Today when we went to the Shakespeare Center Nick Walton talked to us about the newly remodeled exhibition at Shakespeare’s birthplace. He mentioned the challenge of constructing a presentation that fits the needs of all audience members and aids in their learning about William Shakespeare. He then asked what we thought this exhibition should strive to project about Shakespeare. After going through the exhibit myself, I think that multiple parts of the presentation demonstrate an aspect of Shakespeare’s work that Maureen mentioned within her answer to Nick’s question. And after seeing the exhibition, I feel more than ever that this aspect demonstrates a pivotal part of Shakespeare’s work. The exhibit and especially the video portion of the tour depict his works’ ability to transcend culture and time.
I felt that two specific points in the video highlight this idea of exceeding the confines of time and cultural bounds. The first occurs during a sequence of scenes, in which the film portrays various pop-culture adaptations and references to Shakespeare’s work. One of the scenes within this series features a hip-hop rendition of Richard II. Seeing and hearing Shakespeare’s work in such a different style offers a more modern feel to the classic play and also demonstrated the play’s relevance in a vastly different era. In this current time period people can find Shakespeare’s material applicable to their own lives and have the ability to adopt it in their own unique way. Another one of these scenes shows an episode of the popular cartoon series The Simpsons. Within the clip Homer Simpson acts as Hamlet. This iconic cartoon in current history uses material from William Shakespeare, demonstrating its relevancy to current times. The exhibit also showed the pilgrim’s love for Shakespeare’s work. One example of this came from his birthplace window, in which the pilgrim’s etched their names. By showing people’s interest in Shakespeare throughout various time periods, the exhibit demonstrates the legacy of Shakespeare’s work.
A moment within the video that shows Shakespeare’s cross-cultural relevance occurs during a scene featuring the phrase “to be or not to be.” During this portion of the film, Shakespeare’s phrase appears in multiple different languages and people say the expression in all kinds of accents. Having such a large group of people focus on such a short portion of Shakespeare’s text shows how his language serves as a kind of universal language. His words travel to people all over the world, demonstrating the great applicability of his work to a large variety of people. Additionally, even looking around the exhibit I experienced first hand what a diverse group of people held an interest in William Shakespeare. Throughout the location we encountered French people, German people, and other Americans like ourselves. Overall, this exhibit and this location truly demonstrate the legacy of William Shakespeare, because they depict how his work not only continues to hold relevancy, but also crosses cultural bounds.