When we think about history we really are only thinking about the things that are remembered from it. Most people think about the wars, the revolutions, and the pandemics, and then they think about how grateful they are to live in the present. It seems we have found a cure to almost every disease, we have learned from all of the wars, and our governing system is the best it can be. Although that is not the case, it is true that as humanity, we have come along way. A Historian’s job isn’t to record history, but to analyze it. I know your probably thinking that recording and analyzing are pretty much the same thing, but they are rally not, and if people did not try to understand why things happen, the mistakes we make would just keep repeating themselves.
As a student, I challenge myself to question the past to find deeper meaning to events that others would see as “un-fortunate” or “un-lucky. Although, as I do so, I realize repetition of mistakes, and not just the “whoopsie daisies!” Type. The kind of mistakes like nationalism causing millions to die, fear causing genocides and hate crimes, and even political divide within a nation causing an ignore-ance towards humanity threatening crises. It makes me wonder why governments cant just see what happened last time there was a war and agree that death isn’t the right solution, or look back on what division within the nation did to its people and decide that using fear isn’t the right way to govern, or even why governments can’t look at floods and wild fires destroying cities and think that “maybe switching to green energy might be better for the economy than rebuilding a few million homes every year”. Humanity’s ability to understand the consequences of our actions could save us from extinction, but thing is, our infamous ability to “move on or “adapt” to the situation in a lazy, money-driven way, could be the paved path to a very negative future.
Although it is important to learn from current events so you know the right way to travel through them, most of the time it can hundreds of years before you can extract the lessons from a certain event or time period in history. 426 years ago Shakespeare published “the most famous love story” and 426 years later, I began my search for the importance of this overly dramatic love story. I can’t say that my discoveries throughout this project are going to stop a story like this from repeating again, and trust me, it will repeat, but I can say that what I extracted from Shakespeare’s words has helped me understand humanity, and what causes certain patterns just a little bit more.
Romeo and Juliet was the final project of semester one, and definitely a good one to send me into semester two. I don’t think there could be a “bad one”, but what I learned and the growth I achieved throughout is going to be helpful for my future projects. To be honest, hearing that we were going to be learning about Shakespeare, let alone Romeo and Juliet, didn’t have me feeling optimistic for the next couple of weeks. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the story, it was just that I didn’t think learning about a playwright from more than 4 centuries ago just didn’t seem to be very meaning full. Of course, this was coming strait from a project where we were learning about how we apologize for our past and the history of the place that I call home. It was just that learning about an english writer who barely even spoke english, just didn’t have the same appeal. Although, as I had learned before, if I can find just one thing that interests me in the unit, then the work and the learning that follows will be at a much higher level.
I decide that I would find at least one thing that was meaningful in this tangled web of thee’s and thow’s. Something that could tell me a little bit more about how this world works. After a frustrating day of un-interest, I went home and started my quest for meaning. Looking at the driving question for this project: Why does Shakespeare continue to be relevant to a contemporary audience?, I realized that that was also a question I had wondered since we were introduced to the project. Starting with that question, I made a list of questions I had about not only the project, but the meaning of Romeo and Juliet as well. Although I didn’t find answer for all of them, they lead me down a path where Romeo and Juliet became full of connections to my life as well as themes that have been carried throughout society to this day.
For the project, we were asked to complete a theme book for each of the acts as we went through the script. In the workbook we chose a few lines from each act and analyzed what the writer was meaning in the text used. We also watched the adapted act from a adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. With the questions in mind I went through the text and chose meaning full lines that best connected to the topics in the theme book. In the 5 entries that I completed in the workbook, I was able to come up with connections to my life as well as a deeper understanding of what drives humanity.
I came to realize that through the language Shakespeare used, he was able to provide an emotional tie to the story, even if you had no moral connection prior. One of the questions I had asked, was how this story could help my own life, and after reading the majority of the script, I realized how important the language you use is when telling a story or spreading information. I decided that I would strive to improve my word choice to cause an emotional connection to the listener or reader.
This story made me better understand the power that love and passion have on the human being, as well as the power that hate has as well. From the connections I made, new questions arose as well. I wondered if the power of love of love could over power the hate in the world or if passion can unite event the most strongest of divisions. These questions would not have been pondered without the introduction of this story as well as the questions I had formed at the start of this project. To me its pretty cool how in the projects where I put in a little extra work as well as started with a interest to learn the work that follows is meaningful and at a higher level. In future projects where I don’t feel a strong intrigue, I hope to continue to use the method of questioning, because even if I’m not exited for the unit, I will at least always have a goal for my learning. Because if there is one thing I have learned so far in my high school experience, it’s that growth is always a better destination than grades.
Relating back to the driving question: Why does Shakespeare continue to be relevant to a contemporary audience?, it makes me think about the lessons I learned from the story of Romeo and Juliet. At surface this is just a piece of entertainment, but if you can analyze the text, and I mean really analyze, you can realize the larger value that this preserved piece of history holds. As I said earlier in the post, it can take a very long time to extract the lessons from an event. The reason I say that is because it sometimes takes a long time to see changes in society or a change in sociological patterns. In this case, for Romeo and Juliet, it took a long time to see how things have stayed the same. The themes in this playwright are still themes of modern events, good or bad. In wars we see the power of fear and hate plays to divide humanity, and more recent events such as the Covid, we can see how the power of love can eliminate fear. With this story and the themes within, you can understand, 426 years later, what western society was like when the story was written. It helps you realize what makes us human, what are trends and what are our driving forces, how have things changed and how things stayed the same through our constant advancement. Because when you can understand what cased something, you can understand what you can do to prevent or preserve it as well.
In our final video I was able to exemplify my understanding of the answer and show why the power of love and hate is still prevalent to today. I made this movie with the help of randy, Nya, josh, and Jonathan.
after pondering our decision for the storyline, I finally realized the movie wasn’t just to show what you learned, but to connect the themes and Ideas of the original text to a modern day setting. I discovered that my understanding was much better represented through my idea of a comedic rendition of the story rather than just regurgitating the original script.
I am exited for my next load of learning in my future classes and I hope you are exited as well to learn a little more with me as I continue on the journey. May the power of love bring peace on our world 🙏.
Peace out.
– Ryder
Hey Ryder,
Well, nice reflections on how the past can still be relevant today. I agree with you that seeking an understanding of people’s motivations within the context of history, as well as within current circumstances, is integral to addressing the challenges facing the global community.
I hear you identifying in your post various historical patterns while also recognizing this human tendency to engage in a “repetition of mistakes.” I think that this is a key insight. There’s a quote, perhaps you’ve heard it – often attributed to Mark Twain – that appears to acknowledge this human characteristic in a slightly nuanced way: “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Of course, I think history can ‘rhyme’ in positive ways, too, but all too often, as historical events account, conflict has manifested in such tragic ways.
As you suggested, why don’t enough government leaders seem to learn the lessons of history and, thus, actively do more to help create a much more peaceful world? This question, I think, is so vital. One observation that I find valuable, and I know it sounds obvious in a way, is that governments are run by citizens. It’s like, leaders aren’t members of some unique class of Greek demigods… they’re regular people.
And, you know, I’ve recognized, too, that there’s not some special, ethical maturity test that must be taken by politicians before running for office. However, it gets SO really tricky because ‘who’ – or ‘what group’ – gets to say what ethics and values are the right ones? Or, at the least, the ‘more right’ ones?
You mentioned how the human “ability to move on or ‘adapt’ to the situation” can possibly lead to negative outcomes. So, this is cool that you’re setting your gaze towards understanding human nature in relation to how events unfold. It does seem that still not nearly enough people are sufficiently paying attention to how current economic systems are externalizing negative consequences to the natural world. So, I keep hoping this will change.
I’ve discovered that considering the broad topic of “morality”- from different angles – has got to be incredibly central to understanding human motivation and why our society organizes its economy and politics in the way it does. This question of what is right and wrong is just essential, and, yet, the answers can be so challenging to decipher, too. How do people decide what is the true, the good and the beautiful? And how can/do these definitions change over time?
It’s so true how Romeo and Juliet is still relevant today… over 400 years into the future…and, it must have been relevant 400 years before Shakespeare as well! It’s way cool that you jumped into the filming of a movie to connect R&J to modern times… btw, did you know that the movie/musical West Side Story – starring the rivalrous Jets and Sharks – is based on this play?
So, I agree that language is so important “when telling a story or spreading information”…not only in terms of what individual words are chosen, but how ideas – which are comprised of a matrix of words – are framed. Language can inform and clarify or mislead and confuse. A lot of politics is about persuasion and trying to steer public opinion. Words and ideas can be in the service of perpetuating hate or fostering caring.
One might ask, what cultural narratives are being composed and passed along from generation to generation? What myths are operational in society – not only in the sense of being merely fiction or make-believe, but a myth in terms of how we are making sense of life and our place within existence. I’ve heard it said that our stories, both personal and collective, play such a pivotal role in how we live our lives and if things are not going so well, maybe, just maybe, what’s called for is a different and better story to go by.
Once, the story was that planet Earth was the very center of the known universe. Now, we wonder if alien life could exist among the probably billions of planets within the Milky Way Galaxy alone… a very different story. Once, kings and queens would inherit absolute rule over their so-called subjects. Now, we vote to elect leaders empowered to pass laws or, even, declare war… two very different governing stories. The power of stories!
Well, I watched the Thistle Farms video and, so, thank you for informing me about this organization. I agree with their confidence that love can heal.
And so, I’d say the questions that you are asking are really important, as they seek to discover why the world is as it appears while highlighting the value for society to connect understandings of the past to the present, so as to chart a course towards the future more wisely.
So, I wonder what sort of plays Shakespeare might compose today in the 21st Century? Or, what do you think…maybe, he’d write an original “screenplay” about the adventures of superheroes within the Marvel Universe!
Well, thanks for the blog post… good stuff!