Cancelling Shakespeare: a sonnet
Time falls out of joint for Avon's Bard.
An increasing number of woke teachers are refusing to study the Bard—accusing his classic works of promoting “misogyny, racism, homophobia, classism, anti-Semitism …” New York Post
Now is the winter of our discontent,
When time falls out of joint for Avon’s Bard.
The truth his gentle work does represent
Rejected by the cancel culture guard.
Slings and arrows seek to expunge offence,
Misogyny, racism, and the rest.
Faculties too meek to stand in defence,
And cowardly leaders fail to protest.
With sound and fury, critics bare sharp teeth,
But what silly fools these mere mortals be!
Like the king raging naked in the heath,
The play’s the thing, and true love is the key.
Bill, you are sinned against, but, as eyes can see
Your words still live, and they give life to thee.
Inspired by a sonnet by Jake Murel
Alas, this is all more harrowing and serious than people would believe. We have replaced the tried and tested (literature) with positioning students in the English classroom to be social justice warriors: our children are forced to argue race or toxic masculinity in 'trash lit'. Some students will never (ever) taste the depths of good language and literature as they're busy finding the meaning (ie. representation) to a Snickers ad or the Australian cork hat. There's no time for grammar and spelling is obsolete. A plea to parents: please question what your children are doing in the classroom! Request of the teachers to view and justify the set tasks in English. Ask them how the 'set texts' explore the human condition rather than the ideological 'buzz words' of the 21st-century. Question them. You are the first educator. Good education is (and should be) the great equaliser. As Ben Johnson rightly said (of the Bard): “He was not of an age, but for all time!”
Sad that much of the world is coming to this. Good to see institutions such as the University of Austin tying to do something about it, and that it is inspiring a poetic response such as that here!