Invisible wrote:
> Presumably this is why all schoolchildren [in the UK at least] have 
> Shakespear inflicted upon them as a mandatory component of their 
> education. I still can't figure out what good it's supposed to do.

Consider another example. Imagine this:

You're in the conference room, along with several coworkers, waiting for 
someone you haven't met before to show up so you can start. This person, 
who has been around the company a while but you just never happened to 
meet, walks past the window on the way into the conference room.  You 
coworker whistles a tune under his breath,

... which you don't recognise.

... which you recognise as the Darth Vadar theme.

... which you recognise as the Wicked Witch of the West theme.

... which you recognise as the Indiana Jones theme.

OK?  Your different opinions, of this person who you still haven't met, 
have been shaped by a string of otherwise-meaningless tones.  That's 
culture.  (Assuming you've actually seen those movies, see...)

The reason you read Shakespeare is because others do too, and when they 
make references to a Shylock, a pound of flesh, or "Lead on, McDuff", or 
things like that, they're bringing *that* entire story into context.

Sort of like that Star Trek NG episode where the aliens communicate 
*only* in cultural references, and they kidnap the two captains and beam 
them down to the hostile planet surface so they'll have some cultural 
story in common to start communicating with?

(Yes, thank you, I appreciate just how f'ing nerdy this sounds. :-)

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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