You and Me Babe, How About It ?
September 18th, 2006
The Dire Straits got away with this line in their song “Romeo and Juliet”, but the sad truth is, this is how most GCSE students learn possibly the most famous love story in the world.
A recent Times Education Supplement article highlighted this unsavoury handling of one of our national treasures, which is down to–as I see it–our unnatural exam culture.
“Shakespeare seems to have been hijacked by testing regimes to the extent that children cannot see it as relevant to their lives. Because of a lack of opportunity to experience live performances, Shakespeare remains alien to many children and, unfortunately, a burden rather than a joy.”
–Simon Wrigley - Chairman of the National Association for the Teaching of English
The problem is compounded by awful “study guides” that adopt an almost conspiratorial tone when dealing with the subject matter. Have a look at the graphic above and the excerpt below to see what I mean:
“…this act’s a bit more lovey-dovey… Scene Two - It’s That Slushy Balcony Scene…Yuck.”
–CGP GCSE study guide for Romeo and Juliet.
This CGP books in particular are the culprits of this vomitous style, from which you can infer conspires an agreement with the student that “Yes, you’re not alone in thinking this doesn’t really affect your life, but just learn the facts and pass the exam.” Then presumably you can get on with “proper” life.
The writers at CGP no doubt think they are doing admirable work in making Shakespeare accessible, which I agree with to some point–if you think Shakespeare’s overriding message is no more complex than an episode of Eastenders.
Shakespeare’s themes are already accessible, though granted only if you take the time to explain the complex looking words and the context of Shakespearean society. But the point is that Shakespeare didn’t write only for the upper class, or the intellectually gifted, he wrote for people as a whole. Underneath the transparencies of time that make his plays seem awfully complex to some, are the same issues of humanity, as fresh as they have always been.
I hate to think there are some young people who were put off theatre completely due to the inadequacies of their education in Shakespeare. The stupid false-conspiratorial tone of “study guides”, such as that above, may just rob young people of the idea that theatre–both acting in and watching–can have an amazing effect on their “proper” lives as well.
“The UK’s Most Popular Educational Books”.
–Front text of the CGP Website