Teenagers Against Shakespeare

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Teenagers against Shakespeare Teenagers in the modern day world are already struggling to keep up in high school. The Shakespearean play, Romeo and Juliet, should not be in the Canadian high schools curriculums. Due to the sexual content, complexity of the language and the difficulty to relate it is not suitable for a contemporary teenage audience. To begin, in the play there is a lot of sexual content that is not suitable for teenagers. For instance, when Sampson said, “You’re right. That’s why girls get pushed up against/ walls—they’re weak. So what I’ll do is push the/ Montague men into the street and the Montague/ women up against the wall.” (1.1.14-17). That statement gives vulnerable teens the idea that it is alright to joke about violence and rape. Therefore, Romeo and Juliet is an inappropriate for adolescences. Another reason that Shakespeare’s play is unsuitable is because of the complexity of the language. Plays written in the 1500’s can be very difficult to understand. While Gregory and Sampson were talking about the Montague servants approaching, Sampson told him, “My naked weapon is out. Quarrel! I will back thee.” (1.1.30). That line has two different meanings, which could easily confuse the audience. Another problem with the complexity of the words is that if the audience does not understand the meaning of the word they would need to find the modern day text so that they would understand better. Consequently, having to look up words throughout the entire play would cause the reader to lose interest. For example, “Going to find a barefoot brother out, /One of our order, to associate me, / Here in this city visiting the sick, / And finding him, the searchers of the town, / Suspecting that we both were in a house/ Where the infectious pestilence did reign, / Sealed up the doors and would not let us
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