The Knowledge Party, Cont.- Shall We Invite Shakespeare?

I am reading Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt.

I am only into the first few chapters, so a full recommedation cannot yet be made! However, I like it so far.

I like the way he talks about the sketchy info, and how he makes inferences. I had read some bio info of WS in the past and was always left with the feeling that what I was reading was just as likely to be myth as truth. So, that, I like about this book.

Anyway, back to Journey and the Knowledge Party.

Shakespeare is always a good invitee to the Knowledge Party. Great to drop at homeschool functions.. (sorry, getting cynical here- I will try and stop!) I know several friends who LOVE Shakespeare and have shared it with their kids. I have never been able to get it to take. I can't even seem to get into it. That has disappointed me, because I keep hearing how awesome his works are. How he expressed the human heart. How he relates to all of mankind-- how he is so timeless.

WS is perfect fodder to sort out for the knowledge party. How much is the desire to include his works because we really find value and how much is because we 'should'. I am still working on this one. Often I find biographies a great ticket into understanding something. If I have trouble with an author, reading a bio helps me understand them.. then I can understand their work. This hsa happened to varying degrees with Jane Austen, Edger Allen Poe, Jules Verne and others. Sometimes the bios don't help and the match was just not meant to be.

I find, too, that if I get enthusiastic about a author or work, then I can share it with my boys. Sometimes we can travel the road together, but sometimes I need to scout first, then lead.

Ok, back to the book.

I was reading about his childhood. His mom and dad were both illiterate. We are talking mid 1500's in England. Oooh... interesting time. Right as the world was on the verge of enlightenment. Lots of illiterate people around. Plays were becoming very popular. Classes were strong.

WS's parents wanted him to go to school. And he could- they were high enough classed. In the school they did not learn History, Geography, Economics.. only a smattering of Math. But the boys went to school 6 days a week, 12 hours a day. What did they do all that time? LATIN! That was the focus, the goal, the holy grail! And it was rigorous. One quote said that the buttocks were a primary teaching tool to learn Latin, because if you could not spout the right grammar strings, your behind was paddled. It was the common way to teach.

Why the focus on Latin? Because, the author tells us, in those days it was the international language. To be able to converse with others in trade or higher thought, one must know Latin. It distinquishes the upper from lower class as well.

Interesting.

I compare this to why we choose to teach our kids Latin today. I have wanted them to know it, and we did a few years of it. Why? I am glad we did. I am also glad we stopped.

Why I am glad we did:
I think it was interesting to see where the roots of our language are from. Also to know the connection to the past. I think the boys picked up on some of that.

Why I am glad we stoppped:
We got the basics down and were into the very difficult advanced.. learning/memorizing-- and would have reached burnout soon. I hope that now if either son feels he needs Latin for his profession or wants to learn the advanced grammar for himself he has the background. But if I push it now, it might cause them to burnout and never seek it out again.

Ok. Now why else would it be important for a 21st century child to know Latin?
I can't think of a reason beyond the ones I just gave. Maybe others' have some and they would be valid, but for me, I can't think of any.

What I liked about the WS book was how I saw the reasons the parents had in those days of what knowledge was important. Knowing Latin is in a sense like our dc going to college. It puts them in the upper class. Gives them opportunity the 'lower class' might not have. WS's parents felt that need. Parents today feel that need. And I think we all are faced with helping our dc to discern what is real and not sacrifice faith, authenticity and other paths for a 'college only' or 'Latin only' education.

The other thing I liked about the book is with all good bios I saw the early influences in WS's life. What shaped him.. or as the author says, What Made Shakespeare Shakespeare.

Stephen (I love his name) Goldblatt didn't dwell long at WS's school. He talked about how WS loved language and of course the Latin played a part. Latin is gorgeous! I love it and my boys enjoyed the vocabulary part as well. But where WS really got strong, deep influences was his experience with watching plays come to town as a child. The nursery rhymes his mother read him. These were the things that shaped him.

It reminds me of Stephen Spielberg going off in the desert to make films as a kid. Kelsey Grammar surfing and thinking, then joining the acting club in school and falling in love with Shakespeare, Ronald Reagan being a lifeguard and loving the feeling of leadership from a young age, Bill Clinton seeking and not finding real love in his dysfunctional, alcoholic family, Jane Austen living on the fringe of upper society watching the drawing room banter from her quiet corner...

It is the influences and life experiences that touch us and take root in our heart that form who we are. It is very interesting to watch what formed Shakespeare.

I am becoming more interested in his work. I hope to finish the biography with a little more knowledge of who he was, how the thought, how he became the writer he was. Then I will get some recommended plays on CD (I hear there is a great one with Mel Gibson) and try and read them. I think it is worth giving this a good shot. Then maybe the boys will like to give it a try.

Gosh after that debacle of A Mid Summer's Night Dream that B and I attended at the local high school a couple of years ago.. it will take a lot of mending to open him back up to WS. Roller blades and disco lights? What would WS say? lol Who knows, maybe he would have liked it.

God Bless,
Cindy