On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:18:12 +0100, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> 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.
>
It does no good what so ever. The reason is, IM(NS)HO that the
Cultural (large C) grandees think that it should be taught because
Shakespeare is the bard and he is important. And this is coming from
someone who has seen all of his plays at least three times.
Shakespeare is inappropriate for children, they cannot understand the
language. Who amongst us understands the joke in Troilus and Cressida
when someone asks where Ajax is and the answer is "Looking for
himself" You need to know that Ajax sounds like "a jacksie" or an old
fashioned name for a toilet. That is he was crapping himself. Also the
world view in Shakespeare is too adult for children. 
Which reminds me I must get on with my entry for the TC-RTC "The
Tempest" ;)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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