Shakespeare has seen better days

Re: “Another Shakespeare tragedy” (Montreal Gazette, April 25) The article resonated with me big time. That only four out of 52 universities and colleges in the United States surveyed have a Shakespeare requirement made me gasp. This is a frightening fact that needs addressing.

I’m a former elementary school librarian. I worked in a top-notch Montreal elementary school for many years, where the staff was encouraged to jump out of the box in providing students with outstanding original and creative experiences.

The “Grade 3 literary fashion show,” still entrenched in the school curriculum, was one such program in which I and the Grade 3 educators were involved. We planned and executed a show for parents and the entire school body that encompassed reading, writing, an original theme song, music, arts and crafts, costume design and performance skills. There was always a central theme.

The teachers raised the bar the year they chose four Shakespeare plays for their students, along with the study of his life and times. They believed that studying Shakespeare at the elementary level can have a profoundly positive effect on how young students view great literature.

The students learned that the greatest playwright and poet in the English language wrote about love, death, happiness, sadness, evil, revenge, war and jealousy. They learned that his themes are as timely today as during his own time. They also learned that Shakespeare coined and popularized thousands of English words and expressions still used today, like “in a pickle.”

Ben Johnson, a contemporary of Shakespeare, once said of his friend that he is “not of an age but for all time.” I hope that the movers and groovers of literary academia take heed! Sounds like we’re in a pickle! Ilona Eliakim, Montreal