Contemporary versus classic literature
Stock photo
A nearly impossible feat for the times is finding a high school graduate who has not read The Awakening, The Great Gatsby or literally any of Shakespeare’s works. This is because in the eyes of this country’s education system. These works, among others, are the greatest of the great. These stories and their authors are held at such a high esteem that leads readers to believe they knew more about passion, had more intellect and experienced things that we millennials could only dream of.
This, however, is a dangerous notion for youth to have. Decades ago, when most of these classics were written, life was depicted as romanticized with love and scandal. While these are still very popular entertainment topics today, the context of the books written years ago makes for an often bigoted way of telling the famous stories teenagers are writing book reports about.
Aforementioned, The Awakening written by 19th century author Kate Chopin is an example of this. Taught as a story of a woman who breaks free from the chains of societal and familial obligations then presumably commits suicide after her attempts at liberation fall short; it only glamorizes suicide and women having a place in society they must adhere to.
The Awakening was written in a time following the first wave of feminism led by women like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Through lessons in history and English classes alike, these women and the authors inspired by them are edified to be martyrs for all females to come. They attempted to change the expectations of women during that time and provide them with rights they otherwise did not have. What is not taught in classes, however, is that the feminism these women stood for was whitewashed.
They wanted to be equal to white men while retaining a higher social standing than black women and men. This is evident in the stories written during that period if not only for the lack of ethnic main characters.
Chopin’s novel is far from the only book on high school required reading lists that conveys such a problematic way of life. Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights are all books that present these strong, willful female characters initially, only to have them fall prey to a man’s affection in the end.
Shakespeare was no different. As a writer, admitting that I am not eternally grateful to the timeless lord of literature William Shakespeare himself is grounds for shunning. I simply believe that reading his works in high school classrooms is the perfect example of doing something because some white people decided it has always been done that way. Shakespeare is a talented writer, that much is true. Be that as it may, his works are just additions to the collections of stories with monochrome characters and plot-enhancing, hysterical women for the lead male.
Just imagine how Shakespeare’s infamous female characters would manifest today. Juliet would be one of those 14-year-old girls who is Instagram famous for looking 22, and falls dependently in love with an older man who slides into her DM’s and break her heart. Lady Macbeth would be that single woman on Facebook who has lived her whole life waiting to marry a millionaire so she can achieve her trophy wife dreams. All while poor Ophelia flips through Tinder searching for her one true love because last week’s has yet to text her back.
Classic literature does exist and much of it truly is full of emotion and morality. Catcher in the Rye, Slaughterhouse 5 and Lord of the Flies are wonderful novels that I encourage today’s youth to read if they have not already. In spite of that, there are hundreds of other culturally and timely diverse works that portray even more on the human condition than these long-dead white people.
The authors most English teachers standby with unwavering conviction lived in a very limited world. Presenting students whose minds are still fit for molding with a legion of authors, books and characters rather than the select few, creates much more opportunity for learning. Finding that balance between growing with the times while preserving the important parts of the past is where high school classes belong.
Read on jackcentral.org