WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

THE SOCIAL CRITIC: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

William Shakespeare, regarded as the most powerful English playwright and one of the most finest English poet, had written in his last play the Tempest - ‘O brave new world, That has such people in it!’ such people that today question his relevancy in the contemporary world. In his 36 plays and 154 sonnets, he left behind to all those who came after him the evidence of a prodigious mind, witty sense of humor, deep sensitivity to human emotions, and undeniably rich education that laid the very foundation of English literature as we know today. Therefore to question his pertinence in the modern world is also to question the significance of English literature in our lives. For those of us who believe Literature to be a source of mere entertainment or stepping stone for greater skill at language or familiarizing oneself with beat, meter, rhythm, Shakespeare’s importance might have dwindled in this rapidly changing world. But to those who view Literature itself to be a vehicle of social understanding an enriching eye opener, that not only makes one reflect but  also question, then there is much to learn from Shakespeare even today.  For it is undeniable that Shakespeare spoke profoundly of human condition in throes of societal injustice and prejudice. So while readily acknowledging the importance of Shakespeare as a playwright and a poet, one should also bear in mind that in his work lay a voice that addressed issues that cannot be negated in any society of any age.

SHAKESPEARE STEREOTYPED?

To undertake an analysis of Shakespeare’s relevance today, it is important to bring to light an issue that he dealt with in different forms, that which is most profoundly felt in these times as well. Discrimination. While Shakespeare’s role as a critic of discrimination has been widely subjected to criticism, thanks to the portrayal of Caliban as ‘a thing most brutish’ from a ‘vile race’ in Tempest and the unmistakable anti-Semitic villainy of Shylock in Merchant of Venice and the tragic fall of the ‘black Moor’ Othello, it is not so simple as it has made out to be. And yet his portrayals of these characters are not any far different from the portrayal of Jews and Blacks and even other marginalized minority in today’s times. This is not a justification of his actions but rather a rational understanding that even amongst those of us who claim to be ‘modern’ and ‘civilized’ such tone is evident. Therefore to judge Shakespeare to be racist, is to stereotype him as well. Perhaps by succumbing to the pressure of judging an English man writing at a time of colonial zenith, there could be possibility that many had overlooked the undertones of implied criticism in all these plays.

MERCHANT OF VENICE:

In what is considered to be one his most famous Romantic Comedy, the portrayal of the Jew usurer Shylock as a blood thirsty villain had led many to condemn his plays as anti-Semitic. While the racist line is more easily discernible, the powerful speech made by Shylock that drives the plot to its dramatic and emotional peak can be seen as Shakespeare’s own rebuke at the Christians for their attitudes against the Jews. And this very famous sermon has unmistakable similarity to the pleas made by many oppressed minority today be it Jews, Muslims, Christians, or Hindus.

‘Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heaped by the same means, warm'd and cooped by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. . . . The villainy you teach me, I will execute.’ (Act III, Scene I)

In this one speech there lies the timeless and universal claim of a common humanity and the sheer absurdity of propagating ethnocentric values in a quest to keep a group of people undermined. But what is striking the most is the lines, ‘The villainy you teach me, I will execute,’ a stark reminder of how violence sets in motion a cycle of bloodshed that leaves both sides paralyzed. Is this an unfamiliar, absurd concept in the modern day? One has to merely glance at the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, or the Russian-Chechnian dispute or Hindu-Muslim skirmish. Shylock’s bloodthirsty cruelty is a result of the Venetians treatment of him much like many acts of terrorism so rampant today is undeniably a fire lit from years of suppression and marginalization. Shakespeare therefore through Shylock mirror images the concealed real nature of the authority, a powerful depiction of their hypocritical façade.

OTHELLO:
It is this same notion of discrimination but based on colour that  is reflected in his sensational tragedy Othello. While the conventional reading of the play involves the destruction of Othello because of his fatal flaw of jealousy, there is no denying that the completely driving power of the play is racism. The profound alienation of Othello despite arriving at his position by merit shows that he is destroyed by racism. His one flaw is harnessed by Iago, who though is seen as astute villain only because Othello is culturally and racially alien. This is best seen where Iago provoked Barbantio with the news of Othello and Desdemona’s elope. ‘Even now, now, very now, an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe’ (Othello, Act 1, Scene 1). Therefore it is safe to assume that Shakespeare reveals Iago as an extreme manifestation and instrument of that racially driven society. This is not to deny that Iago brings him down through jealousy but to bear in mind the social context that motivates Iago to do so. And this alienation of Othello from himself and society is not an unfamiliar subject. Many people all over the world, had attempted to integrate into a society that had marginalized them hoping for acceptance only to find that the majority would not allow them to assimilate or accept them as equals. Is this an alien notion in India? What has happened to the backward classes? When these messages that Shakespeare had sent centuries ago are evident today, to dismiss him as irrelevant would be to do great injustice.

It is therefore important to state that in these works of Shakespeare he addresses these social issues not as a social or political activist but with a level of subtlety and ambiguity that forces his audience to not only move emotionally but to think and understand.  He was not a social analyst, reformer and definitely not an activist. But at the end of the day he acknowledged and projected with delicate sensibility the society as it was and unfortunately how it is even today. The notable thing is that Shakespeare staunchly reflected the world view of his time with incomparable talent and ability, and yet focusing on essential human qualities, virtues and vices alike, which remains relevant to all times. But in the end all of this depends upon the perception with which we view it or view him for that matter. It is after all as he said. ‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’ (Hamlet, Act II, Scene II)

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