By Robin Bruno
I am sick of William Shakespeare. Why? Because, in my opinion, he’s simply not as good as some people are saying.
Throughout my life and most likely yours, you have at least heard of Romeo and Juliet. I would hope so because there are roughly 127 retellings in book form.
There are over 50 direct film adaptations with way over 100 indirect adaptations. And we all know that not all of them are made equally, with the 2011 Gnomeo and Juliet as the superior adaptation of them all.
To give Shakespeare the benefit of the doubt, he was super talented and continues to influence people with his work to this day.
All I’m really trying to say though is maybe people, especially students in high school, are forced to over analyze every single agonizingly confusing line.
Also, Shakespeare wasn’t even THAT influential. There are so many other poets who we could be focusing on instead that aren’t a pain to understand.
Geoffrey Chaucer is known as the “Father of English Literature” as well as the “Father of Modern English” He not only made literature accessible to all, but he also established the foundational pillars of Modern English.
Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet who had, according to DAS member Mitch Henderson, “brought us the concept that good is to be rewarded and evil is to be punished,” which is basically the foundation that society is built on.
Maya Angelou was the first African-American writer and a woman who was a true survivor. She wrote about her experiences, things that she encountered as she grew older.
Her work has taught others that even though she struggled with her experiences, she was not broken by them.
And Rumi was a sufi mystic, poet, and founder of the Islamic brotherhood, his works explore love, longing, and even the connection to the divine. He emphasizes that “personal suffering can lead to spiritual enlightenment.”
These are just a few other examples that I think are quite interesting, they all come from different backgrounds and wrote things that still help people to this day.
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