Why Read Shakespeare?

1). Shakespeare's works have an almost universal reputation of being incredibly hard to understand. Many find the old fashioned and complex language incomprehensible, others find the bard's works perfectly inapplicable to their own life. There reasons cause many to be prejudiced against Shakespeare, deeming it too hard or not relevant. However, as the author argues, Shakespeare can be understood and understood to be quite relevant with time and multiple readings. Like a piece of music, one can read Shakespeare many times and each time uncover something new of interest and deepen their understanding.

2). Mack argues that understanding Shakespeare is important for everyone - whether you be a scientist, an English professor, or a regular person, Shakespeare's works provide people with insight into themselves and others. Understanding Shakespeare increases the general and emotional intelligence, and self awareness, of a person, enabling them to better understand themselves and the world around them. As Mack says, Shakespeare provides readers with a lens through which to view the world.

3).
- Shakespeare is relatable; Mack argues that we can see ourselves in even his most villainous and flawed characters, increasing our own self awareness and awareness of others.
- Shakespeare aids our emotional intelligence; Shakespeare comments on and helps us to understand human nature, therefore our own nature, thoughts, and actions.
- Shakespeare requires effort and time to understand; the more we invest into understanding the more we will understand- we cannot possibly comprehend all the complexities at a first glance, and must work to understand fully.
-A main reason people are not interested in Shakespeare is they feel it is unrelatable or inapplicable; those in science fields or most fields other than English do not find that they need Shakespeare, but they could not be more wrong. Shakespeare is universally important.
- Shakespeare is valuable for world understanding; many of our common sayings and knowledge comes from Shakespeare, and his ideas are universally applicable.

4). My favorite argument is the argument that Shakespeare starts out difficult to understand and each reading provides more insight. I find that each successive reading and with more effort comes better understanding of Shakespeare. I enjoy learning something new and surprising each time I read.