The Power of Art

Choosing to take Shakespeare, I only half knew what exactly I was getting into. I did not think I would expect the class to have nearly as much of an effect on me as it did. Over the course of the past three months, I have come to multiple realizations--that Shakespeare caters to audiences of all types, how much taking a play off of a page and onto the stage can enhance one's understanding of it, and my passion for bringing new life and interpretation to words. However, these are things I already knew to some degree or had at least been told. The course allowed me to experience all these things firsthand rather than as a mere thought in my head. The most significant realization I had was about the impact of great art. Everything we read throughout the trimester was written 400+ years ago yet we can not only understand but enjoy it all. Despite its age, Shakespeare's work is still read, performed, and widely recognized throughout the English-speaking world. Unlike science, which constantly evolves and makes earlier iterations of itself obsolete, or politics, where views can change and power can shift at the drop of a hat, art can survive for as long as it can stay in people's memory. Art comes from human nature, so all people can identify with it regardless where or when they are from.

It was while reading and discussing The Tempest that I made this realization. Shakespeare makes specific allusions to things (ie the Globe Theater) not normal to us yet we can still fully enjoy the play because there are plenty of themes with which we can identify. Whether it is the notion of control, the power of knowledge, a combination of them, or something else, people enjoy his work because it resonates with them. It was only through this course that I realized the very close connection between human nature and art.We can identify with Prospero not because of his magic or his dukedom, but through his humanity. Though we do not have magical garments, we deal with having control and letting it go every day. Regardless of the circumstantial differences between the readers and the characters, Shakespeare's works survive because of their appeal to the readers' humanity.