Surviving Shakespeare

Could Shakespeare have ever guessed that five hundred years down the line, we would still be studying and watching his plays? Might he be amused to find himself on the GCSE syllabus? Yes, probably — though I guess every writer's dream is future posterity, so I suspect he'd secretly be very pleased too.

He was pretty amazing. He invented hundreds of the everyday words we use without realising they were invented by Shakespeare. Not just developed or evolved — invented. This is the equivalent of me sitting on a bench on a do-very-little day, deciding that the word "sfoofs" sounds pretty cool, giving it a meaning, and then putting it into a play I was writing. Oh, the ambition of the man! Academics argue over exactly how many words he created, but needless to say, it sits comfortably in the hundreds.

So it may be with joy, resignation, or pure, unadulterated horror that Year 10s across the nation realise they have to study Shakespeare as an important part of their GCSE Literature. Whatever the reaction, he must be studied, and a way through must be found.

Why the Language Feels So Hard

The gripe of most children, almost everywhere, is that the language is difficult. They would be correct. During the seventeenth century, several things about the English language got easier — most notably, thee, thou, and thine fell out of general conversation (with regional exceptions, of course). Oddly enough, thou was dropped as the informal form of "you" (a derivative of tu, toi, etc. in French), while the formal version, you (from vous), was kept. Consequently, if Shakespeare had written just fifty years later, we'd likely have a much firmer grip on what was being said.

So how do we understand the text well enough to analyse it?

Get a Parallel Text

If you can, buy or borrow the Shakespeare Made Easy version of the play your child is studying. This has the original text running down one page and a modern version running alongside it on the other. It lets students follow the story for what it is, without the fluff of unfamiliar language. I've heard students say more than once, "Oh! I didn't realise that's what it meant!" I've recommended this many times, and it's always helped.

Try a Study Guide

Many schools provide this themselves, but it's worth buying the CGP version of the Shakespeare play in question (there's a study guide too). No, I'm not on commission — but the text is laid out with notes, space for your own notes, contextual information, and clear markers for when something important happens. The CGP versions in particular (though I'm sure others offer similar) include short and harder questions at the end of key sections. I'd recommend your child attempts these, just to check comprehension of the basics and get a sense of where the key themes and characters are heading.

Watch a Film Version

Finding a film version helps a lot, as it lets your child put a face to each character and fully understand the action outside of the words used to describe it.

Macbeth has several good versions, as does Romeo and Juliet. The Merchant of Venice has a sturdy Hollywood version with Al Pacino, which is very good. The Tempest has an outstanding version with Helen Mirren — though watch out, as they've made the main character a woman. No problem at all with a très-postmodern production from me, but students need to remember to use the correct pronoun in the exam! Much Ado About Nothing still has the wonderful Kenneth Branagh version, transplanted to a lovely Mediterranean setting — nothing too heinous there. And Julius Caesar has had several versions, including the rather epic one with Marlon Brando as Mark Antony, though that one probably needs a good, weighty update at some point.

It's worth watching out for adaptations stylised to the point where they seem to have changed appearance entirely. Take Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet — made in the most accessible and breathtaking way, but with some things changed. When characters talk of grabbing a sword, they pick up a gun instead. This makes it accessible for a modern audience, but when writing, a student needs to remember that a sword is a sword, not a gun! Likewise, the Patrick Stewart version of Macbeth transplants the Scottish setting into a mid-20th-century Soviet-style dictatorship, with witches dressed, at points, as nurses. Just watch out and remember: these are not the originals. For more able students, I think it's great to watch another version and compare which they preferred and why — that adds real breadth of understanding to a mind that already grasps the basic concepts.

Learn the Quotes

And you know what else helps? Learning key quotes from the play, which students have to do for their exam anyway. Familiarity breeds understanding and competence (as well as something else, I believe!). When Year 11s sit their GCSE paper, they'll need to be able to pull quotes out of thin air, so to speak — and for that, they have to learn lines from the play off by heart. This will help with understanding and remembering the play, whether they want to or not.