Today’s US society is fractured – split down the middle with extreme positions on either side. In the culture wars of today, nothing is safe. That includes the plays of William Shakespeare. Two years ago, leftists were calling for the end of Shakespeare in schools, believe his work to be misogynistic, racist, classist, and full of white-supremacy – everything the far left hates. Now the far right has come for the bard as well. Only yesterday, Florida’s legislation limiting classroom materials that “contain pornography or obscene depictions of sexual conduct” found Shakespeare. School districts are re-arranging curriculum that only includes excerpts of his plays. (Remember that scene in Romeo and Juliet where Romeo leaves Juliet after spending the night with her? We can’t have that. Parting is such sweet sorrow.)

I guess that sums it up. Shakespeare cannot please everyone. And you know what? I think he knew that and didn’t care. We love to tout that Shakespeare’s plays are timeless, but in truth, Shakespeare wrote for his time. Theatre was for the masses and the masses wanted epics, clowns, raunchy jokes, suggestive innuendo, and, as the true biography Shakespeare in Love says, “a bit with a dog.”

Let me be clear: There is content in Shakespeare that is not appropriate for younger students. It’s the same principle as when theatre directors cut plays – we must consider the audience. When cutting Macbeth in preparation for an educational touring show, we did not include the killing of young MacDuff onstage. We did not sexualize the Macbeths as many productions have before. This play was for young audiences and the cut reflected that.

But this extreme view of what his plays depict is the cultural reality of today. We are losing the open mind, and the blinders are on. We are losing our bravery. One of the beautiful things about the arts is that they will always be different based on the producer of the work and the receiver of the work. It is not one size fits all, made for everyone, to please everyone. You can go to a play and hear something you don’t like or disagree with, and that’s okay. How you respond to art is up to you – it requires emotion and connection. It doesn’t have to be pleasant and “safe.” But you do have to be open to meeting it. Willing to receive the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Shakespeare’s plays contain some ugly things: War, rape, death, slavery. But what makes the plays worth coming back to is the human expression within them. That is what is timeless. The plays were written 400 years ago for audiences 400 years ago. What we find within them still is the human condition. And the human condition is messy.

Shakespeare didn’t need to please everyone. He still doesn’t need to please everyone. He is where he is in US education today because we put him there. If you want to keep him there, fine, but remember that you need to consider the whole perspective – The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Note: The thoughts expressed here are my own stream of consciousness responses to these events and reports. As with art, you don’t have to like or agree with them.

By Katelyn Spurgin

August 9, 2023