Shakespeare's more... "Problematique™" plays
It goes without saying that some things just don't age well and Shakespeare is no exception. That being said, it's still hard to get rid of our more modern lens as readers, especially when it comes to touchier subjects.
When it comes to a post holocaust world, Merchant of Venice certainly takes a hit as being anti-Semitic and makes us readers a bit more sympathetic towards Shylock and hate the protagonists (like Antonio) more. Jews have a big history of being treated like absolute (for lack of a better word) shit. I'm sure at least some of us have seen Prince of Egypt and I hope most of us know what World War II was all about, so our generation grew up learning to sympathize with them instead of setting them up to be outcasts. (We could still be doing better, of course, but that's an entire different essay for a different subject.)
Then we have Measure for Measure which involves rape and women being treated like absolute (again, for lack of a better word) shit. We chop it up to the times but right know with the #MeToo movement and all these rapes and abuses coming to light, most of us probably feel that those actions towards women does not make you a man but a villain.
I think the reason why we have to make so many modern adaptations to these plays is because these characters tend to come off as super problematic and it can make some of us in the audience immediately cast them off. When we do these adaptations, directors make different interpretations and decisions to make it a more appropriate story.
Exhibit A: Gnomeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet definitely isn't the most problematic of Shakespeare's plays, it just plays out like a soap opera our great-grandmother's watched. Shakespeare's comedies seem to have a harder time being popular unless you count things like The Twelfth Night which turned into "She's the Man" starring Amanda Bynes or A Midsummer Night's Dream getting a "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" episode dedicated to it. These plays have their own modern issues too, but Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure touch on heavier, more known issues.
It may be important to think about how things are old and things were "different back then" but that still doesn't make them right. It just makes them age poorly.
When it comes to a post holocaust world, Merchant of Venice certainly takes a hit as being anti-Semitic and makes us readers a bit more sympathetic towards Shylock and hate the protagonists (like Antonio) more. Jews have a big history of being treated like absolute (for lack of a better word) shit. I'm sure at least some of us have seen Prince of Egypt and I hope most of us know what World War II was all about, so our generation grew up learning to sympathize with them instead of setting them up to be outcasts. (We could still be doing better, of course, but that's an entire different essay for a different subject.)
Then we have Measure for Measure which involves rape and women being treated like absolute (again, for lack of a better word) shit. We chop it up to the times but right know with the #MeToo movement and all these rapes and abuses coming to light, most of us probably feel that those actions towards women does not make you a man but a villain.
I think the reason why we have to make so many modern adaptations to these plays is because these characters tend to come off as super problematic and it can make some of us in the audience immediately cast them off. When we do these adaptations, directors make different interpretations and decisions to make it a more appropriate story.
Exhibit A: Gnomeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet definitely isn't the most problematic of Shakespeare's plays, it just plays out like a soap opera our great-grandmother's watched. Shakespeare's comedies seem to have a harder time being popular unless you count things like The Twelfth Night which turned into "She's the Man" starring Amanda Bynes or A Midsummer Night's Dream getting a "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" episode dedicated to it. These plays have their own modern issues too, but Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure touch on heavier, more known issues.
It may be important to think about how things are old and things were "different back then" but that still doesn't make them right. It just makes them age poorly.
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