Julius Caesar and other works by Shakespeare
Blue Valley Communication Arts teachers have taught many of their students to make the public argument -- at district Board meetings, in letters to local newspapers, and in feedback to classkc.org -- that because Shakespeare's works contain serious subjects, they too would be considered "inappropriate" to many parents and the classkc.org Web site. In doing so, the teachers have taught their students that the content of Shakespeare is an equivalent influence to other required readings that contain sexually stimulating and graphically vulgar content such as Beloved and Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Furthermore, students have written to us, explaining that this opinion has been fostered by teacher-led, in-class discussions.
This argument is truly sad in that it shows neither a true understanding of Shakespeare nor a sincere desire to understand the spirit and motives of the parents who have serious concerns about vulgar books being assigned as required reading to their children. Moreover, this situation also shows how influential the teachers are in manipulating the minds of the students, even when the influence is in conflict with the values held by most Blue Valley families.
For example, most Blue Valley parents do not want their children required to read books featuring teens in sexually active roles (Stotan, Chinese Handcuffs). Most Blue Valley parents do not want their children required to read books with gratuitous violence and prolific use of the f-word (Fallen Angels, Lords of Discipline). Most parents believe life has meaning, unlike the message sent by many of the books chosen by the Blue Valley Communication Arts teachers (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, This Boy's Life). Yet, this is the same literature that the Communication Arts teachers are comparing to the influence of Shakespeare. Sad!
Yes, Shakespeare does write about serious subjects such as love, murder, drugs, and violence. But to compare Shakespeare's works to many of the obscene and indecent books on the Blue Valley required reading list is seriously and dangerously misleading.
No, Shakespeare's works contain neither a pervasive nor gratuitous amount of sex, violence, or vulgarity as do many of the other required reading assignments. For example, they do not teach our children about new types of sex (Song of Solomon which includes references to bestiality, necrophilia, and pedophilia, One Hundred Years of Solitude which includes references to 3-way sex, violent sex, and sex in public) nor do they invoke sexually stimulating feelings through explicit passages (Ragtime, Be True to Your School, and How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents to name a few). Yet the Communication Arts teachers are using Shakespeare as a defense for demoralizing, degrading, and desensitizing pulp fiction! This argument is complete nonsense. It is successful only when parents are ignorant of the actual content of the other books our kids to required to read.
Common sense also tells us that a student or teacher who "speaks or writes like Shakespeare" would not be breaking other Blue Valley codes of conduct nor would they be disciplined for sexual harassment. Shakespeare's characters do not go through undeveloped, implausible, unresolved, vulgar, sexually charged, and otherwise morally repugnant storylines as do so many of the required books. As Shakespeare's characters work through their humorous, tragic, or dramatic roles, they teach us a tremendous amount about the art of creative writing. No, we do not oppose Shakespeare. We consider his works to be a cornerstone of a fundamentally sound high school education in English literature.