Should Shakespeare be part of our education?

[Unkotare]

Double Entry Accounting is older and greater.

Ugh, this again...

 

[braalian]

For a barely literate man, that theatre manager wrote some interesting stuff.

What makes you say he was “barely literate”?

 

[braalian]

No, there's a place for performing arts. I just despise when idiots who can't fix their own faucets think they are better than everyone else.

If everyone could fix their own faucets, wouldn’t leave much work for the plumbers

 

[BothWings]

The stories and situations in his writings would have been much more satisfying to me without all the hifalutin poetic goobledy-gook. I do like adaptations of his stories, the psychological archetypes, the moral lessons....

 

[braalian]

Not all reading is about reading some airport paperback murder mystery or something

That’s just entertainment to kill some time. Which is totally fine, of course, but it’s not literature

Shakespeare can be a slog to get through, but there’s a very good reason he’s studied in all English language literature classes, and those reasons aren’t just academic snobbery

Prince Prospero’s monologue in the Tempest about forgiveness and the ability to change is a masterpiece

 

[westwall]

If everyone could fix their own faucets, wouldn’t leave much work for the plumbers

Fixing faucets is easy. Plumbers do the hard work. There will ALWAYS be a need for plumbers.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

If you don't study Shakespeare and other great literature, you will never truly understand Star Trek's numerous references!

 

[Hellokitty]

Shakespeare is crucial for a scientist or an engineer.

How so?

 

[Zebra]

Not all reading is about reading some airport paperback murder mystery or something

That’s just entertainment to kill some time. Which is totally fine, of course, but it’s not literature

Shakespeare can be a slog to get through, but there’s a very good reason he’s studied in all English language literature classes, and those reasons aren’t just academic snobbery

Prince Prospero’s monologue in the Tempest about forgiveness and the ability to change is a masterpiece

well said!

 

[Woodznutz]

What does understanding the world mean? How does the world work today and how is it going to work in 20 years?

I was fixing computers for IBM in 1980.
If someone had come back in a time machine and told me about the smartphone that I am typing on right now, I probably would have called them a liar.

We had to compare Romeo and Juliet to West Side Story when I was in high school. But I was teaching myself electronics at home. After I dropped out of college for Electrical Engineering it was what I taught myself in high school that got me the job at Panasonic.

Shakespeare has been useless my entire life.

The "Literary Intellectuals" have too much influence in education.

Check out "The Two Cultures" essay by C P Snow.

The purpose of education is to instill a false sense of values, and they do a great job of it.

 

[Woodznutz]

Shakespeare is a part of our culture, and although it is difficult to read and understand, every American public school student should be "exposed" to it one way or another. Just like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and American history.

And the more important themes of life such as health, wealth, happiness, and morality, and how each is crucial to the others.

 

[psikeyhackr]

And the more important themes of life such as health, wealth, happiness, and morality, and how each is crucial to the others.

Not being able to get a job in a technological society is so conducive to happiness.

 

[Woodznutz]

Not being able to get a job in a technological society is so conducive to happiness.

Techs are in demand.

 

[initforme]

History classes are at best insignicant.

 

[Concerned American]

The stories and situations in his writings would have been much more satisfying to me without all the hifalutin poetic goobledy-gook. I do like adaptations of his stories, the psychological archetypes, the moral lessons....

LOL, you're only talking about a millennia ago that he was writing--Not many others in his peer group.

 

[psikeyhackr]

History classes are at best insignicant.

Usually insignificant because they distort history.
Which is more relevant to the Battle of the Bulge:

What General said "Nuts"?

What effect did Proximity Fuse Artillery have on the battle?

Which question do you think I got on a test?

 

[Zebra]

What makes you say he was “barely literate”?

he was literate, but spelled his name in various ways

 

[rosends]

he was literate, but spelled his name in various ways

IIRC there are 7 different spellings known in Shakespeare's handwriting.

 

[Zebra]

IIRC there are 7 different spellings known in Shakespeare's handwriting.

one is Shakspere

btw .... Goethe wrote Shäkspier phonetically ,...

 

[Dekster]

Poetry/sonnets yes; plays no.