14 DAY TRIAL // Sometimes it’s enough to simply say the name of Shakespeare, or some of his characters - like Romeo, Juliet, Othello, Lady Macbeth or many other – for an audience to be spared of a boring presentation of facts. Interestingly enough, everybody seems to understand precisely the type of person (or situation) this particular “tag” refers to. In her latest book, “Shakespeare and Modern Culture,” on sale this week, writer Marjorie Garber proves just how inadequate this sort of “judgments” might be nowadays, as well as how poorly we actually know Shakespeare.
Interviewed by WWD, the much-respected author and Harvard professor admits that, “Shakespeare functions as a kind of cultural template for us. It’s a measuring stick or common denominator that makes sense to people.” The storylines of his tragedies have become some sort of common knowledge, basic info that people around the world use as “frames” for a better understanding of the world they live in. Therefore, playing with words becomes much easier when some consensus has been achieved.
Quite predictably, political events and major public figures have been “reshaped” by astute debaters in such a way as to fit the Shakespearian “role.” For instance, nowadays, Hillary Clinton and even Condoleeza Rice have been compared to Lady Macbeth more than once. This is quite unflattering, one might say, as the powerful character is sadly the epitome of the ambitious woman who spares nothing to get what she wants. In time, Iago has become symbol of the universal traitor and manipulative person, while King Lear stands for the oppressed parent, forgotten by indifferent kids.
Regular people, folks on the streets, who might have never actually read any of Shakespeare’s writings are convinced that every rebellious, but romantic love-story, not fortunate enough to have a happy-ending, can be called a “Romeo and Juliet” affair. As Marjorie Garber observes for The New York Times, all the men considered today attractive are suggestively complimented as “Romeos,” “with a meaning pretty much opposite to that of Shakespeare’s fatally faithful wooer.”
Even more, all dramatic events are Shakespearean tragedies of cosmic proportions. Nothing of the greatness of the situations the great William himself presented, nothing of the unstoppable, yet useless struggle of man against destiny and his own humble, human limits. All original characters were highly complex, troubled human beings, but our present times seem to remember them only for some particular feat that, over the years, has become almost grotesque. Hamlet was not the wicked, frail man some may consider him now, as many of Shakespeare's characters are way more than the poor masks we use today as reference.
Nevertheless, the writer also considers that the phenomen of over-simplifying Shakespeare's characters isn't that bad actually, and that his versatility is of great importance not for the way people interpret his writings, but because it helps us better understand our own times and mentalities. “Shakespeare makes modern culture, and modern culture makes Shakespeare.” she concludes.
