Why your kid should read Shakespeare

Being familiar with the bard and his work makes for a richer experience in all walks of life.

This time, I’d waited “forever and a day” to start writing this column, and the deadline was fast approaching. I was “in a pickle”, and couldn’t “sleep a wink”. I had to make the deadline “come what may”, or else I’d be “a laughing stock”, or at best, “a sorry sight”. But I knew in my “heart of hearts” that I’m made of “sterner stuff” and I’d hit upon an idea in time. “All of a sudden”, “as good luck would have it”, it came to me in “one fell swoop” that I needn’t go on “a wild goose chase” looking for ideas anymore.

With his birthday on April 23, it should have been “a foregone conclusion” that I’d write about William Shakespeare. Well, some people think he’s “so-so,” others say he “sets their teeth on edge”, but yet others think he’s the “be-all and end-all” of good literature. Say what you will, nobody can deny Shakespeare is deeply embedded in the English language, as is obvious from this paragraph in which I’ve used no less than 15 phrases that he coined.

I write about Shakespeare not to recommend that you ought to get your kids to read Shakespeare in the original. But being familiar with Shakespeare and his work makes for a richer experience in all walks of life. References to his works and his characters keep popping up in movies and books and in general conversation. He is credited with having coined 1,700 words and dozens of phrases that we still use today.

I’m sure there’s no substitute for reading his original works (which many high schools anyway have on their syllabus.) But there are any number of abridged works available both in print and online, for children of all ages and they serve as a good introduction to the bard, until, and if, the child is ready to read the original works.

I speak from experience. I haven’t read any of his works in the original, but as a child, I had access to a neighbourhood library that had illustrated, highly abridged versions of all his plays, and I read them all. While that didn’t give me any indication of the richness of his work and words, what it did was introduce me to his worlds, characters and situations. So, at any time, if I came across a “pound of flesh” or “all the perfumes of Arabia” in a book or a movie or a chat, I understood the reference and that made a huge difference in my appreciation of literature, art and conversation on the whole.

Besides, there are books and websites that list the words and phrases Shakespeare coined. There are also some delightful insults that kids will enjoy (check for age-appropriateness, though!) All these can be an endless source of entertainment, especially for book-loving children who revel in language and wordplay.

Also, it’s educative and awe-inspiring to note how a single writer can have a lasting influence on language and culture centuries after he’s gone!

The author has written 14 books for children and can be reached at www.shruthi-rao.com

GobbledyBook is a fortnightly column that gives a peek into the wondrous world of children’s books. Hop on! Or as Alice did, plunge into the rabbit hole.