LONDON — Shakespeare has been one of the major aspects my of semester-in-London experience. I’ve visited his grave site at Stratford-upon-Avon as well as the home of his wife, Anne Hathaway. I have also read a number of his plays and have seen productions in various theaters throughout the city.
How can one avoid Shakespeare while spending four months in Britain? It is simply impossible.
As a means of entertainment for visiting foreigners that will soon bombard the city for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, as well as a celebration of British culture, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater is staging 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in 37 different languages. I had the rare opportunity to see “The Merchant of Venice” at the Rose Theater, one of the original theaters where the playwright’s works were performed.
It was such an intimate experience, being so close to the actors and truly obtaining an understanding of the theater experience for people during Shakespeare’s time. Although, the experience I and others in my program shared while watching the play was noticeably different.
Rather than laugh at Shylock while he was teased and tormented by Bassanio and Antonio, we pitied him. Instead of praising the judge who gave the final ruling in Antonio’s favor, leaving Shylock destitute and forced to convert from Judaism to Christianity, we hated her. When Shylock’s only daughter robbed him of his jewels and married Lorenzo, a Christian, we wondered: How much suffering could one man withstand?
Yet in Shakespeare’s time, Shylock’s continuous suffering throughout the play would have been hysterical. One would never suspect “The Merchant of Venice” to be a comedy, but at one time, it was.
“Taming of the Shrew” is another play in which the ordeals of the characters are unsettling for today’s audiences. Watching the production at the Royal Shakespeare Company Theater, I was rattled by Katherine’s speech in the end about obeying one’s husband. I sympathized with her as Pertruchio tamed her and forced to surrender her pride and wit.
Yet, such a play about the inferiority of women to men and the taming of wives was both socially acceptable and comical.
In a contemporary society that is race, gender, and class-sensitive, how do we interpret Shakespeare’s plays? Should they continue to be performed? Do we continue to appreciate his iconic characters and compelling plots? Or do we examine the sexism and other cultural biases that plague his plays and refuse to watch productions of them?
Despite the unsettling themes that run throughout some of his plays, Shakespeare’s works are still deserving of audiences today. Rather than protest, audiences should consider the period in which these works were written and the audiences for which they were written.
Also, in understanding the historical significance of works such as “The Merchant of Venice” and “Taming of the Shrew,” we can better appreciate how much we have progressed as a society.
As we watch them, we can reflect on the cultural and social advancements we have made and recognize the relationships we are able to have with each other — interactions that may not have existed during Shakespeare’s time.
Most importantly, these plays are meant for entertainment. Whether or not we choose to disagree with the representation of particular groups, we must not forget the ultimate purpose that these works serve. By enlarging the social ills that exist within them, we lose sight of their purpose and transform these plays into more than was ever intended.