Teaching Shakespeare through Familial Identity: Exploring the Centrality of Home in Romeo and Juliet

An adolescent’s introduction to Shakespeare’s plays can be a daunting experience; compelling a simultaneous negotiation of rich, intense language and a confronting message about the nature of humankind. The intricacy, precision and magnitude of the plays raise questions as to whether adolescents can fully appreciate their transcendent nature. Some critics doubt the relevance of teaching Shakespeare to today’s adolescent student, while others cannot conceive the thought of removing his work from the standard curriculum (Wilson, 1997, 207; Gibson, 1993, 143; Skrebels and Van der Hoeven, 2002, 2). However, a more significant argument in this debate is not if Shakespeare’s plays should be taught, but how to present the plays to adolescents (Beach, 2006, 171). The pressure of adhering to school curriculum, state standards, best practices and testing preparation can affect the way Shakespeare is presented. Teaching Shakespeare through the traditional Aristotelian model of hubris and hamartia coupled with the standard teaching tools of producing vocabulary lists, defining literary terms and multiple-choice questions, creates a static environment for the student. Shakespeare’s plays present a staged reality, and in this portrayal exists a variety of passions and situations that apply to the adolescent journey (Bell, 2002, vii). Students need to be able to interact with the text; to challenge the portrayal, to question character choices and to project their own experience into the action of the play. The concepts proposed within this essay have been applied with Australian students aged 13 to 17 and have also been modified for use at the university level