only examine the plot of the play but also its symbolism, imagery, functions of characters, literary devices and much more. By studying a Shakespeare play the students become well equipped to tackle their respective exams with an in-depth knowledge of the piece.

​In my Y10 class we are currently studying ‘The Merchant of Venice’, having just finished reading the entire play. We are now in groups focusing on the characters of the play and creating an extensive analysis sheet on each character, including their role in the play, the function of the character throughout the play, their relationships with other characters and how they change as a character throughout the play. We will then share our learning with the whole class resulting in each person in the class having an in-depth knowledge about every main character of the play.
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 The question still remains; why do we still study these plays more than 400 years after they were originally written? Along with many other people I think that we study his plays because at first glance they look simple (even though they are written in Middle English) but the more you study the play the more and more you learn about it. You can uncover multiple meanings of phrases and words that you never thought about before. Shakespeare’s ability to summarize the range of human emotions in simple yet profoundly eloquent verse is perhaps the greatest reason for his enduring popularity.
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 William Shakespeare will always be remembered as one of the best storytellers, if not the very best, to ever walk this earth. Interestingly, there are many variations recorded for the spelling of Shakespeare’s name. In the seven original signatures that have survived, Shakespeare spelt his name “Willm Shaksp,” “William Shakespe,” “Wm Shakspe,” “William Shakspere,” ”Willm Shakspere,” and “William Shakspeare”. Ironically, there are no records of him ever having spelt it “William Shakespeare”, the name we use for him today.  Jasper Plowman -Year 10