Is Shakespeare Still Relevant?

Over the years an uncountable amount of teenaged students have desperately searched for reasons pertaining to why they shouldn't be forced into studying the dreaded Shakespeare! And in my professional (not really) opinion I believe the main reason given is that Shakespeare and his writing is no longer relevant. Sure we can study him but why do we have to study his works? History tells us that in many cases, as years go along, humanity's skills get better. And it makes logical sense, Shakespeare was a splendid writer and in this day and age we have many other splendid writers, why don't we study something we understand? Those are all points against, but personally, I believe Shakespeare is highly relevant today. Not only are the incredibly interesting themes insightful into writing skills but it gives us a chance to look into the past and make connections between modern writing and the immortality of Shakespeare's works.

One thing that must be said is that the plots of Shakespeare were completely and totally way ahead of his time. It's interesting to read and his expert writing ability livens up dull moments with fights and jokes at the perfect time. To quote Marchette Chute in her explanation in why Shakespeare is one of the all time greats in literature:
       
          "William Shakespeare was the most remarkable storyteller that the world has ever known. Homer told of adventure and men at war, Sophocles and Tolstoy told of tragedies and of people in trouble. Terence and Mark Twain told comedic stories, Dickens told melodramatic ones, Plutarch told histories and Hand Christian Andersen told fairy tales. But Shakespeare told every kind of story – comedy, tragedy, history, melodrama, adventure, love stories and fairy tales – and each of them so well that they have become immortal. In all the world of storytelling he has become the greatest name. (Stories from Shakespeare, 11)"

Shakespeare's plays and stories are transcend (my favorite word) through time and culture. Even today storytellers try and take some of Shakespeare's greatest stories and fit them into the modern world. 

The one point I feel strongest about is how applicable to real life they are. The characters that are portrayed in Shakespeare's plays go through affairs that are in essence how what people will go through in their life, albeit in a more modern way but I don't necessarily mean that we're all gonna have to murder the king one day but the message and characteristics are applicable. For instance, "think about dysfunctional families, think about King Lear. Think about teenagers who imagine they're in love, think about Romeo and Juliet. Think about sneaky swine spreading gossip and ruining other people's lives, think about Othello. Think about indecisive introverted types creating havoc, think about Hamlet. Think about religious prejudice, think about " the Merchant of venice"".

I found this awesome video talking about why Shakespeare still matters, take a look :)

-Omar