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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 APRIL 2016 10 News C oncerns with mortality were central to many of William Shakespeare's works, but although the world marked on April 23 the 400th anniversary since his death, his name and works are still in fine fettle today. Indeed, references to the Bard's work still permeate anything, from political discourse ("Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" seems a local favourite of late) to popular culture, but young students and their parents tend to get their doublets in a twist every time somebody even ventures a mention of his work, with some schools even striking the playwright clean off their syllabus. University of Malta lecturer Dr Clare Vassallo told MaltaToday that students tend to be put off by Shake- speare because of the way his works are approached. "Many students get bogged down by the language, which, however beautiful, is difficult for them to relate to, given the distance in time," Vassallo said. "Beyond the language, however, lie themes that are universally relatable, and truly entertaining stories," she added, pointing out that his works should be presented as they were meant; in performance. Vassallo explained that showing students the play first and then finally moving on to a textual analysis, would perhaps spike students' interest in the plays to a greater extent. "In truth the plays are much more current than we im- agine, and students can begin to understand that if they are aware of the many different movie adaptations of the works, starring some of the most celebrated movie stars of their time," she added. These views are in fact echoed by San Andrea second- ary school English teacher Lara Muscat, who insists that the visual aspect is essential to students, particularly in today's media-dominated world. Muscat also suggests that students should be urged to act out parts of the play, perhaps even wearing costumes on occasion, or re-writing scenes using modern day dia- logue. St Aloysius Sixth Form teacher Andre Delicata told the newsroom that encouraging students to act out scenes and take part, is the key to bringing Shakespeare's rel- evance to the fore. "The plots can sometimes read like soap operas so if they are presented in as entertaining a manner, then stu- dents will be as engaged," he said, adding that he some- times encouraged translations into vernacular Maltese to fully explain the humour of a particular scene. "Unfortunately however, time is against students, be- cause at the end of the day they need to prepare them- selves well for their final examinations," Muscat pointed out, suggesting that perhaps it was the whole examina- tion system itself that ought to be revised. "Introducing coursework and assignments rather than basing everything on one final two-hour examination would make for a much more holistic approach to teach- ing and learning," she said. Vassallo, also highlighted this fact in her comments, saying that Maltese students and the whole educational system was unfortunately "enslaved to the syllabus", a situation that risked creating a cultural deficit (a Black- adder: Back & Forth scenario of cultural cluelessness springs to mind). "Not knowing or understanding Shakespeare's works would essentially mean missing multitudinous referenc- es in our everyday lives," she said, adding that the works were also something of a link to the past. She likened this to the many references to Greek and Latin mythology made in Classic works. "When we stopped teaching Greek and Latin, many of the references made in Classic works of literature started going right over our heads," she said. "Students would still be able to pass their exams if Shakespeare were eliminated from their education, but they wouldn't be able to communicate with people in the broader context, because they would have a lack of gen- eral knowledge." Highlighting the importance of his works in the English Canon, Muscat likens learning English without studying Shakespeare to having a library without any books. "His works are part and parcel of English literature," she said, adding that the works can also give a sound background into English history, something that is es- sential to the understanding of a culture and language. She also rightly points out that the Bard also retains his relevance nowadays for storylines that deal with themes that can be adapted to modern day issues and human qualities common to all in both time and space. Chronicling the history of humanity Delicata adds that Shakespeare was not just a chroni- cler of the human condition, but that his work is also important from a linguistic perspective, as his work is a record of language development. "As obscure as the language seems now, that is exactly how people used to speak at the time," he said, high- lighting that performances were geared at appealing to the general public rather than academics. He also stressed that many expressions in Shake- speare's work had made their way into everyday lan- guage, highlighting the importance of keeping in touch with these roots. "Even if people stop studying Shakespeare at schools around the world, some form of the wealth he gave the English language will percolate into society, so it will al- ways be important to know where they come from ex- actly," Delicata added. Referring to schools that opt for removing Shake- speare from their syllabus, Delicata stressed that the move gives a harmful message that students can't handle the material, and that it is ultimately a disservice to their education. "If Shakespeare could be handled by a person with no formal education in the 16th century, he can be handled by 13-year-old students if it is properly taught," he rea- sons. Actor and director Philip Leone Ganado is also in line with this thinking, telling MaltaToday that some people are put off Shakespeare either because of the way his work is presented, or because it's treated with such rev- erence that the suggestion is that it's only for really clever people. "Tell a child that if you don't understand each and every word then you're too stupid for Shakespeare and they'll believe it for ever," he argues. Shakespeare's creative genius Vassallo also points out that Shakespeare essentially teaches us a lot about what a successful creative process truly looks like. "Shakespeare didn't invent most of his stories and char- acters, he took many tales from history or from older sto- ries (Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Henry V to men- tion a few examples) and rewrote them in his style and language as well as adding some new characters," she said, adding that this was in fact a process that still oc- curs in popular culture nowadays. The point was also highlighted by Delicata who added that the stories, which sometimes read like soap ope- ras, are elevated by the language used, which essentially teaches readers and viewers that anything can be turned into art if it is treated properly. Referring to the many purists who would rather see Shakespeare completely unadulterated and never being adapted again, Vassallo stresses that although we tend to imagine there is a wide chasm between high and popular culture, adaptations of his work followed his own exam- ple. "I can't help but imagine how he would feel seeing the way his work has been seamlessly appropriated even in children's cartoons for instance. The much-loved Disney It is 400 years since the death of the Shakespeare's enduring legacy with All that lives Dr Clare Vassallo 'Beyond the language lie themes that are universally relatable, and truly entertaining stories' Marylu Coppini 'These are characters that have withstood the test of time'