Why We Study Shakespeare

"Shakespeare one gets acquainted with without knowing how. It is part of an Englishman's constitution. His thoughts and beauties are so spread abroad that one touches them everywhere; one is intimate with him by instinct." Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

Friday evening my Shakespeare students and their families had a party at my house. The students performed monologues and displayed projects and papers they completed, and then I announced the cast of our upcoming performance of As You Like It. As the evening drew to a close, I felt proud of all my students and what they achieved this semester.

After they left my daughter Karina and I had a discussion about some things she'd learned. In Shakespeare we finished up the semester by reading King Henry V, which deals with themes of war and power as King Henry engages in a successful war against France. Karina told me:

"I've never liked war. When I think of war, I think of the monologue I memorized from King Henry V. It says:
'Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the Port of Mars, and at his heels
(Leashed in, like hounds,) should famine, sword, and fire
Crouch for employment.'
"War is like that. Famine, sword, and fire always follow it closely."

She understood that war, justifiable or not, always results in some tragedy. Hearing her say this crowned my evening with one perfect moment. I find happiness by acknowledging that most of life is mundane, punctuated by difficult moments I need to find the humor in and perfect moments I need to treasure. When I get discouraged, I can search through my trove of moments to find the one that will keep me motivated. Realizing that Karina has internalized some of the thoughts and beauties of Shakespeare makes homeschooling worthwhile.

Above all, this reminds me that I am not the teacher, which takes the pressure off of me. Suzuki used to tell his students that he was not really their teacher. As part of the method, Suzuki students listen to recordings of great performers playing the pieces they learn. According to him, these artists were their true teachers. When students read, memorize, and perform Shakespeare, he becomes their teacher. They develop a relationship with him and his work. "Education is the science of relations" was one of the 20 principles of the educator Charlotte Mason. She meant that education occurs as each of us discover the way we relate to the world, to other people, and to ideas. The educator merely facilitates the formation of these relationships.

My younger brother once said, "Homeschooling is easy. All you have to do is teach kids to read and then feed them books." As a mother I only have to feed my children living books, keep from interfering with their relationship with the truth and beauty they discover, and occasionally reap the reward of discussing ideas with them. I can't think of many better teachers than the Bard. That's why we study Shakespeare.