To think that Shakespeare is a little intense for Yr 7 English?

[mids2019]

My daughter is studying Romeo and Juliet for Yr 7 English. Am I being unreasonable that this play may have more impact at A level when pupils have greater critical analysis techniques and possibly a greater appreciation for English literature?

I think Shakepeare is a genius of English literature but the language is so dense and tied to contemporary Elizabethian society that I think a Yr 7 pupil could struggle and in some cases actually put pupils off a more gradual approach to literature appreciation.

I also find it difficult explaining to a 12 year old daughter how Juliet (13) is capable of making so such life changing choices such as marriage and ultimately suicide and with the perspective of 21st century society the play does seem remote in experience.

Is the bard best taught at a slightly older age?

My love of Shakespeare began in Y7. We started off with comedies lower down in the school, and then tragedies at GCSE. 11 year olds (and younger) are watching a hell of a lot more upsetting and damaging stuff on YouTube and social media.

Shakespeare ruined my love of English in school

I recently watched a primary-aged group of children perform a very impressive cut down production of "Romeo & Juliet", deaths and all. They did this in front of an audience of 300+ people in a professional theatre. These weren't stage school kids, just local schoolchildren who had been introduced to various plays via a charitable foundation. If it's well taught, there is no reason why children can't engage with Shakespeare - that is one of the beauties of his work. It would be a shame to infantilise young people by suggesting that they couldn't cope with the best plays ever written.

My school teaches Shakespeare at Y7. They don't read the whole text, just concentrate on sections, look at characters etc. It's a great intro to something they have to study at KS4.

I take the point that Shakepeare, like any literature, will be read from a new perspective with age. I don't take issue with the beauty of the language but do you think there is a case to suggest that the themes of the bard such as ruthless ambition in Macbeth, fatalistic despair in Hamlet, obsessive love in Romeo and Juliet are maybe more fully appreciated by a slightly older child? I am not for one instant suggesting not teaching Shakepeare but could it wait until slightly later in the schooling?

I suppose you are introducing high art to a child just out of primary school (a bit like discussing old masters in art classes as opposed to drawing techniques) and it does seem quite a step educationally. I guess Shakepeare will always take a prime position in the canon of English literature but are we teaching Shakepeare from a cultural perspective as well as a.literary one?

If I am honest I don't think R&J is inappropriate for a 10 yr old. It is two families and a love story & yes they die. A good teacher will teach it appropriately. I suspect you can find darkness in any Shakespeare play ( MSND - drugs - just thought of that ) if you look for it. We read this at school & I am not sure the ages really stuck in my mind but that's just me

But the reading of a Shakepeare text I think would benefit all young readers.

Perhaps look for a film based on it which is suitable for a 10 year old to watch whilst the studying is going on .

& I agree I think they could be exposed to much worse on the TV etc,

Yes, very flakey. They talk about this stuff in complementary classes, why not study in literature.

Interesting points above. I do find it strange that teachers don't recommend that my child reads Dickens or Eliot at home as the books are too 'hard' but are confident that they can appreciate Shakespeare?

My son starred in a school production of The Tempest in year 5 and loved it still.

Not educated in the UK (but in English). We studied one Shakespeare play every year from Y7. If I remember correctly, it was A Midsummer Night's Dream, then Romeo and Juliet, then Othello, then Macbeth. After that it depended on your subject choices for IB / 6th Form.

I’ve long taught R&J in Y6 - kids love it!

The "modern language" versions of Shakespeare are much easier to follow than Dickens, though. It's not the plots that are complex, it's the language that makes it seem difficult and grown-up.

@Goingtothe
@GoingtotheWinchester

Being slightly goady but if I were to write a contemporary novel or play about two young lovers with inter family murder and suicide would it be delivered to year 6? Does Shakepseare get an exemption simply because of his sheer command of the English language and the beauty of writing?

Romeo and Juliet is taught as part of GCSE English Literature. Seems they are going to know it REALLY well in year 10/11 if they are starting in year 7 (or be very bored of it).

I did MND aged 11 and that was the beginning of a love affair with Shakespeare that’s never dimmed. At 12 we did R&J and MofV. I don’t remember them being particularly difficult.

She should watch the old film with Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting and then the Baz Lurhman version.

The problem with reading Shakespeare is that it wasn’t meant to be read but watched. See if you can take her to a production of Romeo and Juliet. The language will not be dense at all once you see it on the stage.

As for Juliet being 13, explain the below:

Juliet was originally 16. Shakespeare changed her age to 13 for two reasons:

1. to avoid a plagiarism law suit as he got the idea for the play from a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke: THE TRAGICALL HISTORY OF ROMEUS AND JULIET in which Juliet is 16

2. His elder daughter was 13 at the time he wrote the play and her snotty teenage self was probably real life inspiration for the lines he wrote for the character. Juliet does do a lot of flouncing, moping, and drama. Perhaps he had a bit of an unconscious wish of just marry off his teen daughter for the peace of the household. (Reality was that his daughters didn’t marry until 24 and 31.)

@thelobsterquadrille

Interesting point. Do you think though that you are taking away the fundamental essence of Shakepeare by using modern langauage? Is not the literary magnificence due to precise wording and the poetry that flows from it? I find Shakepeare denuded of the language leaves quite strange bare plots. I do take the point the language can be intense for a 12 year old to understand.

I mean, Harry Potter and the Hunger Games are both read by that age group and they involve children murdering each other.

We did Goodnight Mr Tom in year 6 which features WW2, evacuation, child abuse, the very distressing death of a baby, another child, etc.

The fantastic thing about Shakespeare is that 400 years later his plays are still so universally appealing to all ages, cultures etc. They don't look it on the page. But then, the script of your favourite TV series is probably very dull and dry on the page. It's the actors and voices that bring it to life. That comes across most vividly when you see the plays live on stage, but film would be a good second.

Get her the zefirelli verion on DVD for a Christmas stocking filler. £10 in amazon.

No, not really. We would read the modern language versions so we could understand the plots, then we'd study the language afterwards - we were doing that from the end of year 6 right through to GCSE.

@Onnabugeisha

Wow that is so intersting! I am going to tell my daughter that.

My DD's have been going to Stratford to see Shakespeare from 8 years old, the family workshops were great at helping them understand, children understand what they are exposed to

Same, I also remember reading "A Child Called It" in Year 7.

Ds did it in year 7 and in year 8 is currently studying the tempest. He has enjoyed both. He also did Animal Farm last year which he loved, I’m sure many didn’t get the in depth complexities of that either but will have got more than enough to understand and learn.