Banning The Bard
AND THE WINNERS ARE…
- Lily
- Theresa
- Penny
Congratulations and look for your books coming via USPS. Thanks, everybody, for participating!
The last week of September is an important celebration for everybody because that’s when we take a closer look at what ‘freedom to read’ means. Even those who ‘don’t like to read’ have a stake because censorship impacts not only what we think, but how we express ourselves.
I run into students who ‘don’t like to read’ all the time, who don’t recognize they read constantly – on their phones, on the internet, magazines, articles, reviews, recommendations, etc. What they mean is they weren’t crazy about the literature they were exposed to in high school. Which is a shame. Because once you learn to talk like a pirate, Shakespeare is funny as hell.
Shakespeare was no stranger to censorship. In his day, playwrights needed the approval of the Master of Revels, particularly if they wanted to play at court. Naturally, this requirement led to politically correct plays, politically correct as in not offending the current monarch. Elizabeth I’s 1559 proclamation forbid plays with “either matters of religion or of the governance of the estate of the common weal.” Shakespeare’s Richard II had to delete scenes of Richard’s deposition in case the idea of rebellion took hold.
Profanity in Shakespeare became a particular concern in by the end of the 1800s. Thomas Bowdler went to great lengths to remove “every thing that could give just offence to the religious and virtuous mind.” From him, we get the word bowdlerize, meaning to remove potentially offensive to the point of ruining the original, but Thomas was not the only one.
Recently, a story went around the news outlets, saying that Arizona banned Shakespeare’s The Tempest to avoid “biased, political and emotionally charged” teaching.
- Ethnic book ban in Arizona includes Shakespeare’s The Tempest
- SHAKESPEARE’S TEMPEST BANNED IN ARIZONA SCHOOLS
The whole story is that books, including The Tempest, were moved to the district storage facility because Mexican-American studies had been suspended due to concerns about being disruptive.
Is this a case of poor reporting? Does this make the whole story a tempest in a teapot? 😂 Well, no. If you don’t discuss the Mexican American experience, then you might avoid any immediate disagreement, but you’re shutting out the experience of a large part of the community from the current considerations of politics, social issues, all the daily choices made in that community.
It’s scary to bring up a controversial perspective. I really struggled to discuss race in my classroom, but how else was I going to discuss coverage of police shootings? What kind of journalism would I be teaching if I skirted the issues? I argue that it’s actually better to facilitate and promote the discussion where it can flow freely. Is it so bad to read a play about fairies and magic and a rebellion on the part of the slaves Caliban and Ariel, not to mention overthrowing a corrupt government?
So to encourage the reading of Shakespeare, and because I just enjoyed building on his work, I’m giving away 3 print copies of my book, RESTLESS SPIRITS. This ghost story / fantasy borrows heavily from The Tempest for its back ground as well as the Tam Lin legend, all with a comedic twist. It’s perfect entertainment for the dark time of year when the nights get longer and the temperatures start to chill!
- Enter here for one of 3 print copies of Restless Spirits.
- Visit the rest of the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop for more chances to win!
kathybryson 
I remember being very little and asking my parents to read everything to me, including billboards, the back of cereal boxes, etc. When I stared to learn how to read, I would read everything I could get my hands on. To me, you have to find your genre and you’re a reader for life. All reading counts!
I feel like all reading counts.
Laurie Emerson
Yes Indeed!!!
All reading counts.
My passion is reading. There are not too many genres that I do not read. I will try anthing and make my mind up as to whether that is for me!!! I love this time of the year also!!!
Judy Cox
All of people think listening to audiobooks does not count as reading. I disagree.
I feel all reading counts. I read a wide variety of books.
I do believe that all reading counts. Sometimes, I get grumpy at the quality of books that are published these days (or maybe I’m getting old). Proofreading seems to be sketchy or non-existent, grammar and spelling errors abound. Character and plot inconsistencies are not corrected before publication. And yet,… reading is entertainment that teaches, even if it teaches you what you don’t like. Books have the ability to show you an unfamiliar world, or a new way of looking at a familiar world. Books stimulate the imagination or inspire you to think critically about what you know or think you know. Books teach you how to communicate and the power of words. Books can show you how words are used to inspire or to manipulate.
Well said, Tracee!
I do think to some degree that all reading counts
I ‘ascribe to the theory all reading counts’ but I also have particular favorites. Besides Shakespeare, I’m a big fan of fantasy from Asimov to Pratchett. Hard to pick just one!
not really