Category : Fachunterricht

A day in the life of an English A-class student reading “Much Ado About Nothing”
Waking up, falling back to sleep, skipping breakfast, running late, rushing to school in a hurry, talking with friends before torturing yourself through every class of the day and then – finally- your favourite class: English!
Taking a deep breath, calming down, opening our new book – confusion. Suddenly not understanding a single word, wondering what this whole thing is about, feeling disgusted by the presented gender roles of women as wives or whores. Why would I even want to read it? It ́s not like “Much Ado About Nothing” is still relevant today, is it?

Shakespeare and his language – enjoyable or not even understandable?
Initially, reading “Much Ado About Nothing” makes you question your ability to understand the English language. Abruptly none of the words make sense and you are dependent on the modern versions of the drama in order to understand what it’s about, so you can prepare for the next exam. Nevertheless, Shakespeare created and wrote his plays with the intention of creating a pleasant and enjoyable reading experience, using verses and rhyming in his famous sonnets and plays. Evidently through the language and use of words it’s hard to get into a proper reading flow for students nowadays.

Still influencing other directors and writers after over 400 years?
As a significant part of English literature, Shakespeare still characterises certain plots of modern movies or novels. The often presented “kill joy” is still an essential part of todays romance movies all students know and we can find the “kill joy” in movies like “Tangled” or “The wild chicks” (“Die wilden Hühner”).
Additionally there is the “will they, won’t they” relationship between two characters, who are somehow hating and loving each other throughout Shakespeare ́s whole drama. This exact relationship, where we all just guess if they even like each other is also to find in modern movies like “10 things I hate about you”. Eventually no one can say for sure, if Shakespeare was truly the only inspiration for modern authors, but as a matter of fact a lot aspects from 400 years ago are still shown in today’s literature and movies.

The Shakespearean “feminism”
Being bored by Hero, a girl from “Much Ado About Nothing” which is only interested into marrying some strange guy she met days or hours ago, her cousin Beatrice shows another side of womanhood. Beatrice is an eloquent young woman who speaks back on men and surely shows her own will and shares her thoughts about marriage and how she detests the vision of being owned by a husband. She is the opposite of the presented female stereotype and shows Shakespeare`s criticism of gender roles, which also still applies to the modern eastern society, which views women as mothers and housewives. Living in the 21st century and comparing Beatrice with a modern feminist, there’s not an actual difference and makes you realise how women were and sometimes still are seen as objects or a men’s property.

A students conclusion
The young woman is pretty much the only interesting and truly convincing reason to eventually conclude, that Shakespeare is somehow still relevant today, even though his structure and language is hard to understand, the relationships of certain characters are also presented in modern movies and books. Without the important impact of Beatrice and her morals and thoughts “Much Ado About Nothing” wouldn’t have a essential message nowadays. And still it’s very complicated and uncomfortable to read the play in is original form, that’s why most students prefer the modern English version, so they are capable to understand the storyline and Beatrice`s message.

Written by Vivien Besch, Mia Flasbeck, Mia Kristin Freudenberg and Carolin Matziol