Modern Shakespeare

When Shakespeare began writing his works in the late 1500's, it is possible that he never realized that these pieces of literature in which he was constructing would ever be as valuable as they are today. It is highly doubtful that as he was writing his very famous plays and poetry that the thought of these plays being influential and special in the 21st century would not have been apparent. However, contrary to what Shakespeare initial thought and intentions were, Shakespeare's works have become increasingly popular within the last few centuries. This has become apparent with the many popular modernizations of Shakespeare's works.

Perhaps the most popular modernization of Shakespeare's works is Baz Luhrmanns', Romeo and Juliet which came into production in 1996. Many critics placed their views and opinions in regards to this film, with nearly an equal majority of critics praising the film to those critics who did not agree with the concept. Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo and Juliet was particularly unique to the other film versions of Romeo and Juliet because it was Shakespeare's original dialect put into a modern setting. It put an entirely new spin on the way that Shakespeare's works could be read. With Baz Luhrmann using the original dialect in modern terms, it allowed the viewers to gain a better understanding of the original play, Romeo and Juliet. Whilst just reading the play of Romeo and Juliet, readers of the 21st century often find it difficult to grasp key aspects and concepts in which Shakespeare was attempting to put across. However, by visualizing his works in a setting that modern people could understand, it allowed the viewers to gain a better understanding of what Shakespeare was trying to get us to understand within his plays. Baz Luhrmann created one of the most audacious approaches to Shakespeare that has ever graced our presence, and by infusing such a classic story and such classic language with such 'gangster' violence and music, the film succeeded in drawing in large crowds of a younger audience Luhrmann realized that the 'children' of this generation were children with short attention spans, and cared little for classic literature and by 'glamorizing' this classic literature to term that they could relate to, it would allow them to gain the ideals, knowledge and culture of Shakespearean texts. The film was loud, suspenseful, dramatic and very in-your-face, which were the exact ingredients to lure in teenagers. By using such powerful cinematic techniques in this film, it captivated audiences of all ages and brought greater understanding to somewhat difficult concepts. It certainly brought 'Shakespeare to life'.

Whilst the modernized version of Romeo and Juliet proved to be a positive thing, criticism can be drawn from the fact that using the traditional dialect in such modern terms 'took away' from the true value of this play. Whilst the modernization of Romeo and Juliet draw younger crowds to actually start to enjoy Shakespeare, by using the traditional dialect the film has many opportunities to become boring for the younger viewers, and also at some times - especially at the beginning of the film- the traditional dialect became confusing, as it was spoken very fast. When the film started to get boring, in the slower part of the film, it really draw away from the whole Shakespearean experience that one could have gained from the film.

It is believed that it was Baz Luhrmann's approach to Shakespeare that led to more adaptions

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