IN doing some catch up work on my much neglected blog, I am kicking myself for multiple reasons, not just for screwing myself out of the lovely spring weather, but also for not reading some of the more thoughtful blogs out there (jealous....). Amanda Jones, you were one of the subjects of my adoration today. The series of blogs Amanda has written are really well done, and seem to indicate her ease with using the medium (though she claims to be uncomfortable blogging herself). One of the more interesting things she brought up was in the beginning of her posts, where she wrote about some of the competition between English Lit and teaching majors. Being a Lit major myself, I can totally substantiate the claim that theyre a bunch of snobby brats, but I think that in relation to Shakespeare, teaching majors may have an upper hand in some departments. I think that drama in general is meant to inspire a diverse audience, from the rude mechanicals to the parents and originals, Shakespeare speaks to all of us in our own individual ways...but it is the ability to connect and value those multiple perspectives that makes Shakespeare move the most. Here, the teaching majors are able to find that common ground, and encourage others to do the same. If shakespeare can be understood on multiple levels, then our ability to navigate its many faces gives us a bigger, richer understanding and appreciation. This is in keeping with Hughe's notion of the Cabbalistic (is that a word? James?) influences in Shakespeare's writing, the idea that any one belief is inherited from a series of others, all surging together to create a holistic ideal...This, to me, is the way to think about Shakespeare, and our own dogmas as well..as the offspring of generations of ideas, all layered and superimposed....
Ive had people suggest NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE to me, and I gotta say, that's just lazy. Amanda makes an awesome lesson plan about understanding the language of WS, and that's it. By making those connections with students, she revitalizes the importance of multiple interpretations, and opens the language up, Nietzche style, for interpretation. It's important to BE AFRAID of Shakespeare, if you don't have a healthy fear of that kind of brilliance, then you've missed the point all together.
They say that teaching something is the best way to learn about it, and on this subject especially, I couldn't agree any more. Fear not, teaching majors, all those arguments about whether WS actually existed, those stupid, one sided arguments that have nothing to do with actual Shakespeare are leading us further into the cave. Keep the conversation going, I say.
Loved this!
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